by Betty Castleberry

Created on: July 11, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

My daughter, granddaughter and I were going away for the weekend. Just the girls, no men allowed. We had talked of it for months, and planned it for weeks. The mountains would be our destination. There would be no cooking and no cleaning to do and best of all, no men to worry about. Our only activities would be shopping, eating and sightseeing. We could hardly wait.

I spent time online researching the best places to stay. When I had finally made a choice, I called to book a room. The man on the other end of the line apologized, but informed me that they were full. I was disappointed, but moved on to the second choice where I was told the same thing. There was a Renaissance Fair scheduled for that weekend, and it was also the weekend before the fourth of July. Rooms were going to be scarce. I was advised to take the first room I could find. After a few more phone calls, I struck pay dirt. We had a room. It probably wasn't the fanciest room, and it wasn't close to the shops downtown, but it was a room.

When the day finally arrived, I picked up my daughter and granddaughter and we headed for the hills, literally. It was about a four hour drive, so we stopped at a quick shop and bought an arsenal of drinks, chips, crackers, and the one thing no fun-seeking females should be without, chocolate.

The drive really didn't seem so long because we chatted the whole way. My granddaughter, who had just become a teenager, peppered the back seat with her frequent giggles.

Soon we were pulling into a quaint little mountain village, complete with Alpine style buildings. Our motel was barely inside the city limits. We checked in, snickering at the four queen sized beds that awaited us. There were only three of us, but we could have invited five friends, and still had plenty of sleeping room. The dark paneling and 60's style orange shag carpet set us into a laughing spree. Oh, what fun we were going to have!

My daughter half-jokingly announced she had recently read something about bed bugs. According to the article, it was not uncommon for bedbugs to inhabit even the poshest hotels. They not only liked to suck your blood while you slept, but they also liked to hitch rides in your luggage and go home with you. One should, she advised, pull back the bedding and check for any critters that might be lurking there. Bedbugs were creatures of the night, it seemed, so even if we didn't find any, we might see their droppings. She bravely threw back her bedspread and examined her bed. Nothing.

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