Florida Vacation Part 2

Reaching Georgia the first day was just as we had planned. Being with dogs was a bit of a challenge when it came to finding a suitable motel. Only certain motels advertise as being "Dog-friendly". Motel 8 is one such motel. So I had made advance reservations. I can be very impromptu and spontaneous; but after driving more than six hundred miles the first day, I wanted the assurance that I would have a place to lay my head without hearing two lonely dogs crying in the car. We had planned all along with our tight budget to only get one room with two beds. When you've lived in the same house with each other and "camped" out in tiny spaces, you learn how to be modest and discreet with each other. So we were very at-home and comfortable with the four of us sharing one room. Even the dogs know their place!

Our motel was just North of Atlanta, but before I realized, we had driven about 30 miles South of Atlanta. That should have been a sign to us and we should have just stopped there for the night. Instead, we decided to turn back and go to the motel which had my credit card information. I was really afraid that if we didn't show up that they would deduct the night's stay. I didn't feel like playing the "Do you allow dogs?" game that late at night either. So turn around we did and got lost in the process. After actually getting Steve to ask for directions; we went the back roads and pulled into the Motel 8 around 9 O'clock. Check in was a snap, but we discovered that the pet fee that they impose is per dog. It's expensive to take your dog on vacation!


We went into the room and were appalled by the fact that it certainly was not the Ritz. Cleanliness was not up to par and eek! it only had one king bed. At this point, we weren't going to start looking for other arrangements. Steve, always the gentleman offered to pull his sleeping bag from the car and sleep on the floor. "Nonsense! I said, "We can be mature here and improvise." So we built a wall in the middle of the bed with luggage and pillows. Once I take my medication that helps relax my spastic muscles, I could sleep through a tornado! Therefore, I was surprised when I heard Steve loudly ask "What do you want?" Apparently, there had been a quiet knock on the door. A knock that was so quiet that unless you were already awake, you wouldn't hear it. Steve's response to the quiet tap at the door sent the man into panic mode. He turned white as a ghost (which wasn't easy)and started stammering. According to Steve, the light tap on the door was just enough to gauge whether someone was alert in the room. I guess that all the yelling and screaming that we had hear previous to this had just been a preview of the "bad" part of town that we had found ourselves in. "You really think that they were going to either break into the van or steal your Bike?" I asked. Well, Steve was convinced and I do imagine that that man will not soon forget the scary image of the big, burly, bearded man who threw open the curtains! He may even be running today!

We didn't even take Motel 8's offer of a free Continental breakfast. Nothing we wanted to eat from there. So we packed the car to travel the next six hundred miles to Port Charlotte. As we left the motel parking lot, we noticed that one whole side of the motel was burned. Hmmm, lesson to be learned; never pull into an unknown area after dark. It's much better to actually see what you're getting into!