This year the POD conference is in St. Louis, and I had to laugh as I drove down 71 South to Louisville to get on 64 West to St. Louis. There was a bit of a dearth of creativity when they were naming these big cities. I had actually forgotten how much relative nothing there is between these two namesakes of the infamous King. No, wait, there are a lot of truck stops, which means there are a lot of trucks. I borrowed my-very-good-friend Ralph's little Honda Fit for this drive, and there I was on I-64 West, an ant among the 18 wheeled elephants. It was actually pretty funny because it felt like I was driving through these huge mobile canyons. As I went deeper into the Midwest, I felt the culture change, or maybe it was just the rural depth of western Kentucky. I stopped for gas at a Flying J truck stop half-way to St. Louis (Gateway to the West, BTW), and I got some coffee. I was standing at the counter to pay for my coffee, and a large man in a red Flying J apron over a stained white polo shirt said, "That's a lovely ensemble you have on tonight. Very pleasant to the eyes," and he tucked his thumbs into the strings of his apron and nodded with great satisfaction. This was disorienting for me at so many levels. Here's what I was wearing:
Not wanting to just stare at him in shock, I mastered myself and tried to say, as cheerily as possible, "Thanks!" What else could I say? The red of my bloodshot eyes must have been set off nicely by the green scarf.
Anyway, here at POD, we are at the Hyatt near the Arch. I got in when it was dark, and the river, the arch, and the moon were exquisite, but I only got to glimpse this transcendent tableau because I was zooming across the bridge between huge trucks and trying to read the street signs through the gaps in the trailers. I did find the hotel easily enough, and wowey but this is a nice one! It has this Asian motif going on. Here, check out the bathroom sink:
Lovely room, I-Pod dock on the room clock, and the conference has negotiated free wireless for conference attendees. Cool.
1 comment:
Oh I wish I was there! The hotel sheets. The desserts. The think-pair-sharing. Waiting for useful tidbits!
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