And just like that...

...it gets a little more real. We had been in Modesto again, for three nights this time. The hotel, which should have been nice because it is a major national chain, wasn’t. We thought maybe it was just us but, nope, no one’s a.c. worked, no one’s carpets were clean, and everyone had asked “what is that smell?” at least once during the stay. So when it was time to check out this morning, we happily made reservations at the truly nice place where we’d be the last time we were in Modesto. Our mechanic had even arranged for us all to check in at 10:00 am.

My Favorite and I were standing in the lobby speaking with the front desk clerk to check us in when the noise that says “IT’S THE BOSS” hit his phone. There was a fire in Coalinga.

We canceled the check in and the rooms, put our stuff back in the car, and I drove him to the airport. On the way, he made hotel reservations. There were no rooms until tomorrow at the place he'd wanted, so he booked those. But that left us the first night. He called a little no-tell motel. They had 4 rooms. After he booked them, he warned me that, um, they may not have internet, babe.

But it was a room (4 of them) in the town we needed them to be. He took off; I found a shady spot to tutor (hello, Nouran!), and then headed to Coalinga, 2 hours and 7 minutes away.

Sure enough, the motel is exactly what we’d pictured...

No-Tell Motel, the Universe's way of reminding us to be grateful for not-quite-so-nice national chains

Not pictured: black mold in the bathroom or the single wash cloth provided for the two of us

But the fire was the fire. These are the views of my drive into town. Expect more of these in the next post.

And after one night in the No-Tell Motel, and another afternoon fighting fires (him) and hanging out at a Starbucks patio (me), we moved to the nicer place. Which is also coming soon.

I started this on the 13th and a week later finally have the time to finish it. Sometimes, the adventure is busier than others.