Teleolodging

From the welcome sheet that came with my Wyndham Hotels affinity program card:

At the new Wyndham, thoughtfulness and intelligent design define everything we do, so you can be well fed, well rested and well treated. Be well.

OMG… You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. This is a good example why the management aphorism that “Anyone can write copy” is false.

Jeepers!

When I was a kid, I thought Jeeps were kind of cool. They were the kind of rough and tumble go anywhere vehicles that appeal to the same kind of spirit as cyclocross: someone who revels in being a little strange and getting a bit dirty.

That was about as far as that unspoken desire ever went, at least until last week, when I found myself in sole possession of a rental Jeep Wrangler for a week on the mountainous little island of St. Thomas.

Needless to say, the thing is stupid fun. It’s small and light, which makes it vastly preferable to the four-door behemoth we rented at the same time, which does nothing to earn its “Wrangler” nameplate.

There’s no way you can beat driving under the stars with the soft top down, with ska and 80s tunes playing through the stereo via your iPoo. The Wrangler took to the rough, windy, narrow, hilly roads like a drunk, top-heavy gazelle, making it a, uhh, pleasure to drive.

Between the sheer fun-ness of driving it, plus the liberating ability to drive over just about any kind of terrian, it felt very much like the first thrill of freedom I got when I first started driving back in high school. And if it gets dirty, just drive it back and forth through a small lake a few times!

Like I say, it was stupid fun. I’ll miss it when we eventually have to leave Fantasy Island.