On our way to North Dakota this summer to visit family we had a little more adventure than we anticipated when our car was stolen.  As you might imagine, the entire ordeal was terrible, but it also taught us several lessons. 
 
The Beginning
Our trip started out like most trips.  We drove from Texarkana to Dallas, where we decided to stay the night for two reasons: 1) our son was flying-in from a summer leadership camp in Washington D.C. and 2) our daughter was flying-out the next morning for a 20 day adventure to Australia.  The rest of our children, my wife, and I were all then heading on a road trip to North Dakota.
 
We had rented a room at one of our favorite hotels in Dallas and unloaded what we would need for the night out of our Yukon XL.  We left some of our luggage, our laptops and other items in the vehicle. Attached to the Yukon was a trailer hauling our four-wheelers. We didn't worry about leaving them in the parking lot because the hotel had a night security guard who patrolled the area regularly.
 
The Phone Call
At 8 a.m. the next morning my oldest son received a phone call from the Dallas Police Department telling him they had found a stolen vehicle they believed belonged to us.  The phone call was the start of a 48-hour nightmare.
 
Soon I was meeting with the police, who while nice enough, were honest in noting they probably would not catch the criminals.
 
Lesson 1: Police Impounds
I spent six hours at the police impound lot, which I later found out is the only non-private lot in Dallas.  Ironically, it is also the only place you do not want your car taken. Several of the tow companies charge twice the rate to go to this lot as they do the private lots.  
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