Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Motel Hello


Gary here, I know Linda's been promising a post about the motel from you know where. Truth is she may have built it up a little too much, but then maybe not. Flash back to Wills Point Texas. You are soon to find out why I will never, ever forget that experience. Motel hello, good bye and good riddance.


I was driving so many long hours in the sweltering heat and I just wanted a long hot shower and a bed with clean sheets. Sometimes you get what you wish for and sometimes you get just the opposite. I had my doubts when I pulled into the motel parking lot but I hoped for the best.


Trouble was I got the worst. I called Linda and let her know where I was and when she heard the description of the location, she immediately said to leave. But I was so very tired I decided to stick it out. What a big mistake. Linda often has feelings about certain things and she's most often correct in her feelings. I should have listened.


I don't have the heart to show only horrid motel photos, so I decided to show a few of Linda's pinch pots from today, as a little relief from the graphic photos of the motel. I really hate to contaminate her wonderful pinch pots with the photos from the motel in this post. I neglected to take the worst photo of the toilet and I was admonished by Linda for neglecting that one.


Right after I get in the room I heard a banging on the outside and thought someone was knocking on my door. I opened the door to see a grammar school age girl pounding on the railing. She said, "Oh, am I disturbing you sir?" I said, "As a matter of fact you are". She said, "Well tough!"


It was then that I looked around and discovered I got much less than I expected to get for my $55 cash for the room. The bed wasn't made, the drawers were filled with food, the mirror hung askew from the wall at a dangerous angle, the shower wasn't cleaned, and then there was the toilet. Suffice it to say, the toilet was well used in more ways than one (that's the photo Linda said I should have taken).


I immediately left the room and headed for the office to request my money back for the room. The clerk promptly told me there were no refunds. I left in disgust, thinking the $55 I lost saved me from an infection and possible injuries later in the evening.


Being dead tired I drove down the road to the nearest rest area and slept in the bus, sweaty, tired, and glad to be alive and well. I am often amazed at the unique pots Linda makes from lumps of clay. I'm especially happy to see them now, having been exposed to the very worst of what can happen when traveling on the road. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

10 comments:

  1. you did the right thing by leaving- that little girl was probably a
    devil spawn!
    we once stayed in a place with ants crawling on the sheets and a kids basket ball team in the room above us-if we had not been doing a show I would have slept on the streets! Needless to say Mark found me with my bag packed sitting on the tailgate of the truck the next morning. I refused to go back in... and then there were the bullet holes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Meredith, thanks, the buttet holes were sure to come later in the evening there I am sure; I think it was a motel rented by the week and by the hour. I guess we can thank our lucky stars we survive these experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like the night I spent in a motel in Gallup, New Mexico during a spring blizzard. Never. Again. I do love Linda's scalloped pot, though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ewwwww! Run -- I hate those kind of hotels! But I do love your pots Linda. Glad Gary is home safe with all your stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gerry called me from a similar motel in Darlington SC when he had to go there to cover a Nascar race. They had waited too late to book a room and this one was the only thing available. He paid $100 per night, stayed there 2 nights, had no choice and said it was the worst place he had ever stayed, and he has been to Iraq! Like Linda, I told him to get out of there, but there was no place to go and he was working. Gary, I'll show him the photos when he gets home, he will truly sympathize!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Glad you're safe now. I highly recommend getting a hotel through priceline if you haven't ever tried that. I've managed at times to get a 3 1/2 star hotel for as low as $75--- and priceline works at the last minute too... gosh, life is full of adventure!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It seems like we have all had the same motel adventure. Its good he is home safe and sound. I also like your pots you made. I really like the handles.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Teresa, thanks, yes Gallup can be a rough town, been there. That bowl Linda made was inspired by our scallop diving the other day and I think she used an actual shell for the impression.

    Hi Judy, thanks, I am glad to be home, looking in the bus it seems there are even more ceramics supply boxes I've been unloading. How many supplies does somebody need?

    Hi Tracey, thanks, I bet Gerry has some doosies to tell about his experiences.

    Hi Amy, thanks, unfortunately I didn't know where I would end up each night and the bus will only fit in certain places. I might turn the bus into a motorhome after I unload it and then we won't need motels.

    Hi Tinkerfeet, thanks, I'm glad to be home. Linda is always experimenting with new techniques. I can't wait to see how that wire holds up in a kiln. A wire being able to be fired that high is quite intriguing to me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the shell impression..., but of course!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Maya, thanks, of course, I love the shells too, I am thinking I might make a few more of these and others. The scallop shell is used throughout history in so many instances and I am just now learning and appreciateing all about it.

    ReplyDelete

I love suggestions, questions, critiques, thanks for your comment