Dude, where's my car?

Sunday morning. Getting ready to head out to the NC State CX Championships.  Fourth cup of coffee? Check.  Egg and cheese sandwich? Check.  I grab our gear bags, the air pump and car keys.  Open the door, walk out to the car.  Wait. Where's the car? Crap.  I must've left it in neutral and it rolled down the driveway into the backyard.  Walk out to the driveway to survey the damage.  No car.  Wait, no car?  Damn.  The Element has been stolen along with some gear and a race bike that was locked to the rack overnight.

This was not the way Sunday was supposed to go.  About an hour after the police arrived and took the report, our neighbor found all of the contents of the car, including Golden's Tri Cross with our new set of Carroll Composites carbon tubular race wheels, in the park in our neighborhood.  This was a huge relief.  Still no car, but our personal stuff was back and I wasn't going to have to hassle with explaining how a bike was worth $4000 to an insurance agent.

Monday, I start all of the insurance stuff and talk to the guys at Cars Plus about getting another Honda Element.  Then, Tuesday morning, the police find our car.  Visions of a wrecked, totalled heap of stripped parts and flat tires rattles around my brain as I pedal from school to the police station.  The detective takes me down to the garage area of the station and shows me the Element.  It is exactly as it was the last time I saw it with the exception of a dead battery and an empty gas tank.

So, we have everything back in pretty much the same shape (apparently, the criddler who took it wasn't real up on his use of a clutch) AND they arrested the guy who stole it.  Amazing.  My faith in the Lenoir Police Department is restored.