WHICH IS YOUR CUP OF TEA/COFFEE?

This past week two different events took me out of town away from the End of the Rainbow Valley so lodging was needed.

Monday was a family wedding in the Twin Cities. Reservations were with a chain hotel close to the wedding venue.  In spite of its beautiful decor and good ratings, it took 3 rooms until Natureman and I had a functioning AC. ,

eliminating the possibility of pool time before the wedding. In addition to the moves even though we had decided on a later start the next day to avoid rush hour traffic, housekeeping decided otherwise, slamming doors all around us and then the early knock came on our door. Housekeeping. Guess it was time to get up only to discover there was no caffeinated coffee in the room so I had to get dressed to go downstairs to grab ours. To say the least it wasn't a stellar Sheraton stay. 

The following weekend accommodations were of a very different nature since instead of trying hotels.com I opted for my Couchsurfing membership. I was also traveling with dental hygienist buddy Lynn as we were volunteering again this year at MOM, Wisconsin's free dental clinic. ( Previous posting) Lynn introduced me to MOM and I in turn introduced her to Couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is actually staying with other couchsurfing members in their homes with no charge except to pass on the kindness.  Imagine an AirBnB where the owners live without the charge. We've met some really wonderful folks. 

Our Milwaukee suburban hosts, Marty and Carol, went out of their way to be accommodating starting with regulating the house's temp by remote control , having hotel toiletries and fresh towels awaiting us,  

including us the next morning on their local farmer's market jaunt with delicious smoothies, local vendors of seasonal goodies like strawberries and herbs, music, etc...

 followed by Marty's favorite breakfast         hangout eating breakfast al fresco before we headed out to volunteer. No time to try out our hosts tennis/pickle ball court... 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
We even attended their annual block party with them and met the neighbors. Some even had lived in our neck of the woods.  How 'bout that? A block of all ages of residents with even princesses! 

Our Couchsurfer hosts's home and gardens were as lovely as they were. We hope to return the hospitality some day. Our 'block' party will definitely be smaller, like 'just us', BUT we can certainly continue our conversations... Couchsurfing makes the world a little smaller and I would say preferable to a sterile hotel room. For me that's my cup of tea/ coffee.