Chris and I had some real fun with our cheap motel quest on our road trip in May. We had some pretty interesting rooms, including one that had just been painted in enamel. It was yellow on two walls and purple on the other two walls. And I do not mean subdued or pastel colors, either! I have a picture of it, just not on this computer. I can show you the picture at a later date.
Becky and I are in a little motel in Ilwaco tonight. We came to the Long Beach area to attend a cultural event involving the Columbia Confluence area which is basically where the Columbia River meets the ocean. The weather has been off and on today, sunny one minute and blustery and rainy the next. We started out early this morning and took our time meandering to the ocean. On the way we saw these cute little Alpacas. Oh my goodness. Look at this cute little face!
There was an "Artisan Fair" in Tokeland that we wanted to attend. As it turns out it was actually in Ocosta and it was actually a craft sale to help benefit Children's Hospital in Seattle. We perused the goods and bought a few things and well....that certainly did not take up three days. It is running for three days, but we only needed an hour to figure out what to buy. As it turns out there was also this event in Long Beach (technically it is in Ilwaco) and so we headed there. Here are a few of the pictures I took along the way:
The first part of this event was a lecture by an anthropologist about ....it's too complicated to go into. It was sort of about Thanksgiving. He talked a lot about Potlatch, which has to do with keeping the balance in the environment and with people so that there is an equal amount of give and take. Boy, that man can ramble. So we got through the lecture and then so many people wanted to ask questions which he answered with all the same information that he had just given in the lecture. Sigh. I just wanted to yell, "Can you all just shut up now, so I can figure out where Becky and I are going to spend the night?" LOL. He did have a lot of interesting information about the tribes of Coastal Washington and Oregon. It was just a LOT of rambling and saying the same thing over and over that got to me.
So we finally got released from the lecture and set about trying to get a room. Yikes! Long Beach is a much more expensive area than Grayland and Tokeland. We found a room for 65.00 and jumped for it. She said it was the only room she had left. We told her we would head over there and she said that she lived a few doors down and would meet us there. (Weird). So we found it and pulled up. There was an open sign so we walked over to that area of the building. She was in there in what appeared to be a storage and laundry room. SURPRISE. It was also the front desk. LOL. We squeezed in (literally!) so we could pay her and get our key. She acted very much like a deer caught in headlights and each time we had a question...well, I don't know. It was all I could do to not laugh out loud at how much we were inconveniencing her by actually wanting to get her remaining room. She could have told us she was full. We wouldn't have known the difference. LOL. So we are standing there waiting to check in and she just keeps looking at us. Becky said to her, "So is there paperwork to fill out?" At this she seemed put out but said "yes" and got the little clipboard and put the paper on it. Then Becky wanted to pay in cash using a hundred dollar bill so she asked if there would be change for 100. She took a money envelope out and looked in it and said yes, but then whined it would use up all her cash. LOL. Like I said...it was all I could do to not laugh out loud. I am not sure if it was the way she kept looking at us, or the way she seemed like she didn't know what to do or the fact that in the middle of us trying to get things settled she turned around and threw stuff in the dryer and turned it on...or how when she said, "Here let me show you where the room is.", she walked around the building and started moving the patio furniture around while saying, "it's at the top of the stairs". At which we asked, "is there only one room up there?" and then she said, "No, there are two." At which point we both asked if it was the first one. And she said, "You have your key right? the number is on the key. Number 9." LOL. At that point I almost lost it. Maybe you had to be there.
So we got our stuff and walked up the stairs and came in our room. Nice clean room. Lots of stuff for coffee or tea and a microwave, refrigerator and toaster. Two queens and a twin bed. The rooms weren't that bad. And we even have a tiny little pet spider hanging from the tv's wall mount! LOL.
Anyway, we are only sleeping here, so all we really wanted was the beds, although I did make coffee to have with my banana cookies and yogurt. We have to get up early in the morning to FOLLOW the tour bus that is FULL to where the next part of our cultural experience will be, which is at the Columbia Confluence. I hope I get to see lots of birds and that the rain and wind slow down a little for our outdoor walk. There are three events and the last one is a salmon dinner put on by the Chinook Indians. We may or may not stay all day. Hopefully the other speakers won't ramble quite as much as that first one did.
I am looking forward to seeing this area in daylight. The last time we headed this way we had very little daylight left by the time we got here, so we didn't get to see everything. I think we will go see both lighthouses and also drive around the peninsula and see the sights and maybe stop at a couple of the historical areas. For now I am going to go play my gnome game and then get some shut eye. I want to be ready for tomorrow!
