🙂 sorry n – it wasn’t complete, just ran out of time on the bus (i was blogging on my phone on the way home from work).

so, from where i left off:

i ran up the steep and muddy trail. it was pitch dark and i couldn’t see a damn thing, so i was mostly just hoping i ended up in the right place. i could hear little critters in the woods around me, and i kept clapping at them to scare them off (because i always remember this horrible campfire tale i was told years and years ago when i was a girl scout). eventually, i could see the hotel lights above me, and it was even harder to figure out the trail with the lights blinding me. i decided that with my bad knee, going back DOWN the slope with the light behind me was going to be much worse.

i went in the back door into the bar/lounge, and everyone in there looked at me like i was the creature from the black lagoon. i was panting and wheezing a lot. (my breathing problems of a couple of weeks ago, when i lost my voice for a week, were really exacerbated by this little adventure.) i wheezed over to the reception desk and after panting for a second, asked the man there how i would drive to the lake at the bottom of the hill. then i went up to the room to get my credit card & pin.

with sudden insight, i realized that i wasn’t entirely sure i had the right pin for the card either, and checked the numbers… indeed, wrong pin. quick thinking, i called matt:

M (amid laughter and music): I’ve been caught!
S (wheezing): oh, i guess you’re not at home…
M: hahahahaha! no, why?
S: (short synopsis) … but you’re not at home so i’ll think of something else
M: well, i’m not at home, so what do you expect me to do?
S: uh, nothing. you’re not at home.
M: oh. well, what DID you want me to do?
S: check the rabobank file for the paper with my pin on it.
M: oh. well i can’t because i’m not at home (apparently matt had had a great deal of whiskey by this point).
S: yes i know. don’t worry, i’ll figure something out! bye!
M: don’t get arrested! love you!
S: love you too! don’t worry! bye!

then i had another quick thinking: how much cash did i have?? i opened my wallet to count it, and found, in small bills, 60 euros. the tab was for 75. with small european tip we needed at least 80.

i was considering how long it would take me to drive to spa, find a bank machine, and drive back to the lake…

then i considered if the hotel could be persuaded to part with cash on my tab…

then i remembered that during the day’s ride, i hadn’t wanted to carry my wallet with me, and had squirreled away 20 euros in my leathers in case of gas or food need.

so i collected all the money together, grabbed my helmet, grabbed D’s helmet, and straps, strapped the extra helmet to the back of the bike, and drove off to the rescue! a little drunkenly…

end of story: D was rescued, was drunk enough to agree to ride back to the hotel with me drunk-driving, and we laughed and drank in the hotel bar until all hours.

a good little adventure, even on a pretty adventure-less (if very enjoyable) trip.

we were in Hotel Dorint, in Balmoral, near Spa, in the Belgian Ardennes. (alis asked, i think)