4/10/08 Changes, Always Changes....

First things first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

We were supposed to leave this morning for Mexico for a few days so we could explore a little bit and Bob could have a chance to do some fishing. It sure doesn't take long, or much, to change our plans.

I had called a hotel in San Felipe to inquire about availability and rates yesterday and found that we could have a room for Thursday and Friday but nothing was available for Saturday and Sunday. It seems Woofstock is taking place this weekend and everything affordable was booked for the weekend. We had decided we would go anyway and then just move further down the coast to the next town for the next two nights. By the way, Woofstock is a big show that is put on to put the word out that pets should be spayed and neutered but I think it is just an excuse to have a party. Hey, in our book, if the sun comes up that's reason enough. So that was the plan.

Fast forward to this morning. We're having our morning coffee/Pepsi and I got to thinking about this. What if this Woofstock thing is so big that even the next town down the coast it booked solid? What would we do then? This is where we quickly formulated a Plan B.

We had decided that we were going to San Diego while we were here but had that in the plans for next week. Plan B? Just flip-flop the destinations. San Diego now, San Felipe next week.

Hotel reservations in San Diego? Hey, its a big city, how hard can it be to find a room there? Consider this mistake number one!

So we threw our clothes and toiletries in the suitcase, packed up the laptop, made sure we had the camera/lenses/battery charger and a full cooler and off we went.

We weren't even out of the Air Facility gate and I took my first picture. I think this is such a good idea for those who don't have their own wheels. A place for someone to wait if they need a ride into town. There should be more "Share a Ride's" around, don't you think?

So we're out on the road and we're driving along and the scenery is getting better and better and I think its time to start taking some highway pictures. I get the camera, get the scene I want in the viewfinder and click. Nothing. I clicked again. Nothing. I looked at the camera and see the following words: PUT IN NEW BATTERY PACK! Now darn I just checked the battery level last night and it was fine. I don't have another battery pack (that will soon be remedied I can assure you) so now that means I have to travel for the next hundred plus miles and I can't take a picture! Now you know we will pass the most amazing sights, pass the most spectacular scenery that you can only see by traveling west and I don't have a camera! You may as well gouge my eyes out!

So we finally get off I-8 and see Hotel Circle. There! That's the place we need to go. We put the info in Doris our GPS so that she'll bring up hotels/motels complete with addresses and phone numbers. I started calling those listed. I heard time and again, No Vacancy, We're full, Sure we have a room for you but only for tonight, we're booked solid for the weekend, Sure we have room, the daily rate is $163.50 per day. Excuse me? Did you say $163.50 per night? For Holiday Inn? Does that buck sixty three and let's not forget the fifty cents (!) include three square meals a day, full body massages, wash and wax of the vehicle out in the parking lot AND a bedtime story????? HOLIDAY INN????? OK, I keep calling, we're NOT paying $163.50 for a Holiday Inn. Now as I'm calling, Bob is driving us down Hotel Circle. There's a Best Western, let's pull in there. Ninety five dollars for the night but ONLY for tonight, they are booked for the weekend. We look to the right of the Best Western, Super 8 Motel and Comfort Inn. We did take notice of the sign on the Super 8....Under New Management/rooms newly refurbished. OK, let's check it out. Yes, they have room and are expecting cancellations due to the airlines grounding so many of the planes. How much and do you give military discount? YES to the discount. Instead of $75.00 per night we'll pay $65.00. BUT its a Super 8. So what's the big deal? We have never stayed in a Super 8 before but we do know what part of town they are in back home. Of course, they are situated in between a Best Western and a Comfort Inn. Granted, even they aren't high end hotel/motel's. OK, we're tired desperate, we'll take it.

We get registered and go up to the third floor where our room is located. Hey, this isn't bad at all. Its newly painted, the carpet is clean, the bedspread looks new, the furniture is nice, the bathroom is clean and modern and they have cable and WIFI. Hey this will do! After all, we have lots to see and will only be here long enough to sleep.

We get moved in and the first order of business is to plug in the battery charger for the camera. That done, we go in search of food. Its rush hour traffic on I-8 and I-5 so we don't want to go anywhere near them. Then we remembered there was a restaurant in the Best Western next door. Seven Seas Restaurant it was called. We go and get seated and started reading the menu. I picked out a roasted turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I don't remember what Bob got, some sort of fish dinner I think or maybe it was something Mexican. Ok, so the salad comes out and what do I see? A GREEN cherry tomato in my salad. If you can't put a ripe one in there then don't bother at all! Bob must have been really hungry because he ate it. Dinners are delivered and I was dismayed to find that it wasn't roasted turkey at all but heated turkey ROLL. Roasted turkey does NOT mean heated turkey ROLL. I'm sorry, that's just the way it is. OK, I get past my disappointment of not having real turkey. I dug right into the mashed potatoes and stuffing and they were good! The mixed veggies were not overcooked but on the firm side just how I like them. Then I tasted the turkey. Hmmm....I tasted it again. Is turkey roll supposed to be slimy? I think not. Needless to say I didn't eat the "roasted turkey". Bob thoroughly enjoyed his dinner,,,,whatever it was he ordered. When the waiter returned to offer us dessert he noticed I hadn't eaten the "roasted turkey" and asked if I wanted a box to take it home with me. I quietly told him that I didn't eat it because it wasn't any good,,,it was slimy. He apologized and adjusted our bill accordingly.

Tummies full it now time to go back and look through the sightseeing brochures I took off the rack in the motel office, watch some TV, check our email and sleep. Sleep, you know, where you lay on a comfy mattress, hopefully on sheets with a high thread count, under a baby soft blanket and your head on a fluffy pillow as you drift off into dreamland. NOT! I don't think either one of us had even a catnap more than eight minutes long. I think under the pretty bedspread was a blanket made of coarse horsehair, sheets with a thread count of 78 and a mattress filled with rocks. At one point, Bob even tried sleeping on the floor! Oh, what a night! We didn't get much sleep that's for sure. Am I ever sorry we didn't put out that buck sixty three for the Holiday Inn. It's true, you get what you pay for!

Needless to say, we won't be staying here again tomorrow night or the night after that. We'll sleep in the truck or on a park bench first!