A Tale of Beds (or: where we stayed on our roadtrip)
I am sitting in the cozy room in the last location of our road trip before we head home tomorrow, and figured I'd post a quick summary of... well, where we stayed each night, actually. For some reason, this particular element of the trip has been a major point of interest for me; the US is so big and so diverse, that every place had its own flavor, representing in a way the community that surrounds it.
Before I start, a quick summary: we started on our trip on friday, 4/13 - Friday the Thirteenth (cue evil laughter) - leaving Vallejo, CA in a counter-clockwise 2800 mile trip that will eventually go through southern cal, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and back again. Our house went on the market on 4/14 and we figured we'd stay away for the first two weekends of open houses, and anyway, we needed an excuse to get away.
One obvious conclusion: my admiration for our Honda Odyssey minivan has grown leaps and bounds. The car has served us extremely well, never complaining through different weather, elevations, speeds and road conditions, not to mention general abuse from both the outdoors and its inhabitants (err, us). Not a rattle, not a squeak, not a hint of a problem (except when I forgot to turn off the inside lights one night and the battery went dead overnight, but it started right up as soon as we jumped it). Just a tremendously reliable car, but also enjoyable in the sense that I could drive hundreds of miles at a stretch and my back would not complain.
I mention speeds: at least for a few hundred miles I was going *cough* close to the car's electronic speed limiter (kicks in at about 118) and the car was as stable then as when I was doing 65. I did get caught once in Utah, so I am now the proud owner of a Utah traffic ticket for doing 100 in a 75. But the car never complained. It also never complained when I gave it the ol' "airplane refuel" treatment, leaving the engine running as I added gas, nor did it complain when we ran it for 10 or more hours straight, because turning it off would mean the portable DVD players would turn off too and the kids were watching movies.
But back to the main gist of the story.
Mile 1, Friday 4/13: Friday we took off around 3PM, heading south to Valencia, with the aim of visiting Magic Mountain Saturday. We got there around 9PM, and found a room at the Days Inn Castaic. The beds were quite uncomfortable, the noise was terrible (kids were running up and down the 2nd-floor porch screaming until at least 2AM), but it was clean, relatively cheap ($80), and had wireless. Notable was that the motel was apparently full of rebellious teens who smoke - not surprising for Los Angeles. I also didn't feel our car was safe there. You get what you pay for I guess. We won't stay there again.
Mile 350, Saturday 4/14: We did go to Magic Mountain, and Josh rode the Ninja, the best "roster coaster" he had done yet. We left late afternoon and headed towards Phoenix, or rather, Gilbert AZ.
Mile 605, Saturday 4/14: We decided to stop at Blythe, CA for the night instead of push through. Sleepy town which seems far too big for what it is; apparently a nearby prison and a college (Palo Verde) drive much of its apparent size, at least if you consider hotel rooms.
We stayed at the Best Western Sahara, which was reasonable but nothing more. It was also sleepy and left no particular impression - like the rest of the town. Notable feature was the free VHS library at the desk for use in the rooms. I think we paid $90 for the room, which was OK, and it had wireless.
Mile 780, Sunday 4/15: We drove over to Gilbert, AZ, and met some friends. Then we had to look for a room. There are only two nearby hotels, the Comfort Suites and the La Quinta, both in Superstition Springs. We went to the former and got quoted $180 for the night (ouch!). We went to the latter and got quoted $160. It was starting to look bad. Then I had an idea; I got back to the car, parked in the La Quinta parking lot, and looked for the La Quinta online. Lo and behold, I got quoted the same room for $109! I walked in, laptop in hand, and got the room for the online price. I found it quite ironic that I used the hotel's free wireless service to get a lower price for their room.
This was also the second best hotel on our trip; wonderful beds, clean and roomy, no awkward smells or anything else. The place was just so... NEAT... which can be said for the whole area surrounding it. Heck, even their streets are built so darn neatly. No wireless, but they had a wired hookup that worked just fine. We very much enjoyed the stay and for the first time on the trip can say we will definitely stay there again.
Mile 950, Monday 4/16: We left Gilbert late evening and headed out to Flagstaff, aiming to cut down our trip to the Grand Canyon the next day. We got to Flagstaff with the kids asleep in the back, and got a room in the Ramada Inn, Grand Canyon. A bit rundown but generally comfortable, relatively cheap ($70), free wireless, and free hot breakfast, with everybody descending on the dining room at 8:35AM sharp (breakfast ends at 9). Luckily we got there at 8:30 so were second in line. We would not necessarily stay there again - there are a whole bunch of similar places in that area, and this one did not really distinguish itself. But it was decent enough.
Mile 1040, Tuesday 4/17: we made our way to the Grand Canyon, and essentially did a "Chevy Chase" drive-by of the south rim. Well, we did stop briefly to walk around and take some pictures - the scenery is quite breathtaking - but our main purpose was to get back on the road and head to Springdale, UT, to visit Zion the next day.
Mile 1300, Tuesday 4/17: we got to Springdale and to the Canyon Ranch Motel. Lovely little place, we will definitely stay here again. Beds were good but not outstanding, but the semi-private room with parking right next to it, room configuration, room outside for the kids to run around safely (including swing benches), and of course free wireless all made it quite worthwhile, especially at $94. Owner was also extremely helpful next morning in helping jump the car battery after I left the lights on all night.
Mile 1620, Wednesday 4/18: we went through Zion, then took the road to Salt Lake City, which has so many hotel rooms it's impossible to choose intelligently. We ended up at the Best Western Executive Inn in Midvale, which was cheap ($50), located right next to the freeway, a little shabby, had wireless and the worst bed EVAR. In fact, the bad bed overshadowed the whole stay for me to the point where I can't remember much else, except that when my son and I went to get Pizza it started snowing. Oh well, it was cheap. I will definitely not stay in this one again. The area also seemed a little on the shady side, although SLC has such a clean image that one wonders what shady means over there.
I also got my little speeding ticket along the way.
Mile 1850, Thursday 4/19: got on the road to Twin Falls, made it there around lunch time. While in Twin Falls we stayed at the Red Lion Canyon Springs - a reasonably nice hotel that clearly had nothing to do with the run down surroundings. The enclosed courtyard was a big hit with the kids, and while the beds were just OK, it's likely we'll stay here again when we hit Twin Falls. Room was reasonably clean and tidy, walls were a little thin, and wireless worked without having to input the user/password combination given at the front desk.
The funniest moment at the Red Lion was when I walked in. I had made my reservation in advance, but I walked in looking quite haggard after the terrible night in the bed at Midvale, and the lady at the front desk gave me one of the coldest treatments I ever received at a hotel. She literally tried to scare me away from "her hotel" with her stare. But then I gave her my credit card, which had the business name on it, which of course has my last name as part of it, which she quickly realized when she matched my name with the business name and realized I was the business owner.
Her demeanor changed literally at once to all sweetness and smiles; it was all I could do not to start laughing out loud. Oh well. Oh, $99 for the night.
Mile 2050, Friday 4/20: Juntura, Oregon. We were supposed to stay in Ontario, but our plans changed in the last minute, and since we were supposed to head to Bend the next day, I figured why not get a head start and find a place along the way. The Oasis Motel (no link, sorry) was what I found, and at $52 for two double beds I figured it was OK.
It turned out to be a rathole run by really nice folks, but a rathole nonetheless. We slept in half of a double-wide, with linoleum floors that were already lifting, boarded up windows, wood that sank under our feet with wet-rot... my wife almost vomited. But we had no choice by the time we got there - there was nothing for miles in either direction.
The beds were awful, although not as awful as the ones in the Days Inn in Valencia or the guys in Midvale. The room was semi-cold, although they did warm it up for us before our arrival and the heater kept the edge off. The car was outside and I was worried it would get broken into; people were coming and going all through the night. Apparently they are building an actual motel so these are temporary, and the folks over there really were very nice, but it was just a run-down place in the middle of nowhere.
Oh, and they didn't take credit cards. No matter; they happily accepted an out-of-state check. Go figure.
Mile 2250, Saturday 4/21: Sunriver, oregon. The nicest place we've stayed at thus far. We're visiting with friends, and they got this nice house with all these bedrooms, and wife and I might actually get to sleep in a bed in a room together for the first time in over a week. House is... well... Stepford-like, just like the whole town. But it's a nice place, even if the restaurant owners are jerks (but more on that in another post).
I hope the night goes well as tomorrow we have a 460 mile trip back home. Adding another 100 miles of so in in-between short drives, we will have gone 2800 miles in 9 days, or about 300 miles a day. My butt is imprinted on the car seat. Kids are stretched to their limits - they really did great on the trip considering all the driving and hotels and messed up schedules and all, but their "great" is our downfall - and we are, too. I really can't wait to get home. But still it was fun to get out and just drive around, see all the amazing scenery, driving through the desert one day and the snow the next.
Night night now.
Before I start, a quick summary: we started on our trip on friday, 4/13 - Friday the Thirteenth (cue evil laughter) - leaving Vallejo, CA in a counter-clockwise 2800 mile trip that will eventually go through southern cal, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and back again. Our house went on the market on 4/14 and we figured we'd stay away for the first two weekends of open houses, and anyway, we needed an excuse to get away.
One obvious conclusion: my admiration for our Honda Odyssey minivan has grown leaps and bounds. The car has served us extremely well, never complaining through different weather, elevations, speeds and road conditions, not to mention general abuse from both the outdoors and its inhabitants (err, us). Not a rattle, not a squeak, not a hint of a problem (except when I forgot to turn off the inside lights one night and the battery went dead overnight, but it started right up as soon as we jumped it). Just a tremendously reliable car, but also enjoyable in the sense that I could drive hundreds of miles at a stretch and my back would not complain.
I mention speeds: at least for a few hundred miles I was going *cough* close to the car's electronic speed limiter (kicks in at about 118) and the car was as stable then as when I was doing 65. I did get caught once in Utah, so I am now the proud owner of a Utah traffic ticket for doing 100 in a 75. But the car never complained. It also never complained when I gave it the ol' "airplane refuel" treatment, leaving the engine running as I added gas, nor did it complain when we ran it for 10 or more hours straight, because turning it off would mean the portable DVD players would turn off too and the kids were watching movies.
But back to the main gist of the story.
Mile 1, Friday 4/13: Friday we took off around 3PM, heading south to Valencia, with the aim of visiting Magic Mountain Saturday. We got there around 9PM, and found a room at the Days Inn Castaic. The beds were quite uncomfortable, the noise was terrible (kids were running up and down the 2nd-floor porch screaming until at least 2AM), but it was clean, relatively cheap ($80), and had wireless. Notable was that the motel was apparently full of rebellious teens who smoke - not surprising for Los Angeles. I also didn't feel our car was safe there. You get what you pay for I guess. We won't stay there again.
Mile 350, Saturday 4/14: We did go to Magic Mountain, and Josh rode the Ninja, the best "roster coaster" he had done yet. We left late afternoon and headed towards Phoenix, or rather, Gilbert AZ.
Mile 605, Saturday 4/14: We decided to stop at Blythe, CA for the night instead of push through. Sleepy town which seems far too big for what it is; apparently a nearby prison and a college (Palo Verde) drive much of its apparent size, at least if you consider hotel rooms.
We stayed at the Best Western Sahara, which was reasonable but nothing more. It was also sleepy and left no particular impression - like the rest of the town. Notable feature was the free VHS library at the desk for use in the rooms. I think we paid $90 for the room, which was OK, and it had wireless.
Mile 780, Sunday 4/15: We drove over to Gilbert, AZ, and met some friends. Then we had to look for a room. There are only two nearby hotels, the Comfort Suites and the La Quinta, both in Superstition Springs. We went to the former and got quoted $180 for the night (ouch!). We went to the latter and got quoted $160. It was starting to look bad. Then I had an idea; I got back to the car, parked in the La Quinta parking lot, and looked for the La Quinta online. Lo and behold, I got quoted the same room for $109! I walked in, laptop in hand, and got the room for the online price. I found it quite ironic that I used the hotel's free wireless service to get a lower price for their room.
This was also the second best hotel on our trip; wonderful beds, clean and roomy, no awkward smells or anything else. The place was just so... NEAT... which can be said for the whole area surrounding it. Heck, even their streets are built so darn neatly. No wireless, but they had a wired hookup that worked just fine. We very much enjoyed the stay and for the first time on the trip can say we will definitely stay there again.
Mile 950, Monday 4/16: We left Gilbert late evening and headed out to Flagstaff, aiming to cut down our trip to the Grand Canyon the next day. We got to Flagstaff with the kids asleep in the back, and got a room in the Ramada Inn, Grand Canyon. A bit rundown but generally comfortable, relatively cheap ($70), free wireless, and free hot breakfast, with everybody descending on the dining room at 8:35AM sharp (breakfast ends at 9). Luckily we got there at 8:30 so were second in line. We would not necessarily stay there again - there are a whole bunch of similar places in that area, and this one did not really distinguish itself. But it was decent enough.
Mile 1040, Tuesday 4/17: we made our way to the Grand Canyon, and essentially did a "Chevy Chase" drive-by of the south rim. Well, we did stop briefly to walk around and take some pictures - the scenery is quite breathtaking - but our main purpose was to get back on the road and head to Springdale, UT, to visit Zion the next day.
Mile 1300, Tuesday 4/17: we got to Springdale and to the Canyon Ranch Motel. Lovely little place, we will definitely stay here again. Beds were good but not outstanding, but the semi-private room with parking right next to it, room configuration, room outside for the kids to run around safely (including swing benches), and of course free wireless all made it quite worthwhile, especially at $94. Owner was also extremely helpful next morning in helping jump the car battery after I left the lights on all night.
Mile 1620, Wednesday 4/18: we went through Zion, then took the road to Salt Lake City, which has so many hotel rooms it's impossible to choose intelligently. We ended up at the Best Western Executive Inn in Midvale, which was cheap ($50), located right next to the freeway, a little shabby, had wireless and the worst bed EVAR. In fact, the bad bed overshadowed the whole stay for me to the point where I can't remember much else, except that when my son and I went to get Pizza it started snowing. Oh well, it was cheap. I will definitely not stay in this one again. The area also seemed a little on the shady side, although SLC has such a clean image that one wonders what shady means over there.
I also got my little speeding ticket along the way.
Mile 1850, Thursday 4/19: got on the road to Twin Falls, made it there around lunch time. While in Twin Falls we stayed at the Red Lion Canyon Springs - a reasonably nice hotel that clearly had nothing to do with the run down surroundings. The enclosed courtyard was a big hit with the kids, and while the beds were just OK, it's likely we'll stay here again when we hit Twin Falls. Room was reasonably clean and tidy, walls were a little thin, and wireless worked without having to input the user/password combination given at the front desk.
The funniest moment at the Red Lion was when I walked in. I had made my reservation in advance, but I walked in looking quite haggard after the terrible night in the bed at Midvale, and the lady at the front desk gave me one of the coldest treatments I ever received at a hotel. She literally tried to scare me away from "her hotel" with her stare. But then I gave her my credit card, which had the business name on it, which of course has my last name as part of it, which she quickly realized when she matched my name with the business name and realized I was the business owner.
Her demeanor changed literally at once to all sweetness and smiles; it was all I could do not to start laughing out loud. Oh well. Oh, $99 for the night.
Mile 2050, Friday 4/20: Juntura, Oregon. We were supposed to stay in Ontario, but our plans changed in the last minute, and since we were supposed to head to Bend the next day, I figured why not get a head start and find a place along the way. The Oasis Motel (no link, sorry) was what I found, and at $52 for two double beds I figured it was OK.
It turned out to be a rathole run by really nice folks, but a rathole nonetheless. We slept in half of a double-wide, with linoleum floors that were already lifting, boarded up windows, wood that sank under our feet with wet-rot... my wife almost vomited. But we had no choice by the time we got there - there was nothing for miles in either direction.
The beds were awful, although not as awful as the ones in the Days Inn in Valencia or the guys in Midvale. The room was semi-cold, although they did warm it up for us before our arrival and the heater kept the edge off. The car was outside and I was worried it would get broken into; people were coming and going all through the night. Apparently they are building an actual motel so these are temporary, and the folks over there really were very nice, but it was just a run-down place in the middle of nowhere.
Oh, and they didn't take credit cards. No matter; they happily accepted an out-of-state check. Go figure.
Mile 2250, Saturday 4/21: Sunriver, oregon. The nicest place we've stayed at thus far. We're visiting with friends, and they got this nice house with all these bedrooms, and wife and I might actually get to sleep in a bed in a room together for the first time in over a week. House is... well... Stepford-like, just like the whole town. But it's a nice place, even if the restaurant owners are jerks (but more on that in another post).
I hope the night goes well as tomorrow we have a 460 mile trip back home. Adding another 100 miles of so in in-between short drives, we will have gone 2800 miles in 9 days, or about 300 miles a day. My butt is imprinted on the car seat. Kids are stretched to their limits - they really did great on the trip considering all the driving and hotels and messed up schedules and all, but their "great" is our downfall - and we are, too. I really can't wait to get home. But still it was fun to get out and just drive around, see all the amazing scenery, driving through the desert one day and the snow the next.
Night night now.
posted by Blinkered at 4:19 PM
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