Homeless Adventure

We were heading back to the temple for the weekend. We decided we would head out Friday night after work so we didn't have to get up at 3 am and make the long drive to the temple. I had made reservation a couple days prior for a hotel and made a reservation for the doggie daycare, since we would be gone the entire day at the temple. Everything was going great. We got a good start-picked up dinner and a big drink, we watched a movie on the way and made really good time. We got to the hotel around 11 pm. We got out of the car and went to go check in. We paid for the room and then the woman (who shall remain nameless) at the counter asked us to sign a paper stating that we wouldn't have animals in our room. Evan & I just looked at each other dumbfounded. I looked at the woman and said, "Uh, we have two small dogs in the car." The woman said,"Well as of March first we are no longer pet friendly." I said,"But your website says you are pet friendly." The woman said, "No, I know the person who does the website and it doesn't say pet friendly." I begged to differ. My phone was dead and I was so ready to show the proof, but Evan is not much for confrontation plus he didn't want us to go off on the woman. I said, "My dogs have their own kennels, we wont even let them out in the room." She said,"No." As she was doing the paperwork for our refund, there was just silence. Right when we were leaving a man walked in and said,"Do you have any rooms available?" We said to him,"You can have our room because we can't stay here" and walked out. I was so livid. I could feel the blood boiling in my veins. Evan was trying so hard to be calm and to just find another solution. I was ready to put my gloves on and battle it out with proof on my phone that they had to let us stay there.

Each of our spacious suites features a wet bar, microwave, refrigerator and sleeper sofa. Non-smoking and handicapped-accessible rooms are also available, and kids 17 and under stay free with an adult at our pet-friendly hotel. 

We called every hotel within reason to us and there was "No room in any Inn".  We ended up driving back and forth searching for places to stay. By this point, I just said lets sleep in the Walmart, there was a movie about a woman who slept in the Walmart. My humor was not making the situation better. We didn't bring any blankets or pillows with us because I figured I would stay up with Evan while he drove. We had one pillow from the cross country trip that was still in there and the dogs blanket. We stopped at Walmart to go the the restroom before a long night sleeping in the car. We talked about buying a blanket and pillow at Walmart but in our frustration we figured we would be just fine. We were warm enough, in 40 degree weather, at that point with extra sweatshirts and whatnot. It was around 1 am and about when we finally settled on parking in the church parking lot {seemed the safest}.We heated up the car and cracked the windows slightly. The dogs slept on me and I had the blanket. Evan had the flimsy pillow. We reclined the seats and tried to catch some ZZZs. The car wasn't that uncomfortable for a car, but then again I have never really had to "sleep" in a car. By about 3 am, My nose started to freeze and Evan was cold. We turned on the car and it got as warm as it could for just sitting there. I gave Evan the blanket because I had two furry babies that were toasty warm. We managed to get back to sleep and by 6:30 am the sun was up and Evan couldn't sleep with cold feet anymore. He was ready to find a place to eat, go the bathroom and get dressed. We ended up stopping at a McDonald's, got some breakfast and attempted to get moving for the day. We couldn't decide whether to be really ghetto and change, brush teeth and get cleaned up all in the same place we ate breakfast or to find another place to awkwardly scan whether it was clean enough to get ready. We ended up driving back to the temple in hopes we could find someone to get us a key to change in the church building next to the temple. Fortunately, looking like a bum, I went up to a guy all dressed in his suit, and asked him that very question. A bit caught off guard and perplexed, lets assume he didn't judge us, he said, "You can change in the waiting room in the temple," to which I responded,"I just don't feel right walking in with my holy jeans and bulky dog hair filled sweatshirt.." I am pretty sure he agreed and said,"Ok." He went into the temple and came out bearing gifts! The key! Lets just say, there is something about brushing your teeth that makes you feel a whole lot cleaner, even if you haven't taken a shower and you've had dogs sleeping on you all night. I can't even imagine how Mary felt carrying the Savior of the world and riding on a donkey for her journey and everyone denying them a place to sleep for the night. We had a bitter sweet day! What an interesting faith building journey! And all because we wanted to serve in the House of the Lord. Can you say the ADVERSARY had his name written all over this one? I am glad we pushed through and did our best to not have a contentious night, even if silence was the best solution. We enjoyed such a beautiful spirit throughout the day and we're hoping our next trip to work at the temple is less stressful and more uplifting! We are very blessed!