Grrr...they're trying to keep our deposit!

So, as we do every 2 years, my sisters and I (husband & kids included) all rented a house together for our vacation. This year we ended up changing our place within a few weeks of renting because we ended up with fewer people than originally planned. The price was reasonable...but I was a little nervous because their website (they are part of VRBO.com) did not have any comments from previous renters. This is what they told us:
And I usually don't ask the visitors to put remarks on there. I have several properties through vrbo. Which you can click on the link that says. See all my other listings. And I make sure that they are in great conditions. I do have a lady that just stayed and I can ask her to put some comments in if it makes you more comfortable. But I am always on top of my properties and have never had a. Complaint

Well, we do have a complaint - they are trying to keep our deposit! Unfortunately we did not think to take pics as we left the place as we found it. They are claiming that we did some small things:
~ in one bathroom, they have a black bear toilet paper holder...one foot of this bear was already off when our party arrived. They claim we did this.
~ in another bathroom, there is a piece of the tub faucet gone - this is how it was when we arrived but they are claiming we did this.
~ in the kitchen, a cabinet door hinge came loose. They are claiming we broke the hinge. This is normal wear-n-tear and not something you keep a deposit for.
~ in a bedroom, they are claiming a "gouge" in the amoire. This is the bedroom I stayed in and I certainly never noticed a gouge.
~ they claim we were not respectful of nature and threw beer bottles & cans down the mountainside. They were there when we got there.
~ I'm not impressed with their cleaning lady. On the deck was a large trash can that had a full bag of trash when we arrived. Since you had to take your own trash down the mountain (10 minutes 1 way) we were not about to haul someone else's old trash for them.

We are talking a $200 deposit here. We are not happy. We are in the process of writing them a letter...not that we expect much. Probably will also write to the BBB & the Chamber of Commerce. I'm wondering if this is how they make some extra money...and if this so-called cleaning lady gets a kick-back for each problem she finds..and how many times she's found the "same" problems!

Where did that witch go?

I returned home from a relaxing vacation this past Sunday...just me and my 5 year old in the car for over 1900 miles.... and no working radio or CD player. Anyone care to try that?

We went to the mountains of northern Georgia. Since I was driving down from Michigan I decided to take 2 days to drive it. Good thing I did since I made a wrong turn a time or two...come on, my navigator is only 5! Have you ever tried to change the page on your large atlas going down I-75 at 75 miles per hour? Yikes!

Day 1: the plan was to drive about 6 hours (1/2 way). Hit a traffic jam south of Indianapolis where we went 5 miles in about 50 minutes. By this time it was almost 8 PM and we hadn't even had dinner...time to stop for the night even though we didn't make it to Louisville as I had hoped. A little dinner...a little pool time...and we went right to sleep.

Day 2: the plan was to get to our rental by about 4 PM...should have been about 12 1/2 hours total driving according to my google mapping. So, we left about 9 AM. By my calculations, I should have about 7 hours of driving today. No problem. Until I get to where I-24 & I-40 split...quick - which way do I take? At the last second I change my mind and stay on I-40 to Knoxville. Right away I see this big traffic jam..but it's on the other side of the highway - doesn't affect me, right? Wrong...because about 25 minutes later I realize I should have taken I-24..but to turn around mean waiting in the traffice jam for a least an hour. No thanks! Stopped at a rest area and got some directions and a map from someone working there. Only thing is, these are smaller highways and slower speeds...adding over an hour to my drive. And then our directions from the owner were awful, adding another extra 45 minutes. I actually ended up calling my brothers-in-law and they came out to the entrance so I could follow them back. We were so high in the mountains, there were hardly any houses...no street lights...one lane roads, even going up and around tight turns - scary!! Thanks goodness my sisters had a big glass of wine poured for me when I arrived - at almost 9 PM!!

Oh, and the title of this post? Let me explain! On day 2 (yes, that really long day), as I was driving down the highway, I got hit by a broom...yes, a broom! It came out of nowhere. I think it hit the car in front of me, it hit my van - thank goodness it didn't hit the windshield or a headlight! It did hit the front driver fender and scratched that a bit and put a small bit of a dent in it. But, no major problems. I've told about a dozen people about this and for the first time today, one person asked what happened to the witch! Love it! I don't know what happened to her, but I think I found her broom for her!

The Melting Pot

Have you ever been to the Melting Pot Restaurant? Whoa, I love it! This love affair began a number of years ago when my sisters and I went to the Melting Pot in Asheville NC. Now, at the time, 3 of us lived in Michigan and 2 of us lived in Florida. We started doing a "SOV" weekend every other year. SOV stands for "Sisters On Vacation". We love our SOV time. We pick an interesting location between Michigan & Florida and spend about 4 days together. For us Michigan girls, the trip begins in the car on the way down. Lots of talking, lots of singing, lots of laughing!

Well, this trip, we stayed a couple of days in Gatlinburg, TN; then moved over the Great Smokey Mountains to Asheville NC for one night. And, that one night found us having dinner at the Melting Pot. It was great! We took our time (probably 3 hours overall) ordering and eating. We started with the cheese fondue...salads...main course...and ended with the chocolate fondue. Wow! Just Wow!

We also checked out some stores nearby, and found the neatest furniture store...if I ever win the lottery, I'm so going back there!

Well, a few months ago, our NAWIC chapter #194 did a new fundraiser. We were each given $20 in seed money to "grow". There was a great prize for the person who grew the most from their seed money - a gift certificate to a great restaurant... Don't get ahead of me now! Well, I wanted to try to win that. So, I made handmade chocolates and Kahlua Kits. We held a couple of mini-bazaars where we could sell. I sold most of my chocolates and Kahlua Kits. Then, for a later bazaar, I made my book thongs. They sold great! After the money was tallied, I was declared the winner! And, I got this wonderful gift certificate to (ok, you guessed it!) The Melting Pot.

Next weekend, I'm off to Orlando for a conference...followed by a couple of vacation days. Those vacation days will be spent at my dads, helping him go through years of accumulation and helping clean his house. Most of my sisters will be be helping as well. As a reward, I've suggested we take ourselves out to dinner at the Melting Pot!!

Mmmmm...can't wait!