Plans for our summer trips are moving along.  This past week I made hotel reservations for the Montana trip in July.  Today, while on a mini-roadtrip to Fort Campbell for groceries, Jim consulted with Aunt Jean to firm up times and days for the Pearson Family Reunion.  He and I will be going to Louisville on Friday, June 1st to get things set up.  Others will join us on Saturday or Sunday, as their schedules permit, with the actual lunch and meeting on Sunday, June 2nd at noon.

We’ll be staying at the La Quinta Inn on the Southeast side of the city.  La Quinta Inns are our brand of choice.  They are reasonably priced with comfortable rooms and plenty of amenities.  I was first introduced to the LQ on a winter road trip.  I had been to Charlotte, NC to visit my daughter, Jamie, and her family.  It was February, but the winter had been mild up to that point.  I didn’t see any snow going through the mountains on the way there and the roads were still clear on the way home until I left Knoxville in the early afternoon.

That’s when it started to snow.  Big fluffy flakes of white swirling across the road like feathers.  The ground was covered quickly and it still continued to fall.  By the time I had gone 25 miles, traffic was slowed down to under 10 miles an hour.  It got worse after that.  All the lanes were full and the it rapidly became a matter of roll forward a minute or two, sit still for 5 or 10 minutes, roll forward again, and so on.  People were leaving their cars where they sat to walk their dogs along the shoulder of the highway, then coming back when the roll forward phase started.

Road clearing equipment passed us on the right, driving on the shoulder of the road to get out front and clear the way. By the time it started to get dark, probably about 3pm because of the snowstorm, we were in between exits and creeping along at zero miles per hour.  When we finally got to an exit, those of us fortunate enough to be in the right lane, got off to find a restroom and refreshments, not gas, they were already sold out.  Dinner was out of the question.  This wasn’t a town.  It was one of those middle of nowhere Mom and Pop convenience stores with the restroom access on the outside of the building.  The store itself was packed.  I always travel with a cooler in the car and I didn’t even try to go inside.

I was sorely tempted to simply park along the edge of the parking lot and wait for things to clear up, but it was too cold to stay in the car without the engine running and I wasn’t sure how much further I’d have to go before I found a station with gas.  I still had about half a tank, but I decided not to chance it.  I braced myself and headed for the on ramp to get back on I-40.  All I could do was thank God that I had filled the tank in Knoxville and pray He’d keep me safe until I made it to a stopping place.

About 9pm, more than seven hours since it started to snow, I saw a La Quinta Inn sign hovering over the Crossville exit.  Needless to say, their parking lot was packed.  I had to park at the edge of the driveway and walk to the Lobby entrance to find out there were no rooms at this Inn either.  Crossville is a reasonably sized town on a major interstate, just 70 miles from Knoxville.  There were other hotels there.  The desk clerk said he or other stranded travelers had already called all of them.  No one had any rooms left.  The LQ night manager had given permission for anyone who was interested to sleep in the lobby or on the floor of one of their conference rooms for free.

The staff passed out pillows and blankets to grateful visitors and we all curled up next to perfect strangers without a qualm.  The next morning was sunny and clear.  The roads were empty and bare of snow.   It was as though we had suffered a collective nightmare and woken to find ourselves safe after all.  We were even allowed to share the hotel’s free Continental breakfast before getting back into our cars and heading on to our destinations.

I thanked God for the sympathetic and gracious staff members that offered us shelter.  I decided it said something about the LQ corporate attitude that they felt free to do so and I’ve tried to repay their gift by using and recommending their hotels whenever possible ever since.