The Trip Thus Far
Well I'm in New Mexico right now, but this isn't where this tale starts.....
Leaving Florida
We left Florida on the 3rd at 12am (midnight) and headed out for Memphis Tennessee. The drive was long, and mostly terrible. I can't think of a part of me that didn't hurt by the time we arrived in Memphis. We stopped at the Alabama border and took a photo of all of us with the giant peanut.
I have photos which will be posted after the trip.
The drive through Alabama sucked. It was really really long and annoying. Traffic sucked.
Memphis Tennessee is the most annoying horrible city I have ever had the displeasure to drive in- EVER. It was filthy, the roads were a mess, the drivers were worse than Florida (now that's really saying something). We booked a super 8 motel near downtown, went across the bridge twice trying to find the hidden exit with no sign, and finally managed to get to the hotel.
Which was a PIECE OF SHIT! I've been to a lot of hotels in my life, but generally anything over 80 dollars is at least mostly decent. This place was horrific! I mean truly and utterly horrific! The place was wet... and I mean, the ceiling, the beds, the floors, the walls. The bathroom had dead roaches in the tub, the walls had black mold growing up the sides of it. It was horrible! Worst hotel experience ever.
We complained and they moved us to 3 different room, each one disgusting. Finally, I called hotels.com, had them refund my money, and we left. We had to drive an hour into Arkansas to find a hotel that allowed pets (big dogs) and wasn't a run down piece of shit. Ug.
Hot Springs
The next day we got up and headed to Hot Springs Arkansas where we stayed at the Austin hotel and Spa Resort. It was VERY nice and they were very pet friendly. All the staff loved the dogs and the room was amazing! We even left the dogs in the room for an hour while we all went to the Bathhouse.
The Hot Springs Bathhouse: For 60 dollars you get, a mineral water bath in a huge claw foot tub where the staff scrubs you with a lufa, 10 minutes in a sweat box for detox, 10 minutes in a stiz bath, 10 minutes wrapped up in hot towels and relaxing on a cot, then a 20 minute massage by a licensed therapist. SCORE! It was great. After, we went to this little Italian Bistro which was disgusting. I had the worst plate of 30 dollar Chicken Alfredo I've ever had.
The next day we headed for Heavener Oklahoma where my friend Tom lives now. We grabbed lunch with him from some tiny little walk up place and then headed to the local graveyard to sit in the shad and eat. The food wasn't so good but the company was great.
Texas
We weren't going to stay in Texas but we were exhausted so we stopped in Amarillo and hit up a Red Roof Inn for the night. Did you know that Texas has a hostility tax of 18% for hotels. Ridiculous. No wonder everyone hates Texas. Not to mention the drive through there is terrible and boring as Hell.
New Mexico
The drive is hot and boring. It felt like it took 10 hours but it was more like 4. I did get to see a plateau, which was my first plateau. (I jammed to Nirvana's Plateau while I viewed) We headed into Albuquerque to see SG Vanessa, but I guess she was busy or something because I didn't see her. We ended up spending our whole New Mexico trip in the hotel with nothing to do. I'm sad because I could have gone somewhere else had I known she wasn't going to be able to hang out or whatnot. So, I'm chalking up New Mexico as a bust and heading to Arizona today.
I'm excited to see my very good friend in the next few days! I will post photos and stories later.
Well I'm in New Mexico right now, but this isn't where this tale starts.....
Leaving Florida
We left Florida on the 3rd at 12am (midnight) and headed out for Memphis Tennessee. The drive was long, and mostly terrible. I can't think of a part of me that didn't hurt by the time we arrived in Memphis. We stopped at the Alabama border and took a photo of all of us with the giant peanut.
I have photos which will be posted after the trip.
The drive through Alabama sucked. It was really really long and annoying. Traffic sucked.
Memphis Tennessee is the most annoying horrible city I have ever had the displeasure to drive in- EVER. It was filthy, the roads were a mess, the drivers were worse than Florida (now that's really saying something). We booked a super 8 motel near downtown, went across the bridge twice trying to find the hidden exit with no sign, and finally managed to get to the hotel.
Which was a PIECE OF SHIT! I've been to a lot of hotels in my life, but generally anything over 80 dollars is at least mostly decent. This place was horrific! I mean truly and utterly horrific! The place was wet... and I mean, the ceiling, the beds, the floors, the walls. The bathroom had dead roaches in the tub, the walls had black mold growing up the sides of it. It was horrible! Worst hotel experience ever.
We complained and they moved us to 3 different room, each one disgusting. Finally, I called hotels.com, had them refund my money, and we left. We had to drive an hour into Arkansas to find a hotel that allowed pets (big dogs) and wasn't a run down piece of shit. Ug.
Hot Springs
The next day we got up and headed to Hot Springs Arkansas where we stayed at the Austin hotel and Spa Resort. It was VERY nice and they were very pet friendly. All the staff loved the dogs and the room was amazing! We even left the dogs in the room for an hour while we all went to the Bathhouse.
The Hot Springs Bathhouse: For 60 dollars you get, a mineral water bath in a huge claw foot tub where the staff scrubs you with a lufa, 10 minutes in a sweat box for detox, 10 minutes in a stiz bath, 10 minutes wrapped up in hot towels and relaxing on a cot, then a 20 minute massage by a licensed therapist. SCORE! It was great. After, we went to this little Italian Bistro which was disgusting. I had the worst plate of 30 dollar Chicken Alfredo I've ever had.
The next day we headed for Heavener Oklahoma where my friend Tom lives now. We grabbed lunch with him from some tiny little walk up place and then headed to the local graveyard to sit in the shad and eat. The food wasn't so good but the company was great.
Texas
We weren't going to stay in Texas but we were exhausted so we stopped in Amarillo and hit up a Red Roof Inn for the night. Did you know that Texas has a hostility tax of 18% for hotels. Ridiculous. No wonder everyone hates Texas. Not to mention the drive through there is terrible and boring as Hell.
New Mexico
The drive is hot and boring. It felt like it took 10 hours but it was more like 4. I did get to see a plateau, which was my first plateau. (I jammed to Nirvana's Plateau while I viewed) We headed into Albuquerque to see SG Vanessa, but I guess she was busy or something because I didn't see her. We ended up spending our whole New Mexico trip in the hotel with nothing to do.
I'm sad because I could have gone somewhere else had I known she wasn't going to be able to hang out or whatnot. So, I'm chalking up New Mexico as a bust and heading to Arizona today.
I'm excited to see my very good friend in the next few days! I will post photos and stories later.
norritt:
sounds awesome except for the crappy stuff yeah i agree the drive through new mexico and texas is super boring i drove through when i came here from oh
trechriron:
I imagine your Las Vegas visit will be much more enjoyable! :-D