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Nov. 03, 2009
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Team Misfits California Road Trip 2005 - Part 6

The Hotels, Bedtime Stories and How We Lived It Up...Sorta

Good night,
Sleep tight,
Don't let the bed bugs bite.



A large part of the trip involved hotels, sleeping and getting used to each others' living habits. Our first hotel adventure occurred as we were exploring Team Guys' room at the Hilton Checkers Hotel in downtown LA. The room had a luxurious feel to it - rich drapery and upholstery fabrics, numerous soaps and bottles of lotions and haircare products in a spacious and brightly lit bathroom, various pieces of stylish furniture, etc. But then someone took it upon themselves to examine the bedding, and upon pulling back the sheets, a many-legged black bug of significant size and girth was revealed. Gasp! Horrors! Of course we immediately whipped out all of our cameras and spent a considerable amount of time taking photos of the bug. Thankfully, no other bugs were found throughout the rest of our stay, and we eventually agreed that Hilton Checkers was a nice hotel overall.

We spent some time around the rooftop pool with water of questionable quality. We were sans martinis and jazz music, unfortunately, but there was something strangely calming about lying on a lounge chair, on a roof, by a pool, at night, surrounded by good friends and towering skyscrapers.





Team Girl didn't have too much difficulty adjusting to the others' habits, except for Evilo's flailingly violent style of sleeping when paired with someone else. She didn't move around much when sleeping alone. Huh. Eyebrows and I slept like unmoving log lumps so it was in our best interest to share a bed while Evilo had her own.

It took Team Guy more time to get used to rooming with each other, and I'm not just referring to the toothbrush that was in danger of being used by someone than its rightful owner. Ew.

"I'm not sleeping with your feet in my face!"
- Herculean Borough the Speedy Gonzales Gazelle to GEORGE, upon finding out that GEORGE fully expected some form of head-to-feet inverted sleeping position.

Herculean Borough the Speedy Gonzales Gazelle and GEORGE eventually resolved their differences by deploying a buffer pillow, but poor GEORGE had other nighttime trials and tribulations to suffer through: Herculean Borough the Speedy Gonzales Gazelle's stomach noises, the sound of Rob the Travel Nazi lubricating his sunburnt legs at regular intervals throughout the night and Ron the Happy Bishop's snoring.

Oh the snoring.

It should be noted that Rob the Travel Nazi and Ron the Happy Bishop were bed buddies, and after suffering through Ron the Happy Bishop's "ridiculously loud snoring" on night one, Rob the Travel Nazi resorted to punching Ron the Happy Bishop repeatedly on nights two through nine to stop the snoring. Team Girl was given the opportunity of listening to Ron the Happy Bishop's log sawwing at the Best Western Inn of Ventura - there were doors that connected the two rooms we were occupying, and we left these doors open throughout the night to experience Rob the Travel Nazi's pain first hand. Being the heavy unmoving log lump sleeper that I am, I did not have the pleasure of hearing Ron the Happy Bishop's nighttime serenade, but I was assured by Evilo the next morning that it was indeed a sound to be heard. Connecting doors aside, the Ventura Best Western was comfortable enough, albeit a little rundown with utterly unflattering fluorescent lights in the bathroom.

Our longest stay - four nights - was at the Best Western Beach Resort in Monterey. The hotel was right on the beach. Team Guy, especially Rob the Travel Nazi found the lack of a real door on the bathroom borderline disturbing (the 'door' was made of horizontal wooden slats allowing for...ventilation, I guess?), but it was an otherwise typical run-of-the-mill hotel.

Our next temporary home was the Travelodge Golden Gate in San Francisco. Evilo, who admits to being a bit of a hotel snob, was particularly anxious about the quality of this hotel. Upon arrival, Evilo's verbalized train of thought went something like,

��pulling into the parking lot�� "This is ghetto"
��outside our room�� "There's a crack on the door"
��about to enter the room�� "Are you nervous?"
��when asked back whether she was nervous�� "I'm only nervous if someone else is"
��door opens to reveal a decently clean room�� "OH THANK GOD"

The Westin St. Francis was the grand finale. Central location, glass elevator, high ceilings, spacious rooms, luxurious linens and bath products...three cheers for the IBM corporate rate for enabling us to travel in style at an affordable price!

"Fantastic beds at the Westin - instant sleep"
- Rob the Travel Nazi




Such were the hotel adventures of Team Misfits Super Supreme Tourists.