As we were heading back from our South Dakota trip, we came upon a pretty nasty storm in Western Iowa.  Generally this doesn’t bother me much, but as all to common on any road travel these days, we were reduced to a single lane due to road construction.  As a result, it was difficult to concentrate on the narrow lanes while focusing through the downpour.  After awhile we decided to go ahead and stop for the night in Council Bluffs.  The GPS indicated there were some casinos nearby so we opted to stay at one of their hotels…. actually that was the plan, but we ended up calling for rooms in advance only to find out they were ALL booked.  No problem, we’ll find something along the way.  Unfortunately, we didn’t find very many options and it was getting pretty late.  Eventually, we found an exit with three hotels on it – I think a Holiday Inn and possibly a Day’s Inn (can’t remember for sure).  We opted for the Holiday Inn only to find out they were booked and was given the recommendation to try the other hotel (Day’s Inn) across the street.  So… we went over there having to pass a Rath Inn on the way.  As you probably expected, that hotel was full – we finally figured out that the College World Series was going on which filled up all the rooms in the neighboring cities (I believe the games are held in Omaha Nebraska).  The hotel clerk wouldn’t even recommend another option which immediately stood out as interesting… two hotels in the area refused to refer anybody to the Rath Inn – either stiff competition in the area or something is up.

 We were tired, the rain wasn’t letting up so we went against our better judgement and headed to Rath Inn to take a chance they had a room left.  It was more of a motel (park next to door), but a bed was all I really needed (hasty assumption there!)  Turns out we were able to procure the last non-smoking room – we’re in luck.  We drove the car to the room, quickly opened the door to get feel the comfort of the bed to soothe the eyes.  The view didn’t leave much of reason to blog on it – basic room generic decor … should be okay.  And then my wife comes out the bathroom with complete disgust on her face and seriously agitated.  Turns out they didn’t even bother cleaning the bathroom from the previous occupants.  DISGUSTING – we were trapped – nowhere to go and in a room not fit to stay – the traveler’s dilemma.  Fatigue won out, we tore all the sheets of the bed, grabbed a blanket from the car to sleep ON TOP of and did our best to get some sleep.

I now have a benchmark for the bottom rung of roadside bedding – and a new level of fatigue I’m willing to endure to find another place to stay.