What I love about Best Westerns

Our family was scheduled to fly to Florida tonight to visit Paul's 98 year old grandmother for a few days. But then the RUMOR of snow came, and our flight was cancelled. And since Paul's grandmother isn't getting any younger, and since we were already packed and geared up to go, we got in the car and DROVE instead. So here we are, at a Best Western in Walterboro, SC. Ellie is in the bed next to me, snoring her sweet head off and Paul is at the desk, reading online weather maps. And I am in the middle, in my Best Western bed with loads of pillows behind me, finally writing in this darn blog, content and happy. I love staying in hotels. I really do. And other than a mild concern that the bedspread is a dark brown (I saw one of those creepy shows about how little they wash hotel bedspreads and have loved Hampton Inns, with their WHITE bedspreads, ever since), I'm at peace. I'm one of those funny people who gets excited about putting my clothes away in the little drawers underneath the t.v., who relishes the tiny fridge and coffee maker (scary rumors about those, too - but I won't dwell on that). When I stay in a hotel, I am much more likely to floss my teeth, gargle for the full two minutes, wake up in the morning and have a proper quiet time, hang up my clothes instead of throwing them on the floor, sit down and actually write in my BLOG. It's a glorious feeling to have so little, to have constraints on time and space and STUFF. I kind of love hotels like I love airplanes and long road trips, too. Because they provide a kind of buffer between me (or in this case, us) and the rest of life. For a little while, I'm suspended from wherever I'm coming from and wherever I'm going to, leaving me feeling a little bit freer, a little more able to just enjoy the moment and the people around me. This may sound cheesy, but it makes me think of Tolkein's Rivendale - that beautiful place off the beaten path where Frodo and his friends went to heal and gain strength for the rest of the journey. I know - Best Western is NO Rivendale (which I'm pretty sure used white bedspreads and cleaned the coffee pot out after EVERY use) - but still - these in-between times are a gift. And this sometimes addled and heavy ladened A.D.D.  girl is grateful for moments of rest & simplicity, even when found within the walls of a Best Western in Walterboro, SC:-)...