I stood on top of a mountain today.  If you know me at all you know the impact of that statement and I had the most perfect moment.  The surrounding silence of my majestic mountain was stunning and I thought to myself, “Everyone should have the opportunity to stand on top of a mountain at least once in their life.”

There is an age-old saying; money can’t buy happiness.  I think I could argue the point.  Money bought this and I’m pretty damn happy right about now.  Have we been traveling like this for the past eight weeks?  Absolutely not.  This little slice of paradise is the result of a substantial withdrawal from our points bank, but that’s a story for another post.

Did you ever arrive somewhere, full of anticipation, and almost immediately realize it wasn’t going to do it for you?  You can’t quite put your finger on why, but you know you’re not feeling it.  That was our nearly immediate reaction to San Antonio, TX.

I wasn’t sure what to title this post:  Southern Hospitality is Alive and Well?  The 25-cent Martini? The 3-Martini Lunch?  Happy Birthday to Me?!  So, fueled by a 3-Martini lunch I thought I’d just start writing and see where it takes me.

It would seem, when the great minds of engineering laid out the path of Interstate 10, they said, “Hey, let’s keep it simple; just mow down the forest and slap on the asphalt.”

Wheel of Fortune. “Will you marry me, Patti?” quipped Pat Sajak. Of course I replied, “Sure!”  I was obviously already married.  I wasn’t sure what to write on my bio card. I wrote, pastry chef.  At the time as I baked a lot of the desserts for our restaurant. It’s why Pat asked me to marry him.  Apparently, he liked desserts. But back up…

Table Etiquette. If you’re of a certain age you may remember fine dining with white linen table cloths, numerous utensils on the table and trying to figure out which fork to use when – always start from the outside and work your way in – and the waitstaff always seemed to know exactly when you were finished and how to properly pace the service.

If I had a nickel for every time someone said to me, “Oh, I’d love to own a B&B, it would be so much fun.” I’d be able to add a couple of dollars to my growing stash of if I had a nickel wealth.

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me I should write a book. A book about our lives in the hospitality industry, I’d be a wealthy woman.  Well, no, actually, I’d have about $1.35 in my pocket but you get my point.

Mt. Rushmore.  After setting up camp in our 3-month rental house, in our new life in Ashland, OR, we had several weeks to call our own before we took ownership of what is now our B&B.  We took care of a few matters of business and spent time scouting out our new town.  When the time was right we packed our son’s car and drove it across country with a plan to cross off Mt. Rushmore from our must see list.