Day 30

Day thirty, August 7, 2011

It was so nice to finally sleep in a nice clean place with beds that we almost slept right through checkout!  Rob woke up at 10:45 and checkout was 11.  We quickly threw everything into the car and hit the road.

The only stop we made before getting onto the interstate that would take us all the way to Minneapolis was Starbucks.  While waiting in line at Starbucks I noticed that they sold the NY Times!  I thought about getting so that we could catch up on things going on at home but when I took a closer look they were charging $6 for this newspaper!  So I passed on that. 

Our next stop was several hours later right outside of Minnesota at the Country Kitchen. This would be our last memory of North Dakota, and what a memory it was!  We sat down and were quickly greeted by our very enthusiastic waiter.  He seemed to be having an exceptional good day and loved his job.  At first Rob thought that he may have been being over nice because he was trying to impress me, however, I ended up just being the decoy.  He was really more interested in Rob!!!!  He frequently came over to our table to ensure that we were doing well.  After bringing us our meal, he excitedly approached the table again with a huge grin on his face!  He said, "I have a question for you guys!  Do you guys like ice cream?" We both shook our heads.  "What about chocolate and caramel?" Rob replied, "Caramel, yes but not really chocolate." He smiled and said , "Ok great! Well save room because I'm going to make you guys a really special dessert!" We had no idea what to expect!  Was he serious?  Did he want to eat it with us?  Were we going to be charged?  We had no idea!  As we were still eating he came over to us again with a piece of paper.  "Here is a list of toppings, so check off the ones you like!" A few minutes later he cleared the table and took the checklist from Rob with a huge grin on his face! A few minutes later he returned with a huge ice cream sundae and placed it in the middle of our table.  "So here it is!  I only charged you for two scoops of ice cream, that's only 60 cents! Enjoy!!!" He did not wait very long to come back and check on us.  He asked how we liked it.  Rob replied by saying, it's very good, thank you.  The waiter jumped up and down, clapped his hands, and yelled out a great big, "YEAHHH!!!" LoLzz. We paid the bill, and quickly escaped before Elton was able to ask Rob for his digits!

During the trip to Minneapolis Rob began asking me about the hotel we were staying in tonight, I didn't know much about it so of course I googled it! This is what I found:
 
1. Darren0731  review

“Book somewhere else!!!!! BED BUGS!!!!!”

Reviewed July 29, 2011
Unfortunately anything the very good staff at this hotel do for you is overshadowed by the complete lack of cleanliness in this hotel. I was bitten many times on my first night here, and found nasty crawlies under the duvet. Stay somewhere else unless you like sharing your bed with something other than your other half!!!!
Also make sure you are near the routers for the internet as it is very SLOW...

2. Rustywisconsin1  review

“Disgusting”

Reviewed June 20, 2011
This hotel was terrible!! When we arrived there, there was dried up food smeared on the floor. We were in a smoking room,but the sheets and blankets had cigarette burns all over them. The walls looked like there were boogers all over it. Possible previous fight in the room because the bathroom door had a cracked hole in it. I felt so dirty it was so gross. I brought my own blankets and sleeping bag, Thank God!! I had to wrap their pillows in bath towels couldn't tell if the pillow cases were used or not. Even the bath towels were gross. They were not white and had stains all over! Never will I stay there again.

3. CopperCar...Antioch, Illinois

“Disgusting and Dirty - and possibly BEDBUGS”

We traveled with my mother-in-law to Burnsville for the funeral of her brother, a sad occasion for all. We stayed at the Travelodge the first night after a 7-hour drive, but checked out the next morning due to the disgustingly dirty room. It smelled musty. Sleeping on plywood would be an improvement over those beds as they were so hard and uncomfortable. Half of the lights didn't work in our room. One of the bedspreads was filthy and looked as if coffee had been spilled on it - that was thrown off the bed and on the floor before we touched it.

Another couple checking out at same time in the morning had the wife complaining of red bumps all over and itching like crazy, most likely from BEDBUGS. As a precaution, clothing and bags were washed immediately when we got home. However, my mother-in-law had apparently been bitten on her back as well. She hoping that she didn't bring any of the critters home with her.

Will NEVER stay there again, or recommend to anyone. A lot of work to be done - bedbug extermination, electrical work, thorough cleaning, new mattresses would be a start. And perhaps some management and cleaning crew that cared.




I couldn't take any more! I quickly turned off my phone and felt sick to my stomach!! What did we get ourselves into?  Plus we would be staying here for TWO nights!!!

We pulled into the parking and so far so good.  It didn't look that bad. I checked in and the front desk attendant informed me our room was in the other building. I returned back to the car and pointed at the building adjacent to the front desk and told Rob that was where our room was. We pulled into the other parking lot and noticed the building was a bit run down and the parking lot was empty. At this point we were very concerned, thinking we would have to bring everything in from the car over night. Luckily Rob noticed another building behind the main building and we realized this was an abandoned hotel and we would not be staying there. We returned to the other parking lot and found our correct room and building. We reluctantly opened the door and were quite surprised when we looked in. It was one of the nicer places we have stayed at since Steph and her embassy suites left us. The room was very clean with what looks like a newly finished bathroom. We will be able to sleep peacefully tonight, hopefully.  Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.