There and back again... July 18 & 19 the final trek home

July 19, 2013  Friday

There and back again...  July 18 & 19 the final trek home

Thursday and Friday were long and arduous travel days.  Phil’s head cold is almost dissipated and he is feeling much better after a good night sleep last night, although the amount of used tissue piling up in the car is an indication that perhaps it hasn’t totally left him.

Painted Cliffs - Badlands in North Dakota-a view from a rest area

I on the other hand, am a couple days behind him and have felt pretty awful these last few days.  My nose and ears are plugged and I have a chest cold, add to that an intestinal virus and well... lets just say it makes travel interesting.  I didn’t  know when the next “bout” would be and if a rest stop would be near by.  It got to the point where I eventually didn’t care.  I would stop road side if I have to....although it did cross my mind,  and I had a moment of fear thinking that maybe one day I would be seen and identified on Youtube.

On a hill near New Salem, North Dakota

It reminded me as to how I felt when I was in hospital and in labour with Lucas.  So many interns and nurses had to have a look at my “progress” that after the 6th or 7th person, all dignity I had was lost, and I asked my husband if there was anyone else in the hospital who wanted a look, perhaps there were people in the waiting room...on the street, maybe we could advertise and and have them come by bus....

The Drive through North Dakota and Montana  these 2 days was long although the traffic was light, it was straight for miles and miles and uneventful, and we listen to John Grisham's book " The Litigators" which helped to pass the time.  

Uneventful I might say... except for the bugs...Between Butte and Missoula the bugs were the worst - at first I thought it was rain, but no...it was bugs.  

We used our windshield wipers and spray a lot that last bit of the drive Thursday evening because there weren’t many towns in between and the rest stops didn't have water and squeegees.  Believe it or not, at some rest stops in Minnesota and in the middle of no where, there was buckets with water and squeegees to wash your windows - the bugs there were pretty bad, but not as bad as between Butte and Missoula.

Metal Sculpture just before the "Enchanted Highway" South Dakota

At around 2 pm on Thursday during our drive I called the Quality Inn in Missoula for a room, booked a King room with a pull out couch - non-smoking (all their hotel was non-smoking) and received a confirmation number.

Upon our arrival at 10:30 pm that night, it appears our room had vanished!  Yep, got legs and disappeared.  I wonder what the whole purpose of phoning ahead, securing a room via credit card and receiving a confirmation number for your reservation of the room is, when you show up and the room isn’t available.  Not what I wanted to hear after a full 13 hours of travel, a head and chest cold and an intestinal virus...good thing I wasn’t pregnant to boot!

The front desk clerk promptly found us a “wonderful King suite - no extra charge for the jacuzzi tub, being that they double booked our room.”  We get to the “wonderful King suite” and are knocked over by the smell of smoke.  Remember when I said I head cold and my ears and nose were plugged...?, yeah, well even though that was my state, the smell of smoke made me nauseous.

I quickly went downstairs and told the front desk clerk the room was a smoking room, the smell practically knocked me over.  

He says “all our rooms are non-smoking”  

I say “ maybe they are today, but they weren’t yesterday or previously....”

We continue our discussion and he is sorry that they double booked our room etc.etc.etc.  I tell him I have a head cold, allergies and slight asthma and it was just unacceptable.  He had nothing for it, and could not, of course,  do anything about it being someone else was in our room.

Well as luck would have it, the whole town was sold out of rooms, nothing else was available in town, so we had to take the “wonderful King suite with the jacuzzi tub” (there was also a tv in the bathroom).  I would have been satisfied with just a non-smoking, clean king room with a pull out couch - much like what I reserved- but it was not to be had. 

Rooms in this hotel from 202-206 are marked “King suites” and rooms 208 and higher are marked “King suites Non-smoking” according to the plaque outside the room door, even though the desk clerk stuck to the “this hotel is non-smoking”, we had room 202 which was a smoked in.

It amazes me that hotels owners/management that used to have smoking rooms believe that by simply calling the room a non-smoking room that it makes it so.  That it should be acceptable to all, even though the stench in the room is as ripe as the day the last smoker was in the room.  (Dennis Miller puts it this way "To me a non-smoking room means no one has ever smoked in the room... to the hotel it means no one is smoking there right now.")

I am sure I speak for all non-smokers out there that a non-smoking room that used to be smoking is similar to a dirty ash tray.  You just cannot get rid of the smell.  They need to gut the room, replace carpet, wall paper, paint and linens and curtains - and all furniture for it to truly be a non-smoking room.  I don’t get that THEY don’t get that!  

We end up taking the room - it was that or sleep in the car.  The desk clerk gave us a 25% discount for the trouble, so he did try to make amends, however it meant very little now at 11:00pm at night.

It’s quite a curious thing - hotels and being on the road - we’ve spent very little for some rooms that you would find at high end Hyatt or the Marriot Hotels in terms of newness, space, quality of beds, linnens and “high quality”  decor of the rooms and the free breakfasts.  And and we’ve spent a whole lot on rooms that are really run down, not particularly clean, stains everywhere with signs saying “ don’t steal our towels” ( really?? The towels are grey and yellowed - why would I want to steal them, except for to wipe my pets feet on...if I had a pet!) 

We’ve also learned “pet friendly clean” is supposedly a “higher” quality of cleaning, but really means a lower standard of cleaning, where the deodorizer spray used to rid the room of pet smell is so strong you can taste it.  I come to the conclusion that for next long trip we are getting a motor home or not going at all.

After seeing the whole of southern Ontario and the multiple US states, there and back again, there is really nothing on earth like the beauty and the feel of  Kelowna and B.C. and the place we call home.  I know most everyone feels that way about their province and home too. 

We were greeted in British Columbia with a sign post at the border crossing that says “Welcome to British Columbia, the best place on earth” and I couldn’t agree more!

A big Thank You goes to Mom and Dad Morehouse who looked after our place while away - Phil’s dad keeps the yard spotless and looking great, Phil’s mom makes sure we have clean sheets on the beds when we come home, and there is a Morehouse-ness when we walk in - I love that!

A big Thank You goes out to friends and family who remembered us in thoughts and prayers for our trip - there were many many miles and opportunity for all kinds of “events”, however it all went without a hitch.  

Forrest or brush fire near Coeur d'Alene 

A big Thank You to my husband Phil, who keeps calm behind the wheel and is careful and patient on the road.   As for me, I get a little nervous and sketchy when the traffic is bad or at the near close misses etc. which are worse for me than him, I am sure my jumping or hitting the imaginary brake pedal doesn't help him at all, but still he doesn't panic or do anything brash behind the wheel.  I am so Thankful for him and his clear head and his steady hand and careful foot!

We left Kelowna with a prayer in the car for safety and not a half hour down the road we see a house floating down the creek at Joe Rich.  We drove safely through Detroit, were evacuated from our hotel in Brockville because of fire, just missed the flooding in Toronto, experienced the intense heat wave that went from Ontario and through to Montana.  We heard of and seen the flooding in Alberta, the plane crashes, the train derailment and explosion in Quebec.  We travelled about 12,000 kilometres and we (I) did’t loose our passports this trip, our car held up nicely and without incident and so did we. 

 

In our natural habitat-on the road.

Another safe and successful road trip with so much seen and done and we are so grateful!