Local Benefits

Another favorite benefit of the frequent hotel premiums are the benefits the local hotel puts together for you.  Sometimes it's cash benefits - discounts on meals or beverages, free breakfast, or even reduced admission pricing to some local attraction or health club.

Other times, it's giveaways - free popcorn, granola or candy bar, bottle of soda or water, such as below:

That kind of stuff is pretty standard and have been given away for years.  Recently, I received an interesting twist on the "giveaway" theme"

That's right, at a hotel I recently visited, I got a sample package of Cold-Eeze, a package of Breathe Right nasal strips, and Dijon mustard.  OK, I might give you the Cold-Eeze as their way to promote healthy habits.

But I don't use mustard or ketchup at all on my food, and there's no way to just snack on it before bed.  So what's the point?  And I bring my own remedy for my snoring problem, so the Breathe Right strips are useless for me.

Hope somebody gets some use out of these.......

Welcome Letter

As any frequent traveler, I am signed up to virtually every hotel points program on the planet.  While I generally try to remain loyal to 2 main hotels chains, there are times when you need to stay at a chain I don't normally bed down with.

However, certain benefits accrue while remaining loyal to one or two programs.  Free room upgrades, local benefits from the local franchisee, and other types of benefits.  In the next several posts, I will share some of my favorite benefits, and odd twists I have seen on those benefits.

One of my favorite benefits is a personalized letter in my room upon arrival, and other personalized touches in the room.  The guest programs track the tendencies and preferences of their most loyal customers, and that information is available to individual hotels - but it is up to them to use that information to improve your stay.  So when I see a personalized letter, I know that someone took a few extra minutes to look that information up and I am much more likely to return to that hotel on future stays.

However, in most cases, you receive either a generic welcoming letter, or no letter at all.  While that's doesn't automatically translate to a bad stay, a personalized letter almost certain guarantees good customer service and a good experience.

Within the past couple of weeks I ran across the welcoming letter when I checked into a hotel I had not visited before:

While this message was laminated and therefore technically, a "generic" letter, I found it at least as gratifying as any personalized letter I'd ever received.  I have never seen anything like this in my years on the road, and I doubt I will again.  At least at a chain hotel.  Unfortunately.

Various Lumberjacks

                                                            Guessing he's on break......

Random Road Pics

                              Most towns paint their name on the water tower.  Not this one!

                                                         An Original Carnegie Library

                                                                     Beaver Lodge

Guess this is one option for post-law enforcement

Motorcycle safety?

Saw this guy in traffic on the road this week, and just hadda snap a pic and comment on it.  It was such an odd mix of safety gear, that I laughed out loud.  From top to bottom:

• Helmet - no.  Protective eyewear - yes.  I guess when he wrecks, he'll make a good retina donor.
• Long-sleeve shirt/leather jacket - no; driving gloves - yup.  Road rash apparently is not a concern, but blisters on your hands from riding are.......
• Jeans and/or chaps - nope, just shorts.  And fairly short shorts, at that.
• Protective footwear - yup; cowboy boots with high black socks.  

Can't decide if this guy is brave or clueless.......

"Back" at it

After months of dealing with a medical problem, having surgery to fix it, and working through the initial physical therapy, I am back on the road.  I had been off the road for over 7 weeks around the surgery - the longest stretch in many years.

Having driven over 3000 miles over the last two weeks, I have had a lot of "windshield time" to reflect on what I've missed and what I haven't about traveling all the time:

Things I've missed:

• Being on the road - I know that sounds a little redundant, but traveling is in my genes, and not having been on the road has been hard.  Being out seeing summer come on into full bloom and the endless fields of corn and soybeans just beginning to mature was soothing and had a great restorative power in my soul.  This period has just confirmed that a desk job is not for me.
• The kindness of some folks - I had a very interesting convo with a check-out clerk at a little local pharmacy, who blessed me as I left and said she'd be thinking about me and praying for my safe return home this week.  
• Sunny cool mornings, perfect for driving - and some of the more pleasant sensory experiences of the road; freshly cut grass, the smell of grain elevators emptying their contents into trucks for transport to a processing plant, and the warmth of the sun on your skin as you are putting some miles behind you.

Things I've not missed:

• Crappy hotels - only had one of these over the last two weeks, but it was an older hotel of the chain I frequent that had not been updated recently.  Nor were the hotel staff particularly pleasant or helpful.  I'm not asking for 5 star hospitality for the price I can pay for my stays, but can we at least be kind to one another.
• The odor of factory animal farms  - don't get me wrong, I love a good steak, pork chop, or chicken sandwich, but being downwind of these factory animal farms can be quite unpleasant.
• Folks who are distracted and not using cruise control - FYI - if you are driving and cannot take a phone call or type a text (which we all shouldn't be doing anyway) without slowing down, at least figure out how to do it while using cruise control.  Hopscotch is a playground game for elementary school students, not a game for folks driving down the interstate.

Looking forward to again sharing some of the sights and sounds of the road.

Updated summary from my prior post to 5/31

Monthly summary (thru 5/31/12)

Driving miles – 5831

Flying miles - 0

Nights in a hotel – 13

Days driving at least 100 miles for work – 10

States visited (unique to 2012) – 1

Canadian provinces visited (unique to 2012) - 1

Year to date summary (thru 5/31/12)

Driving miles – 13145

Flying miles - 2110

Nights in a hotel – 35

Days driving at least 100 miles for work – 32

States visited (unique to 2012) -14

Canadian provinces visited (unique to 2012) - 1