As always this has not been proof read for errors.
My work, when I had a real job, required a lot of travel. The company I worked for understood the amount of time we spent on the road and allowed higher travel allowances. This was to help ease the pain and discomfort of spending 3 to 5 nights a week on the road. I became used to traveling at a certain level of comfort and luxury.
One of my bosses, Elise had knack for finding the cheapest hotel/motels anywhere. The cheap hotel room would have been okay but she always found the biggest fleabags available. I assume Elise was trying to earn extra brownie points for saving money. I wouldn’t have minded but they were within eyeshot of a nice hotel, where for a few dollars more you didn’t have to wear flip-flops in the shower or sleep fully clothed.
It was January, Elise and I had a four-day trip planned to visit customers in Wisconsin, the lower peninsula of Michigan and finishing our trip in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Keep that in mind, this is Michigan, Wisconsin, and Northern Indiana in January. I drove to Milwaukee to pick up Elise at the airport. We had to be in Green Bay the next morning followed by an appointment in Appleton. By that days end we would finish, on the other side of the lake Michigan in Grand Rapids.
This was truly the trip of a full-fledged road warrior and by the time I picked Elise up at the airport I had logged five and half hours in the car. We leave the airport during rush hour. I’m tired, cranky, and rush hour isn’t helping my patience at all. The only thing I want to do at this point is have dinner, check into a hotel, empty voice and e-mail and go to bed. Now I mentioned that Elise could find a cheap hotel but failed to mention she also picked the worst possible restaurants.
First stop: food! “Elise, where do you want to eat?” This was my first mistake. Elise says: “take the next exit and we find a place, okay?” “That’s fine,” I said knowing full well that it would be a pit. As our vehicle slows she point to the first place she sees is an old Ponderosa that has found a second, third, fourth life, or maybe more as another restaurant. An old Ponderosa! This should be a clue that we’re probably not in for a fine dinning experience.
Let’s see…we need a place to park. Oh here’s a spot (surprise) right next to the front door since there are only two parking spaces taken in the entire lot. We enter the Ponderosa now family style restaurant where we appear to be the only patrons. Supper was a disaster that I couldn’t finish. We’ve eaten now on to a hotel/motel.
There isn’t a lot South of Green bay except Sheboygan. It is getting late and Sheboygan will have to suffice. Elise has graciously made all of our hotel arrangements so we already now we have reservations in Sheboygan at the Americas Best Value motel. Here is just one quote from a customer review of the Americas Best Value motel: “No pool, like a super 8. The room had ants. Check-in counter had bullet proof glass. Did not feel safe. Would have went somewhere else, but room was already paid for.” We passed a Holiday Inn express, Fairfield and a few other nicer hotels to get to this place. It was horrible.
Let me just tell you about the luxury accommodations I had. First, the room was L shaped. The main part of the room had the bed and dresser. The rest of the L had one broken chair. The room had two windows and both were not air tight. You could stand by either window and feel the cold, January, Wisconsin air blowing in. It had the typical hotel room heater but in this case the heater could not keep up with the cold air blowing in. The hotel sat next to the interstate so the leaky windows also let all the road noise in too. This was not going to be a good night.
I survive the night but the new day will truly be a road warrior day going. We are starting in Green Bay then to Appleton, through Chicago and probably at rush hour and finishing South of Grand Rapids. Actually we had to be in Hastings, MI the next day but we were staying in Grand Rapids that night.
So day two goes exactly like I expect. We make our Green Bay and Appleton meetings. We opt for fast food in the car. Next on to Chicago where we hit the town as rush hour, although just about any time in Chicago can seem like rush hour. It will be another three and half hours before we get to Grand Rapids and I have run of things to talk to Elise about. Once we get to Grand Rapids Elise has directions printed out to our hotel. Keep in mind, I traveled all the time but I would be lying if I said I had stayed at a Howard Johnsons but after this night would could say that. I couldn’t believe that we were sitting in the parking of HoJo’s. At least the next day we only have one meeting and then it will just be a long drive to Ft. Wayne.
The room at HoJo’s was the dirtiest hotel room I have ever been in. I didn’t take my shoes off until I showered the next morning. I covered the bathroom floor with the “clean” towels and washcloths I knew I didn’t need. The heat in the room was one that either was an eye blistering ninety degrees or twelve degrees below zero, there was no in between. I opted for the freezing temperature and prayed I would last the night. As I played on the bed, fully clothed I decided that I would be staying in better accommodations the following night. I got up, got my Marriot Rewards card out and made a reservation at the Courtyard in Ft. Wayne.
On to Ft. Wayne and end day three in familiar territory. I know Ft. Wayne pretty well, it was part of my immediate territory when I first started with Akzo. We had a large wholesale distribution point in the Fort which meant I spent a lot of time in that territory.
We get close to Fort Wayne and Elise again pulls out her confirmations and directions for our hotel. I ask her what hotel? She said it was called the Relax Inn and Suites. I know this hotel, I also know this is surrounded by several other low priced hotels. We pull up in front of the hotel lobby. I pop the truck of the car, get out leaving the vehicle running and walk back to the trunk. Elise gets out and says she can walk from the lot and I should just park the car now. I said: “Oh, I’m not staying in another fleabag hotel Elise.” I could see she was shocked but I didn’t care. I finished with: “I have a reservation at the Courtyard tonight, I will pick you up in the morning.”
Elise checked in at the Courtyard with me. We had diner at the Cork and Clever which is a very nice restaurant. As we returned to our Hotel Elise said “I understand why all you guys spend so much money on travel now!” I only traveled with Elise one other time but I insisted on making all the hotel reservations.
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