[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”|||9px||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]
“It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.”
My mom was a world traveler. Traveling brings with it its own set of unique experiences and she loved to see what the extraordinary adventures would bring. One story my mom recounted was a trip to India to visit some missionary friends. She knew the trip would be arduous and exciting, especially as she had a bit of a layover and plane change in Bombay. She didn’t know that her plane change was to take place at another airport across town. As she told it, she had to take a taxi in the middle of the night (and no cell phone, if you can imagine!) to catch her flight. The taxi driver didn’t speak English and no one in the entire world knew where she was for those hours. Somehow, she made the connection and met her friends, but it wasn’t until she returned home that the realization of the dangers of that midnight adventure caught up with her.
Her word was “GO!” and so she did. If bad things happened, it just made her story better.
–Tricia
—
Knowing where and how to begin a story is the key to whether or not the reader will read any further. I hope you read it further. You might find it interesting.
First, let me set the scene. Because we have taken many road trips, we know the importance of reserving a handicapped room with a roll-in shower. Usually, there is only one in a hotel. So when making the reservations, Cliff stresses the importance of getting the right room.
Day One: Bend, Oregon, we check in at the desk, go to our room, no roll-in-shower, back to the front desk, they are sorry, and twenty minutes later, they somehow find our room. Can I mention that after a long day of traveling, twenty minutes of waiting in the lobby for a room you have reserved and they can’t find is a long time?
Day Two: Wednesday night in Spokane. Yay, no room problems!
Day Three: Thursday night, the fun begins. After a long traveling day, we arrived at our motel in Kalispell, Montana. When we checked in at the front desk, Cliff asked and was assured we had the handicapped room with the roll-in shower, which he had reserved in advance. We got to the room, no roll-in shower. Back to the front desk. They didn’t know how that had happened; they had given someone else the room and were very sorry. They will provide us with a complimentary movie and accommodate us tomorrow morning in the room we requested. It just means I am not able to get settled or take a shower. The room available Thursday night was a handicapped room without the roll-in shower. Then it gets worse.
A reasonable expectation for a person in a wheelchair is a room with easy access to the bathroom, not here. The room’s design did not allow me to navigate my bike into the bathroom easily. I can’t get around the bathroom door. It opens too close to the wall. With much frustration and determination, I have to close the door and then go back and forth, line up the bike, open the door and make my way into the bathroom. That is still not the worst. There is no simple way I can navigate my way out of the bathroom.
After many tries, I was able to escape the bathroom. We called for the Manager to witness this dilemma. As I tried to get around the door to get into the bathroom, she said, “Oh, that is not good.” My response was, “that is the easy part.” It took Cliff and me a minimum of 10 to 15 minutes to try and figure out how to get me out of the bathroom. It was like a puzzle. He opened the door, and I had to back up into a corner for Cliff to be able to close the door so I could navigate around it to get into the room. We should have videoed it for the full effect. Fortunately, I did finally learn the magic wheelchair dance for bathroom access. It just seems like it shouldn’t be that difficult.
Day Four: Friday
If you know Cliff and me, we are not big complainers. We don’t like to cause a big ruckus or blame the wrong person. However, this morning (Friday), it is 9:00 am, and we are still waiting to be moved to the other room so I can shower and get on with our day. They told us last night they would move us at 8:30 this morning. We didn’t get into our room with the roll-in shower until almost 10:00 am. At about 9:30, he talked with the woman cleaning the room to try and find out what the problem was. She told him she was waiting for the sheets to dry. Really?
Traveling and inconveniences seem to go together, I have traveled all over the world and have had to adjust because of various circumstances, but this appears to be more of incompetence rather than a flood, tornado, or hurricane.
I will not tell you about the complimentary dinner they offered us last night. It looked like some dried chicken casserole sitting under the warmer for a couple of hours. After that, we went to Applebee’s.
Friday has been a great day. We spent most of our time with family, who are also good friends.
When we returned to our rooms at about 8:00 pm, Kathy’s room had not been cleaned. She checked with the front desk, and they were very sorry (everybody is very sorry) but couldn’t do anything tonight. However, they did give her some clean towels. Can it get any better?
Fortunately, we are here to have fun and enjoy our family, so we will not struggle over these hotel problems. However, I sent the Manager a copy of this blog and mentioned I was part of a Facebook group that reached across the United States, and I would be anxious to know how he planned to compensate us for not delivering a paid product. I will keep you posted.
–Susan
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https://sweetspeakablesorrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Picture1-227×300.jpg” title_text=”Picture1″ _builder_version=”4.19.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]