Over 4 years and more than 30,000 miles of travel in the USA, we have learned that motels can be heaven or hell - price is no guarantee, as the only time we ever found bed bugs in the room was in one of the more upmarket chain hotels. The cheaper-end motels, however, are especially unpredictable.
There were plenty of motels in this town - Lansing, Michigan. Another Guzzi friend had sent us a list of them. But, thanks to the combination of us enjoying the 'mom and pop' type of motel, where you can put the bike right outside your door (rather than carry the panniers and the big bag through corridors and up stairs) and, in this case, having to be without the bike for at least one day, we decided to try the motel nearest to the workshop.
The Bell Motel didn't look inviting. In fact it - and the other 3 in close vicinity - were all pretty shabby - but the Bell Motel looked about the best of a bad bunch.
Well, from the outside.
I have learned some things over our travels and one is to ask to see the room. The owner came along with the key, opened the door and let me peek in. For $35, it seemed ok, so we filled in the card and paid.
Once inside though, UGH
To be fair, the bed seemed quite clean and the carpet was fairly new. But the bathroom gave me the heeby-jeebies. I used a tissue to turn the tap. Jan accused me of being obsessive-compulsive. I said he was a typical man with low housekeeping standards.
There was a fridge and a microwave, but you wouldn't want to put your trash in them
No Wi-Fi. Hell, what do you expect for $35, Jan asked.
Yes there was a phone - but it didn't work; we had to go find a phone box up the road. We rang the workshop, but the owner was driving back from Arizona and was still in Oklahoma.
Well, we were here now.
The only place to get a drink or a sandwich was a gas station over the road. So we didn't bother. But, quite tired, lay on top of the bed, fully clothed all night. Jan because he wanted to be dressed if anyone tried to steal the bike, me because I hate dirt!
We got up at 0430 and traipsed over to the gas station for a coffee. At around 0530, we decided to scout out alternative accommodation.
The whole area is a little run down and all the closest motels look about the same standard, but I would not be deterred. But first breakfast. The Old Town Diner opened at 0630 and we were straight in there when the sign was turned to Open.
As soon as we walked in, a couple of photos caught my attention. They were both similar panoramas of the old part of town, but one of them was an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. I have been very interested in HDR of late - it is the 'latest craze' in photography. But this is the first print I have seen using the method. Wow, it made the normal photo look dowdy.
Things always seem better after a decent breccy and this was fresh,hot home cooking. The waitress suggested a couple of alternatives motels, but they were all a ways out of the area.
Back on the bike, we cruised up and down the road again. I said, 'Pull in to here'. This one, Apex 1, was about a quarter of a mile down the road. Yes, they had a vacancy, yes, they have WI-FI - now were cooking with gas! Price of the room? $38. Can I see the room? Of course. The owner gave me the key and Jan and I checked it out - bathroom first. All refurbished. All clean. Man, we paid that $38 in a flash, returned to the Bell, packed up and moved home with narey a backward glance
Comfortably ensconsed in our new abode, we took off on the bike again, down to Larry's workshop.
Poor Larry. He got a flat on his way home - we found this out from our friends who rang to arrange picking us up tonight to go to an Indian restaraunt.
The rain has just started and we got another phone call in our room. The lady owner said, 'It's raining, your bike is getting wet. Why don't you take it inside?'
What a darling. Of course, we didn't bring it in the room, but moved it under the eaves. See, that's the pleasure of small motels :)
Well, Brian and Kim (Guzzi riders) picked us up and, afer a fabulous meal in an Indian restaraunt, took us on a ride around town. The campus of Michigan State University is HUGE 5,220 contiguous acres with 556 buildings! The State Capitol and the Supreme Court buildings looked beautiful with their domes lit.
We crossed the Red Cedar River numerous times. Kim and Brian were knowledgeable guides, having grown up here, they were able to point out different buildings and tell us what it had been like here in the 50's.
Three days ago, a tornado ripped through much of the northeastern USA/southeast Canada. There was a lot of damage here in Lansing and we could still see work crews cleaning up downed trees.
A rash of wild weather has terrorized the United States this weekend,
as tornados struck down in Millbury and Lake Township,
Ohio and Dundee, Michigan. The
midwest was battered throughout the weekend, as the storms ran up a
death toll and ruined hundreds of houses.
Seven were reported dead in the Millbury tornado, according to
theepochtimes.com. The Saturday evening storm also damaged a power
plant. More than 50 houses were shredded in
Ohio, with 50 more suffering damage
of some sort or another.
Larry, the Guzzi mechanic, had joined us at the restaurant and told us about his adventures driving from Tucson Arizona. He had gone down there to sort out his parents property following the death of his mother. So he is driving back in a 1 ton van. Somewhere in Oklahoma, he had a tyre blow-out. At the time he was driving in the outside lane and had a bit of a job trying to pull in before the wheel was riding on the rim. Luckily, a state trooper was a few cars back and saw what happened. Larry stopped and the trooper told him he would pull off at a nearby ramp, go around and then make a rolling road block so Larry could drive the vehicle somewhere safer to change his wheel. That wasn't a simple matter - the tools and tyre were under a load of furniture. With the trooper not breaking a sweat (observing) and Larry dripping in it, they finally got it done.
So Larry had only just got back, came out for the meal and arranged for us to drop the bike off this morning at 9am (it is now 0830). Hopefully, he will be able to do the service in one day, as he is off on his travels again tomorrow.
Fingers all crossed! But we are confident that Larry will do a great job; we are talking a life-long Guzzi fan here.
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