2004-08-22 - 4:30 p.m.
ROAD TRIP, part 1.
I know, you probably thought I actually did die of a heart attack.....it's been sooo long since I posted! But no, my heart is still ticking (although I'm still waiting on the results of the test I had last week)......I've just been out and about and away from the internet.
On Wednesday, we left San Francisco and drove up to Dunsmiur, CA on a quest to find the cheapest, most retro motel possible. Normally, it's only about a 4 hour drive to get there, but for some unknown reason, this time the freeway was backed up, blocked off, and detoured.....and the maximum speed we were able to go hovered around 5 mph....for hours! So we decided to head off onto the side roads and look for adventure.
Sure enough, about a half hour later, we found ourselves in the middle of no where, dumpster diving in the back of a "greasy spoon" restaurant! You wouldn't believe the stuff they were throwing out......all sorts of stainless steel barware, espresso steaming pitchers, tons of stuff.....and it was all like brand new! But the piece de resistance was the little guy pictured below. He's about 4 feet tall, you can plug him in, and he actually moves! We had to have him!!
After that, it was a pretty steady crawl to Dunsmuir, so we didn't get there until super late. We had planned to stay at one motel that we'd driven past a million times over the years, but we also had several other back up plans just in case (or so we thought!)
When we got there, we noticed that the name had been changed to "The Best Choice Inn," but we soon began to realize that it was clearly not the best choice. Unfortunately by that time, all the other motels were either full or closed for the night, so we really had no choice!
It appeared that the motel had not been maintained for some time. The lobby was in a state of being torn down or maybe being rebuilt.....we weren't sure which. There were no towels in the room, no glasses, no waste basket.....and less than half a roll of toilet paper. The toilet seat did not fit the toilet. The bathtub had spider webs, a dead moth, and three other kinds of bugs crawling in it. The tile was all broken around the shower fixtures. Oy. We figured that the place had probably changed hands, and may have been sort of "closed for remodelling," but the guy who checked us in wasn't about to turn away paying customers!
So we unpacked our cocktail mixings, made a couple of martinis, and made the best of it! (Fortunately, we were able to get the manger to wrangle us some towels, and he even got us some cups from the abandoned restaurant!) But the really amazing thing is, both Alan and I had the best night's sleep that we've had in a long time! And that is truely amazing, because I am a cronic insomniac.....sleeping in a place like that would have normally been more like not sleeping at all. But I slept like a rock! Go figure. (But, nonetheless, I think it's safe to say that we won't be going back!)
Anyway, the next day we drove up to Astoria....taking nearly every exit off the freeway in search of more adventure, but alas, we found none. (It just ended up taking us forever to get here!) Then on Saturday, we went to the Antiques Road Show......but that is a whole post in itself. So stay tuned for:
ROAD TRIP, part 2.........
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