Been a few weeks since I’ve been on–wasn’t able to post from the road.
The drive to Utah was long. Very long. The first night was horrifying, really–a Super 8 motel near Indianapolis, and it was a nightmare. Not THE worst motel I’ve ever stayed in, but close. Touted as a non-smoking room, it was clearly not that. The acrid, choking stench of cigarettes was buried under a thick, nauseating layer of some devastatingly strong air “freshener.” By the time I woke up in the morning, my sinuses had shut down completely. To further contradict the “non-smoking” appellation, every surface in the room (including the carpet and bedding) was marred with cigarette burns. The tub was oddly slimy, the shower curtain stank of cat-piss mildew, and the bathwater was scarily slippery and stank of, to be completely indelicate, ass. The AC didn’t really work at all, but we had a small fan with us, and that was good enough.
Had we seen the roach the night before rather than right before leaving, we’d have left.
The second night, in Lawrence, Kansas, wasn’t so bad. A Days Inn with exterior doors, it was okay. After the Super 8 the day before, it seemed even better than it really was. They had just laid asphalt in the lot, which made for a bad stink when the door was open, but that was hardly a huge issue. The smoke alarm started tweeting a couple of hours in, but the gentleman from the front brought new batteries immediately. Which didn’t fix it, but hey, he was fast. We fiddled with it until it stopped. And Rock Chalk Jayhawk, right?
The third night was another Super 8 (thanks, Verizon, for giving us not-really discounts at really crappy motels), this one in Denver. No lawn at all for the dog–just asphalt and broken glass. An odd stretch out behind with mattresses leaned against a fence and white sheets strewn about on the ground. Smelled vaguely smoked in, but not terribly. Like it happened a long time ago. The carpet, however, was SOAKING WET. Clearly freshly shampooed and not very well. As it slowly dried, it became increasingly tacky, eventually settling on flat-out STICKY. Gross.
Getting to Utah was weird. The air was so bad. SO bad. By the end of the week, my throat and sinuses were sore, raw, and my throat was going toward razor blades. A week later? I’m still chugging up mouthfuls of thick, yellow-green, foul-tasting snot, and my throat feels like I’ve smoked five packs. Voice still more gone than not. Not sure how people survive in that garbage.
We stayed at the Riverdale, Utah Motel 6, and I have to say, for a Motel 6? Very nice. Fake wood floors, nice enough beds, AC worked great. Good pet area, ample parking. If you’re looking for something on the cheap, I’d recommend it. One thing, though–the WiFi costs $4.99 a day. And you have to pick up a “do not disturb” sign from the front desk. They don’t like handing them out, guess it’s their way of keeping tweakers from setting up cooking facilities in the motel. Yay.
This is starting read like a travelogue, and maybe that’s how I’ll leave it. The next can be about seeing Ma for the first time in almost five years.
Pictures to come–we shot over 10,000 on this trip, so it’s going to take a while to get them uploaded and sorted through.
BellaLunatic 