Hello D.C.!!

I drove to Washington D.C. yesterday for the RWA National Convention. What a beautiful drive! I love the trees and hills of West Virginia. The entire trip gave me fabulous scenery to enjoy. I'm grateful for purchasing the Garmin GPS, which brought me all the way without my having to watch for routes. Love it! The only weird thing is Garmin told me to turn left on Woodley NW, take the next first left and I had arrived at destination. Not true! I found my little Camry dwarfed by huge apartmen buildings on each side. That's when my heart started pounding. How in the world would I find my hotel? I must have put in the wrong address! I don't know how I wound up back on Woodley NW again, but headed in the opposite direction. I went across Connecticut Avenue to the opposite side and there was the hotel! The good Lord watched out for me.

First adventure was to wait for the concierge to help me load my luggage on a rack and turn my car over to Valet attendant. The concierge then stood holding my receipt until I handed him a tip. I knew it was coming, but he was so obvious! How much do you tip for a 50 foot walk into the hotel? I handed him a $5 and he gave me my red receipt.

I went to the registration desk where the clerk happily entered my name and took my ID and credit card. Then she told me the hotel had overbooked for that night and they would happily put me into another hotel and pay for the room. I could come back the next day and check in at the Marriott. She must have seen the total panic in my expression as I shook my head and said, "No, no." She smiled and said she did have a room with one queen bed that was ready. I accepted. "The room is available for your entire stay with us." Well, that was nice. I didn't want to change rooms or hotels! I couldn't believe it when I was assigned a first floor room. With 2,000 romance writers, getting an elevator would have been a nightmare!

The bellhop brought me to my room along with all the luggage, including a case of water which I'd purchased back in Columbus. Imagine my surprise to see a refrigerator in the room! Yay! Cold water for me.

After letting hubby know I'd arrived safely, I ventured out and checked out the huge hotel! Had a sandwich and came back to get my camera. The grounds surrounding the hotel are beautiful. I forgot to bring my camera usb cord so I can't post pictures until I return home. Anyway, I took some pictures of the landscaping and headed back to my room. I ran into a fellow author, Laurie Kingery, who writes for Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historicals. We had a nice chat over some food and I retired to my room for the night.

Hooked up my laptop and logged on. I found a google alert and when I followed the link I found that Sarita Leone had posted an interview with me. I thought it was scheduled for the 21st, so I was surprised. Anyway, if you check it out and leave a comment, you might be the winner of a free ebook copy of my latest release, JOSHUA'S HOPE.

http://saritaleonepages.blogspot.com/2009/07/welcome-carol-ann-erhardt.html

Thanks for stopping by!