American oddities* and cheap motels
Jesus and the joys of a Motel6
On arriving to Janesville base camp one one afternoon, we were overjoyed to see a very special guest was also staying that night - and a few friends, perhaps, as the car could easily seat a handful of chums.
We stayed at a Motel6 proved to be an interesting (and cheap, which was the whole idea) experience. Complete refurbishment was still well underway, but we had been assured one of the brand spanking newly decorated rooms. On arrival, it seems the outside of the building must be the ’second phase’ of refurbishment.
New was what we got, and the interior was entirely new. Great new, modern bathroom, new furniture - which was pleasingly solid and heavy in quality - and the new TV was still fitted with a few of the little blue plastic sticky things that I can only assume are to protect particular points of the casing, yet are placed at entirely inexplicable locations. Most spectacular of all was the glistening gaiety of the Motel6 corporate duvet covers. Trucks, bears, skiers, and Motel6 logos, clearly screaming at all the possible adventures travelers might expect when partaking of the Motel6 experience - the picture barely does it justice. The ice machine delivered a taunting humming yet never any ice, and the only thing the dispensing machine was all out of was disposable razors.
It’s all about people, however. To greet us was a solidly built, calf-tattooed, orange woman with a voice decibel level appropriate to deliver announcements to a Butlins camp without a PA system. Each morning, a one-eyed guy would be dropped off for work and would eagerly start rummaging through the previous day’s trash for treasures. There was the midnight pacing guy upstairs who then paced some more around 4 a.m. (we deduced the first pacing session was him packing, the second him checking and leaving). There were the 542 (ish) Mexicans who had managed to squeeze in next door for a night. There was the early hours headboard slapping activity of nearby humping. And then there was the older guy who was taken away handcuffed by police, followed by the irate Mexican shouting into his mobile outside the very same door later that day - deductions are all yours.
See jEN’s post for her take on the Motel6 experience.
The best way to tell whether you are in the USA is look for a drive-thru. I did experience a drive-thru ATM for the first time, but could not resist capturing this drive-thru tobacco store, Smoker’s Best Friend.
You’ll find a couple more American oddities on my flickr page. To discover why our hire car is described as our “sweet sympathy ride” (see the topmost image) you’ll have to tune in to the next MinorTechnicality podcast.
*These oddities do not include images from House on the Rock, for which the word ‘oddity’ does not even get close to hinting at the mere essence quirkiness of that place. More on House on the Rock in another post.
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Hey Neil - you need to come visit civilization over here in the pacific northwest
Hi Steve! That may well be possible in a couple of years. We have been discussing doing a major road trip over several weeks. Oddities galore.