roadtrippin

I love hotel rooms. Most of my friends say that they never rest well in a hotel; that they dread that part of any trip. I just love the hotel experience! To me, the hotel room is as much a part of the trip as the destination, and each one is a new adventure. First, I try out the beds, and see which one is mine. Then I play with the pillows. Tonight we're staying at a Hampton (one of my favorites) and the beds are equipped with 4 standard pillows, a lumbar pillow, a lap desk, and an overstuffed duvet. Now how can you not enjoy that??? After checking out the bedding, I explore the bathroom, which is where they usually have the coffeepot, and I make certain we've got the cute little shampoos and soaps, and plenty of fluffy towels. While I'm working on that, Kate investigates the drawers to be certain there is a Gideons Bible. Last, or sometimes first, depending, we set the thermostat. One of the best things about a hotel stay is you can set the thermostat for your room as warm or cool as you like; your electricity usage was included in the room price. ;-) Another thing to look forward to is the continental breakfast in the morning, and Hampton and Holiday seem to have the best ones, hands down.

Another great thing about a road trip is all the eating out you are 'forced' to do. This evening has to have been one of our all time greatest eating-out experiences ever. I had a gift card for TGIFriday's that a veryveryveryvery cool person gave me for my birthday last May, and I've been saving it for the right opportunity. This was it! In preparation for the trip, last week I went to Friday's website and located the restaurant nearest our hotel. While there, I learned that I could sign up for the eFriday club and get a coupon good for a free appetizer up to $8. there were several to choose from, and we chose to split a most delicious spinach dip with tortilla chips. We had a bit of humor when I gave the waitress my coupon, and explained to her that I had printed on the back of all my driving directions to save on paper. The manager very graciously made a copy of the directions for me, so that they would not be lost with the coupon! =) Within a few minutes of finishing off the spinach dip, our meals arrived. If we thought the dip was good, we were blown away by the entrees. I had the Peruvian Chicken with sweet potato fries (one of the new recipes, btw), Kate had the Portabello Melt with pepperpot soup, and Trav had the Jack Daniels chicken and shrimp platter. There was not a single thing on anyone's plate that was less than excellent, but we still forced ourselves to eat only half, so that we could still split a piece of Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with White Chocolate Mousse. Yes, you read that right. Yes, it was absolutely heaven. I mean, it was so good that if you told that we'd have it in heaven all we wanted, I would just go out there and lay down in front of a car right now. Ok, well not right now, but later, after I'm not so overstuffed.

Since we got back to the hotel around 830, and we've been just hanging out here in the room. I'm playing with the courtesy wireless, drinking courtesy hot tea, and chatting with you all. Kate is reading, and Trav is watching tv. It's quiet, warm, comfy, and just after 10 now. I think we'll all turn in for the night, and hopefully Kate can rest tonight and be fresh of brain in the morning.
That's all the news that's fit to print.