Friday – November 2, 2012
The temperatures were steadily dropping and the house was very cold. We had braved two more cold nights at home and roamed northern Westchester by day seeking warm places to hang out. I felt like a homeless person seeking food and the warmth of shelter. This morning Jeff said, “Let’s pack a bag and get out of here!” So we did. We packed our small travel suitcases, grabbed our cameras and portable computers, and drove away with no particular destination. I had always wanted to do this, but in more positive circumstances.
We only got as far as Brewster, NY and drove into the parking lot of the Ever-Ready Diner on Route 84. They had power and internet service and we wanted lunch. Jeff did a Google search of available hotels and found one room in Norwalk, Connecticut so we grabbed it. It took almost an hour to drive to the Hilton Garden Inn and we found it easily with Jeff’s “talking lady”. That’s what we call his portable GPS. We checked in and asked why they had rooms available when no one else did. The young man behind the desk said that someone had mistakenly double booked ten rooms and when the error was noted those rooms became available. We were lucky enough to be searching at just that moment. Now, an hour later, there were NO rooms left for the rest of the week. There were so many people without power that all the hotels in the area were full and charging top rates.
The first thing we did when we entered the room was turn up the heat! After the room was toasty, I took a nice long bath in really hot water. For tonight, we had a warm place to sleep. So nice……