We stayed in many very nice hotels, but we also stayed in some that just didn't quite measure up. The Inn at Opryland falls into that category. I've written about it before, so I won't dwell on it now, but early on in the trip, that particular hotel became the standard against which all others were measured. And although we stayed in several that would never make our "favorites" list, none was ever quite so bad as The Inn at Opryland. The Trail's End in Dubois, Wyoming, might come close, with its lack of air conditioning and its miniscule bathroom. Even so, given a choice, I would go back to The Trail's End. I would not return to The Inn at Opryland!
Overall, our hotel experiences left very little to complain about. Of course, there were some with beds that were too soft. Some were smaller and some were larger. There was one with a hair dryer that only blew cold air. I left a note about that one!
There were those ridiculous round chairs that I grew to hate. Occasionally the internet access was a bit challenging. Some were in less than ideal locations, such as high crime rate cities like downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, or downtown Jackson, Mississippi. A few were located in the middle of office parks, which left not much to see or to do. But those were balanced by locations with views like this one in Phoenix:
We ate some delicious food on this trip, and we ate some that was just ordinary. We saw some spectacular scenery, and we saw some that was less so. We had some wonderfully delightful days, and some that were not so spectacular. These eleven weeks were pretty much like any other eleven weeks of life, except that we were living it out of suitcases and driving around the country in a very large van. Life is like that. Some days are fabulous, and some days are not quite so spectacular.
In the beginning, when the whole adventure was fresh and new, it was easy to focus on the positives and to always look on the bright side. After about eight or nine weeks, when fatigue had really set it, we found it much easier to see only the negatives. But isn't that also true of life, whether at home or on the road? When we're tired and weary, it's much easier to see the not-as-I-would-like-it-to-be parts of life than it is to stay positive and upbeat.
One of the worst days of the entire trip came as we were leaving Phoenix. We had planned a direct route to Los Angeles along I-10, but that route had to be changed because a bridge had washed out due to flash flooding the night before, and that highway was closed. So, we decided to take a southern route to San Diego and then up to Los Angeles. However, parts of that road were closed due to wild fires. That left our only option being to drive north, back to I-40, then turn west and approach Los Angeles through the San Bernandino Valley. That was a long, long day of driving through the desert where the scenery didn't really change. It took a much longer time to get from Phoenix to Los Angeles by that route than either of the other routes would have taken. We were still driving in the original van, with the air conditioning system that didn't always work. It was a miserable day.
But even miserable days can have bright spots.
We stopped at a gas station in Needles, California, and I snapped this photo there:
You may be wondering how I would consider that a bright spot. It's very simple, really. Even though we had to pay a ridiculously high price in Needles, the good news is that I don't live there. And I don't have to pay those kinds of prices here in South Carolina. For that, I am very grateful indeed.
Our brief stop in Needles proves a point, about this trip and about life in general:
There is always something to be thankful for.
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