Hola!
I interrupt the posts about the vacation we took in Japan and Hong Kong 2 months ago to bring you news of our travels across the country.
After having spent 5 of the last 6 nights in hotels, I believe I've become a bit of a mid-range hotel connoisseur. At least I would if it weren't for the fact that all but one of our stays were in Holiday Inn. On our first day we drove from Pullman to Ogden, a small city roughly 40 miles from Salt Lake city. The price for one night at government rate was $115. The next day we traveled to Flagstaff AZ. The price for one night at government rate was $105. The price for one night at the Holiday in several miles outside of Albuquerque was $95, and finally, in Vicksburg, $85.
You can clearly see a trend here: the price of lodging in a Holiday in drops in a roughly linear fashion as you move southwest at a slope of approximately $10 per 600 miles. Our last night was spent in Pensacola, and if you follow the trend, statistically speaking, the pricing of a stay at the Holiday Inn should be in the neighborhood of $80 dollars. $80 for a night in a quality establishment like that would have been money well spent, but instead I opted for convenience and settled for a Hampton Inn, which, being $35 (almost 140%) more per night than the projected value of a stay at a Holiday Inn in the same city, should have been in comparison a much more luxurious experience. The outdoor pool was very nice, but the frills ended there. Half of our towels had dirt and hair on them (though, when we got them exchanged they apologized with a bag of expensive cookie things and two bottles of spring water. Alas, before I even hung them up I spotted a pubic hair on one of the new towels), our old-fashioned CRT TV had no DVD player or any way to connect to our laptop (unlike all of the Holiday Inns we stayed at), and the breakfast options in the morning were not as extensive as at a Holiday Inn. There wasn’t even any meat. This was especially disappointing, given that the receptionist the night before was bragging about how great the breakfast was going to be. Holiday inns seem to alternate daily between bacon and sausage, though the “bacon” from Holiday inn is missing my favorite component of bacon, namely, the bacon.
Holiday Inn didn’t have perfect batting average either, in one hotel we weren’t given any shampoo and despite the claims of the hotel policy notice pasted in the bathroom, we weren’t delivered a bottle upon request because the hotel was understaffed. Oh well. The Holiday Inn outside of Albuquerque had mosquitoes buzzing all around the first floor, but not on the floor we stayed in. On the plus side, in Flagstaff there was an arcade next to the elevator (marvel vs. capcom! And a few other titles).
Ok… this post has essentially been facetious because we highly enjoyed the entire trip, and one of our favorite stops was at the Hampton Inn at the end. The whole trip we experienced blessings – not a single flat or ticket. In Texas we got to stop and see the Coonies, friends of both of our families that we hadn’t seen in 15 years, in Pensacola we got to hang out with my sister, brother-in-law and beautiful niece, we got to see amazing natural wonders, listen to amazing books on tape, have great conversations, and had only one conflict in the car which resolved in such a way that my wife and I were closer after than before. Not only was it a great trip, I am beginning to think it was the best trip possible.
Now, I will post some photos, for your enjoyment.
Day 1: We leave pullman
New tires, smooth ride
This is Inn-soo, we stayed with her the 2 months before we left
View that we will miss, from our back porch
The big sky of the palouse
A resort-ish town in Idaho that we drove through
Southern Idaho was pretty barren.
After having spent 5 of the last 6 nights in hotels, I believe I've become a bit of a mid-range hotel connoisseur. At least I would if it weren't for the fact that all but one of our stays were in Holiday Inn. On our first day we drove from Pullman to Ogden, a small city roughly 40 miles from Salt Lake city. The price for one night at government rate was $115. The next day we traveled to Flagstaff AZ. The price for one night at government rate was $105. The price for one night at the Holiday in several miles outside of Albuquerque was $95, and finally, in Vicksburg, $85.
You can clearly see a trend here: the price of lodging in a Holiday in drops in a roughly linear fashion as you move southwest at a slope of approximately $10 per 600 miles. Our last night was spent in Pensacola, and if you follow the trend, statistically speaking, the pricing of a stay at the Holiday Inn should be in the neighborhood of $80 dollars. $80 for a night in a quality establishment like that would have been money well spent, but instead I opted for convenience and settled for a Hampton Inn, which, being $35 (almost 140%) more per night than the projected value of a stay at a Holiday Inn in the same city, should have been in comparison a much more luxurious experience. The outdoor pool was very nice, but the frills ended there. Half of our towels had dirt and hair on them (though, when we got them exchanged they apologized with a bag of expensive cookie things and two bottles of spring water. Alas, before I even hung them up I spotted a pubic hair on one of the new towels), our old-fashioned CRT TV had no DVD player or any way to connect to our laptop (unlike all of the Holiday Inns we stayed at), and the breakfast options in the morning were not as extensive as at a Holiday Inn. There wasn’t even any meat. This was especially disappointing, given that the receptionist the night before was bragging about how great the breakfast was going to be. Holiday inns seem to alternate daily between bacon and sausage, though the “bacon” from Holiday inn is missing my favorite component of bacon, namely, the bacon.
Holiday Inn didn’t have perfect batting average either, in one hotel we weren’t given any shampoo and despite the claims of the hotel policy notice pasted in the bathroom, we weren’t delivered a bottle upon request because the hotel was understaffed. Oh well. The Holiday Inn outside of Albuquerque had mosquitoes buzzing all around the first floor, but not on the floor we stayed in. On the plus side, in Flagstaff there was an arcade next to the elevator (marvel vs. capcom! And a few other titles).
Ok… this post has essentially been facetious because we highly enjoyed the entire trip, and one of our favorite stops was at the Hampton Inn at the end. The whole trip we experienced blessings – not a single flat or ticket. In Texas we got to stop and see the Coonies, friends of both of our families that we hadn’t seen in 15 years, in Pensacola we got to hang out with my sister, brother-in-law and beautiful niece, we got to see amazing natural wonders, listen to amazing books on tape, have great conversations, and had only one conflict in the car which resolved in such a way that my wife and I were closer after than before. Not only was it a great trip, I am beginning to think it was the best trip possible.
Now, I will post some photos, for your enjoyment.
Day 1: We leave pullman
New tires, smooth ride
This is Inn-soo, we stayed with her the 2 months before we left
View that we will miss, from our back porch
The big sky of the palouse
A resort-ish town in Idaho that we drove through
Southern Idaho was pretty barren.Day 2: Odgen UT to Flagstaff AZ
The mormon temple
View from the top of the Mormon HQ
Utah
Mt. "Nebo"
Cool rocks
Bryce Canyon - amazing, more accessible than the Grand Canyon, and easier to appreciate
Red Canyon - you drive through it on the way to Bryce
On the way to flagstaff
Day 3: Flagstaff AZ to Grand Canyon to Flagstaff AZ to Albuquerque NM
Tallest point in AZ - not that impressive
Land above the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
Grander than the Grand Canyon
Good to drink a lot of this
The Cooney's! Mr. and Mrs, + Kristin Briggs (Cooney) and her husband Elliot
Day 5: Lubbock to Vicksburg
The mormon temple
View from the top of the Mormon HQ
Utah
Mt. "Nebo"
Cool rocks
Bryce Canyon - amazing, more accessible than the Grand Canyon, and easier to appreciate
Red Canyon - you drive through it on the way to Bryce
On the way to flagstaff
Day 3: Flagstaff AZ to Grand Canyon to Flagstaff AZ to Albuquerque NM
Tallest point in AZ - not that impressive
Land above the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
Grander than the Grand Canyon
Good to drink a lot of thisDay 4: Albuquerque to Lubbock, TX
Notice the lack of photos. This is because there just wasnt much to take photos of.
The Cooney's! Mr. and Mrs, + Kristin Briggs (Cooney) and her husband Elliot
Day 5: Lubbock to Vicksburg
This was in Mobile Alabama. Pretty cool.
Day 6: Vicksburg to Pensacola
Day 7: Pensacola to Panama City Beach
posted by tmm at
4:36 PM
6 Comments:
How fun! Hope your new job in FL will be wonderful!
If you head this way again and take I-10 through Houston instead of I-20, let us know! We promise real bacon and clean towels.(-:
-the Stroms
Hello Stroms! Thanks for commenting, yes - staying with you both in Iowa was, without a doubt, the highlight of Marian and my trip across the states in 2004. Hmm, you aren't that far from our current residence actually, so that's certainly enticing.
Thank you for posting Tim. It looks like you had a wonderful trip.
I hope you enjoy Florida!
~Your favorite cousin-in-law~
P.S. I'm assuming the title of favorite cousin-in-law since I'm obviously Hilary's favorite cousin.
Great post, I am grateful to God for giving you a safe trip.
love,
Dad Boothman
I'm glad to hear you made it safely and that you had a good time along the way. You will both be dearly missed from our neck of the woods.
For some reason I can't get into your blog from my computer...very frstrating! Daddy finally set me down at his computer; your photos are great! I'm so grateful to God for your safety--both physically and unphysically. It was on our first great trip east when Daddy announced that he could eat peanut butter and crackers forever. One of our little conflicts...but beautifully resolved. We'll be thrilled to see photos of your new place! Love, Mom
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