Years ago, I fished a beach in Rhode Island early one morning and then decided take a break and hit MickyD's for some lunch.
It wasn't much more than a mile or so out to RT. 1, still I was real surprised to see my rod had made it all that way, riding on the roof of the van, when we pulled into the parking lot.
Now, the first thing that I do when I walk up to the car is put my rod in full sight on the windshield (not the roof )... even before I start digging for keys
Never forgot again