THE GREAT ESCAPE

Kelsey was five and Addison was two when we decided to meet friends from Alaska in Eugene, Oregon. They were coming down for a quick vacation and we thought it would be a fun to spend the weekend together. We made our hotel reservations and off we went on yet another Roderick adventure. Dan, Kathy and Andrea met us and we enjoyed a delightful dinner full of good food, lots of laughs and two drowsy little girls.

We said our good nights and looked forward to a good morning with our friends. The rest of the evening was uneventful as we bathed and tucked the girls into a "big girl" bed. They were asleep before our feet hit the floor. We enjoyed some quiet time in front of a TV with a remote. At the time, we were very old school and had not joined the technology of the eighties.

We slept very soundly that night. I awoke to complete quiet in our room. Absolute silence. No little girl noises at all. Through a hazy, dreamy state I was curious as to why that was and then I sat bolt upright in bed. Our girls were not in their bed. I jumped up to find that a trash can had been tipped upside down by the room door and the chain lock was unlatched, the door slightly ajar. How did I not hear this? I screamed at Scott and we both took off down the hall calling for the girls. My biggest fear was the pool. I was out the door in seconds and dashing towards the still water.

Scott was still searching the halls of the hotel as we met back up with no little girls. This all took place in probably about three minutes although it seemed as if time had stopped altogether and I did not know how to turn it back on. We were ready to dial 911 when our friends poked their heads out of their room and asked us if we had lost something very dear to us. Two little blondes were standing behind them. I felt such relief I can not begin to describe the emotion. We thanked Dan and Kathy and gathered up our skilled renegades and took them back to the room.

We sat them both down and explained that they must never leave us without our permission, especially when we were away from home in a strange place. Kelsey looked up at me with those big blue green eyes and said "You were sleeping and we didn't want to wake you up." Addison stood next to her shaking her head up and down in agreement.

Needless to say, to this day we hide the trash cans when we enter a hotel room.