I'm not supposed to be home this morning, but I am. I should be finishing up an overnight stay in a hotel somewhere near Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Real life, unstaged view of this sunny Sunday morning. Dorothy in my lap ...
When my husband and I made plans to travel to attend Doug's funeral yesterday, we decided to spend last night at a hotel and head toward home in the morning. (It's a four-and-a-half hour drive from here to there. Doing it all in one day didn't seem to be a wise idea.) We figured that there would be no problem finding a hotel room for the night after we finished for the day ... we figured wrong.
Winnie snuggled under her down throw, with Ruby lounging on the other side of the sofa.
For some mysterious reason, every hotel we called was completely booked. We started calling hotels near where we were in Allentown, then we progressed to calling hotels along our route toward home ... Reading, Lancaster, York ... nothing. The clerks we spoke to were very helpful, and most could report the status of other hotels near them, but there was nothing else they could do for us.
So .... we drew in our breath, squinted our eyes with determination, and kept going. When we reached Maryland, we were tired, but it seemed silly to attempt to stop with only two more hours to go. In Virginia, road work on I-95 added an extra half hour to the trip. We stopped a couple of times along the way, to stretch and walk around and work out the kinks that had developed from a total of 10+ hours in the car during the day. Finally, at 12:45am, we pulled into our own driveway.
Now you see her, then you don't. Having poked her head out to check on things, Winnie burrowed back into her 'cave'.
I have to admit, despite the grueling car trip, it was really nice to fall sleep and wake up in my own bed. Yesterday was a whirlwind ... visitation, funeral, graveside, wake, and a stop at Doug's house to pick up plants ... but it was a good day. Sharing memories and grief with dear friends lightens the load ... thank you very, very much for your concern ... we are all fine.
Since I'm not traveling today, I plan to be outside in the sunshine, working in the garden, listening to football ... sounds like a perfect day!
Happy Sunday, Everyone!!