The Road Trip

It's me! I'm back! No more auto-blog.

I'm in Colorado. I'm living here now (but more on that later). But now I need to tell you about our road trip out here.

We packed our cars full. Ezra rode with Vernon, and the girls rode with me. We were planning on stopping at a Pizza Ranch in Iowa on the way, right? I had checked online beforehand and saw that there were a gazillion Pizza Ranches in Iowa, so I didn't write down the locations of any of them because I figured that we would just run into one when we needed it SINCE THERE WERE SO MANY.

But, by the time we reached the last city in Iowa on I-80, Council Bluffs, we still hadn't run into one.

So we ate at the Golden Corral instead (because the kids were expecting an all-you-can-eat-buffet). It tasted like barf, but the kids were happy.

We drove some more, and then stopped in North Platte, Nebraska, for the night. We stayed at a place called The Hospitality Inn because it looked the cheapest (and I later saw a sign for it that said: "The Best Price Around")... paint peeling, kind of run-down... this is what the Kuznia's look for on a road trip, people.

Ironically enough, once we got in there we realized that we had stayed there before (on a previous road trip), so, I guess our taste hasn't changed much.

But here's the thing... this crappy hotel... paint peeling, kind of run-down... it cost $77 ($53 for a single person, $15 for additional adult, kids were free, plus the tax). What the heck? Since when do really crappy hotels start costing us $77? I don't remember ever paying $77 for a crappy hotel room. If I'm paying $77, I should be staying at the Ritz Carlton, if you ask me.

So, anyway, the (what do you call the person who checks you in at a hotel?) lady told us that there were crickets in the swimming pool (it was outdoors) because it was mating season for the crickets or something. We checked it out, and there were a bunch of dead crickets in the pool, but Ocean said she wanted to swim in there anyway. So we went to the room, the kids changed into their swimsuits, but when we arrived at the pool again, the gates were locked and we couldn't get in.

So, we went to this place instead (because it was right next door and it was free).

I tried to get on the internet at the hotel (because I had this insatiable urge to update my facebook status to read: "Allison is in North Platte, Nebraska!"), but it wasn't working.

I go to complain to the (what do you call the guy who is now working behind the desk at the hotel?) hotel person about all of this. I say, "We kind of picked this place to stay because it said it had a swimming pool and free internet, and none of those were working. Do you think you could give us some sort of discount on our room?"

He says, "The swimming pool is open. I was just in there."

I say, "But it wasn't open when we went there to swim at 6:30 pm."

He says, "But it's open now."

It is 9:00 pm.

I say, "But my kids are in bed now."

He says, "But it's open now."

I say, "So... I can get a discount on our room, because this wasn't what we expected?"

He says, "No, once it has gone through, it's gone through. There's nothing I can do."

I notice some business cards sitting on the counter with the manager's name on it.

I say, "Well, can we contact the manager so I can talk to him about this."

He says, "That's me."

I say, "Oh."

So, the next day, I say to Vernon, "Just watch, five years from now, we will check into this place again and not realize that we have been here before."

And Vernon says, "Five years from now, we won't have to stay in places like this."

END ROAD TRIP STORY

So, I have more to stay, but my time is running out on this library computer (we don't have internet hooked up at home yet). I still need to get to the part about the library toilet paper, the free couch, and a bunch of other stuff. Oh, and there are pictures too!

But, for now, I will just leave this with a...

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