Day 4.5/5 - Travelodge, One Star

As Day 4 drew to a close, the crew, riding through yet more rain, decided that with the sun going down, it would be advisable to park the iron steeds for the night.  We found ourselves in the town of Sterling, Colorado.  We were planning on meeting new riding companion Curtis and wife Lisa in the morning, who were coming from the Loveland, CO area.  They were planning to stop for breakfast in the town of Sterling, so the decision was made to grab a local room.  Plenty of hotels to choose from here, so we cruised over to the area that included the always reliable Comfort Inn and the always affordable Super 8.  Upon pulling into the common parking lot for the two hotels, we discovered a hidden gem, a Tavelodge.  Perfect for us, for it would might allow us to obtain some rooms that would permit us to park the bikes near the door.  Bikers prefer this alternative for a couple of reasons; one, it is easier to cart one's belongings between bike and room and two, it allows one to better keep an eye on the bikes.  The Travelodge looked a little more run down….OK, a LOT more run down, than the Super 8, and in fact the sign on what was left of the office instructed potential guests to check in at the Super 8.   Rooms were available at both locations, but Megan, the front desk girl, let us know that the rooms at the Travelodge were twenty dollars cheaper.  Perfect - better access AND twenty dollars cheaper.  A no brainer!!

No brainer can be interpreted in different ways.  One interpretation is that no contemplation is required in making a decision.  That would not apply to us in this case.  Instead it is more appropriate to identify the crew has having no brain among the three of them.  This was evident upon pulling up to the rooms as we came upon our evening's next door neighbors, three…..ummm "working" persons who were evidently relaxing after a hard day of work by consuming a case of beer…..each.  One of the workers was sprawled on the concrete sidewalk with his head resting on the concrete threshold to the room door, beer balanced on his stomach, and multiple empty beers in piles,  all folded in half and half-heartedly crushed, no doubt for collecting in plastic bags and taking to the recycle center....to afford the next night's beer.  The other two workers were poster boys for what not to do with tattoos.  The three of them looked at us with a mix of curiosity and haze.  Welcome to the Travelodge.  It went downhill from there.

We saved twenty bucks by opting for the Travelodge, whose pool was closed "for cleaning."

Upon entering the room we found that only half of the lights worked, the hot water handle in the shower was inoperative and the air conditioner blew warmer air into the room than what was available outside.  One of the pillows had blood stains on it, and spiders had constructed a mosaic on the wall that served as the only available wall treatment.  We also found that the toilet was running so slowly that flushing proved to be the Travelodge equivalent of residing along the Mississippi River in the spring.  Off to the Super 8 front desk to ask for a plunger.  Our friend Megan was there trying to check in additional arrivals (who had the good sense to opt for the Super 8), while a gentleman resembling Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining stood at the desk complaining that his room had no towels.  We suspected that he needed towels to clean up after that evening's axe murders.  While trying to attend to that, she also asked us what we needed and we delicately asked if there was something available, a plunger perhaps, to address our problem.  She frowned and said she didn't believe they had one.  This seemed a little strange to us, for 200 room hotels probably had plumbing problems from time to time.  At that same time, another worker came by the desk and Megan asked her about the availability of a plunger.  The other worker responded by saying that housekeeping would know.  Upon calling housekeeping she discovered that a plunger was available from the hotel "up the hill" and they would be bringing one down.  We asked if we should wait and she said sure, we could wait, but not favoring the image of walking all the way back to the room with plunger in hand we asked if the person "up the hill" might drop it by the room.  Megan responded with a yes…..we think.  Back to the room we went, awaiting our plunger, leaving behind the axe murdered, who was making no headway in obtaining towels for his room.  Five minutes, ten minutes, and eventually an hour went by and no person bearing a plunger arrived.  We called up the front desk (surprisingly the phone worked) and the response was "oh, I didn't know Megan was supposed to take care of that."  After waiting another hour, we decided that the plunger was not going to arrive, closed and locked the door, and uneasily drifted off to sleep.  Whether Jack Nicholson ever got his towels in unknown. Somehow we suspect that he might have gotten a plunger though.

Day 4 had presented us with a mounting number of "interesting experiences" and we still had 14 days to go.  We can't wait to see how much better it gets.