Alarmed, but not by a clock

Our hotel room this week was very pleasant, something of a suite, a half wall separating the bed and sitting areas.  The heating/air conditioning unit, however, is a bit of a design flaw.  It's hard to adjust the temperature and blows directly on the bed, the trajectory of the air not adjustable.  Blessedly, the window will open.  Problem solved.

We wanted an early start home this morning, so I had set the cell phone to wake us at 5:45.  With the window open during the night I could feel that the weather had changed, a cool dampness that made drawing up the comforter just the right thing to do. 

Shortly after 5:00 I came completely out of the bed, very nearly in a panic.  What?  What?  Tripped at the end of the bed trying to get to the phone.  The most ungodly, outrageous sound.  No, not the alarm.  Outside.  With a pounding heart I peered through the drapes into the socked in dark.  To my left I saw the outline of a huge container ship's load slowly moving up the river -- intermittently sounding a fog horn.

I did turn off the alarm before crawling back into bed.  But, I didn't go quite back to sleep after that.

Breakfast in the hotel dining room, boisterous goodbyes until next year, heading over the bridge shortly after 8:30.  Home, with stops for fuel and milk, before noon and back into our normal routine.