The Last Miles

There were a few things wrong with our motel last night.  The bed, for one, was not right for me.  Oh, it felt like it should be a very comfortable bed, but this was me and my screwy body and it was after 4 a.m. before I finally was able to get to sleep, probably more out of exhaustion.  But I can't fault the motel for that.  As I said, if I were a normal person, I think it would have been a comfortable bed.

But the room chairs (2) were very uncomfortable too.

This is not a room where you are expected to lounge about...get in drop your stuff, do your activities out of the room, come home and go to bed.  That's the way you should do it.  It's also why, when I couldn't sleep, I didn't do what I usually do, which is to curl up in the room chair.

But the biggest problem with the room, IMO, was the bathroom.  Oh, a nice bathroom, but look what you see when you sit down on the toilet.

(I had just gotten out of the shower when I discovered this and decided I'd get dressed and show you!)

But overall, it was a nice place for one night.  Now we are at an "Extended Stay America," which is designed for people who are going to be staying a week or more (Joe and Alice Nan stayed here a month or more when their house flooded).  I am optimistic about this room because it has a recliner and though there are not 10 pillows (which we had last night...and it still wasn't enough), I still think that I will be able to sleep in the recliner, since I thought ahead and brought my own blanket.  All I'll be missing is a Chihuahua.

It was a nice drive down, more mustard, fluffy clouds and David Baldacci, who I have decided must be talking to Lee Child, since this book we are listening to is so filled with minute descriptions of weapons.

We stopped in Buellton at Pea Soup Andersons for lunch.  They have a nice "travelers special" which is all you can eat of their famous split pea soup (I can never finish more than one bowl anyway), which comes with a variety of toppings and looks like this when it is ready to eat:

With it you get your choice of coffee, tea, soft drink or "thick milk shake."  I chose the shake and decided this was more a glass of ice cream than a shake.  Try getting this through a straw.

And then Santa Barbara to register here at the motel.  The reason we are staying here, by the way, and not with Alice Nan and Joe, is that they are having their kitchen remodeled and the house looks like this:

Tom called and invited us to come over for turkey burgers, which we did.  I took almost no photos (Jeri would be so proud), but did watch Wreck It Ralph with Bri and Uncle Norm.  Tom's friend Lance is there with his wife and son, who is about Lacie's age.  We watched the kids a bit but had promised to leave after bath time so the kids would all go to sleep.  And we did.

Tomorrow is Brianna's 5th birthday party.

Apparently our sweet little granddaughter has chosen a Darth Vader theme for her party.  Go figure.