traveling experiences over the last few months.

Today I made it back home for my weekend around 6am this morning.   Currently this has been my crazy schedule,  I drive up on Monday morning to work and stay up there for the week and then leave to come home on Friday night after work and get home early in the am on Saturdays.   I have been doing this for a little over 2 months now, I am finally getting used to it I think.  

I have had a few interesting situation over these last few months at some hotels and though I would share a few with you.   

To try to keep cost down I started to stay at a Super 8 motel.   I started to stay there mostly because of the cost.  The rooms were sure not anything to be excited about by any means but for the most part it was quiet.   However one night I was coming back to the room on night and stand just outside next to my room was this guy with his shirt off smoking.    I went into my room and latter on that night he was outside smoking and talking on the phone and with a person that was with him and he was for sure part of the KKK.   Oh my gosh, I was freaking scared!   I was sure happy to know that they left the next day. 

My next experience was even scarier.   I saw the cute hotel that had pretty reasonable weekly rates and it looked nice from the outside so I thought I would book it for a week and try it out.  I drove up Sunday night and got in at around 2am on Monday morning and checked in.   I unpacked the car and got into the room that was marginal at best.   However the price was right though.   As I was unloading the car 2 guys walked by and I didn't think too much of it.   This room was on the bottom floor and had a window in the bathroom area with privacy glass to you couldn't see through it.   I happen to look up and I saw someone peering through the window.  That freaked me out and I turned the light out and shut the door to the bathroom.    Next thing I know someone was banging on the door and blocking the peephole.  Told them to go way, but they persistent and kept banging on the door.  I started to calling the front desk and while I was talking to the front desk clerk they started to pushed the window in trying to get in.   The front desk clerk scared them away!   I keep some tools in the car so I grabbed a hammer and knife that I slept with all week.    That night is one of the few times in my life that I can truly say I was scared.  I will never go back to that hotel for sure.

Those two bad experiences prompted me to continue to find better places to stay.  This brings me to trying Airbnb.com   My 1^st experience I really didn't know what to expect in the booking process and how things work but it was really an easy site to use.   The first home I stayed at was so cool experience.  They welcomed me in and I was made to feel so welcome there.   The first night we talked and shared life’s experiences and it was such a cool experience.  In the morning I love to have coffee and conversation before work was such a great way to start the day.   I really enjoyed that week.

The next 2 weeks I tried a different place and again I was taken aback at how welcoming my hosts were.   They made me feel so at home and like a part of the family.   This last week they made me dinner every day.  It was such a cool experience.   I will be staying a few weeks next month with them again and am so looking forward to it.   They are cool people and I am hoping that I will be able to cook them some dinners.  

What I have really learned from these experiences is that I really am more of a people person than I ever thought and that having a good conversation and learning about someone’s experiences in life is very important to me.   

Unrealistic Expectations

I was talking to a friend yesterday and he was asking me how I was doing in my new job.   I said that I was pretty discouraged in that there was so much that need to be done to make it a proper running facility.   He looked at me and asked how long have you been at this job, I was like well right around 7 weeks.   He smiled at me and said don't you think it unrealistic to think you can change it around in that time.    He was so right and I needed those few words of wisdom!  

I have to admit I also had expectations that things would just fall into place as well for our family.   They have but not in the ways I thought though.   Brenna is doing very well with her school and very happy.  Christa is doing very well in her school too.  Her school is very wonderful and she is fitting in well this year.  Tina is doing very well in her job as well.   So for the family things are fitting in to place so much better than the last few years.    My expectations of moving the family up to a new state just for my job is very realistic.   So it looks like it’s going to be commuting for a while longer for me.  

I do feel blessed that I have a job.   It’s in the aviation field, challenging and pays ok, so I can't ask for much more at this point.