Thursday, July 30, 2009

Sleeping in a Horror Movie: The Big Eddy


07/27/09 - Day 2 - special update

Ok, this is a special blog entry - not about the day riding, but the location we are staying. This morning, we left the Hampton Inn from the "Riverstone Community" (primier yuppity yup bridgeport-esque place in Couer D'Alene) - which was one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. We were pampered.


Tonight we have arrived at The Big Eddy Resort. First of all, there were no choices at all in where we stayed. This was it. We were/are riding into the sticks, Idaho. No cell service. No internet. Nothing. Well, the day before we left, I located Big Eddy Resort on some satellite imagery, and was so sure I was in the wrong place that I spent almost 4 hours confirming that, indeed, the little shack I was viewing from Google street view was the resort.

The resort has 4 rooms on the upper floor - or so it appeared... Upon more research, I discovered that Big Eddy is an RV resort. In fact, it is a mecca for RV/ATV/dirt biking, and gun shooting. Well, we finally arrived tonight. Kim and I walked into the bar/store/motel lobby/restaurant. After reopening our eyes from the sting of cigarette smoke, we found the manager and said we were checking in. He said - the room? We said "yes" and he handed us the key, and said "room 4." No waiver. No papers. No ID. Didn't even ask for our name.

So after we found an appropriate place to lock up our bikes, we went to our room......

It looked like something out of a creeper movie... NO JOKE. I think people get murdered here every month. Probably from the gun totin', ATV drivin', beer drinkin' crew (right below our room!!!) First of all - there is no A/C. Quite possibly the only motel this side of the Cascades without A/C. The decor hasn't been updated since the '60's, which probably explains the love for wall paneling - on every wall, and the ceiling (It only gets updated with new paneling when it rots out from the roof leaks). It also explains why the couch has been so nicely re-upholstored with a throw blanket. Nobody yet has had the courage to look under the blanket... although Kim just found a mouse dropping on the top of the blanket.


The headboard of one bed is broken, which is an "upgrade" from the other bed that has no headboard or bedskirt... The TV in the room has a VCR hooked up to it - nix that - the VCR is not actually hooked up to anything; but neither is the TV. Granted, the TV takes over 5 minutes to warm up, so we don't know if we get any channels at all...

Upon exploring the rest of the diggs, we discovered a door... When I checked the door, it was locked. When Kim checked the door, we discovered that while the door is, indeed, locked, IT DOES NOT CLOSE. And the open door revealed that our neighbors are not fellow travelers, but possibly Big Eddy himself - units 1, 2, and 3 have been merged into one giant living area - complete with messy beds, stairs going down, and ashtrays! There is only one room here.

The door... that locks but doesn't close.

When I finally ventured up enough courage to shower, there were more discoveries... Like when I reached in to turn on the water in the shower, I felt a drip of blood drop on my back!! I screamed... totally freaked out, until I realized that they were Eric's gloves that were drip drying on the curtain rod. The shower itself was pleasant and cooling (remember, no A/C?), although it's a new-fangled kind of shower - the temperature is only approximate. It gets significantly hotter and colder than the actual setting.

Tonight, before we go to bed, I will brace a chair against the door that does not close, check for bedbugs, and then pray fervently that I do not get shot by a local for looking like a 'sissy.' We have all agreed that Kyle's purse will not make an appearance during our stay, and that I do not garden... I'm more like a farmer...

Yep... a farmer. I even have the tan lines to prove it.

Just to be clear: we left this hotel this morning:

3 comments:

  1. This reminds me of Lumpy's - or the motel in Colorado with the bed in the kitchen and no a/c, where we gave up and left the ground floor window open, just so we could TRY to sleep. Ah, the memories! ~ Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okay, I'm pretty well dying over the comment about hiding Kyle's purse... It totally sounds like you're in Molalla or something. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hahaha...this reminds me of when Missi and Momma Bourgo made it to OC and one of the first stories I heard was about the freaky hotel they stayed in. Missi's words exactly, I believe, were, "We stayed in the hotel from the movie 'Vacancy'. Actually, I think it was worse."

    ReplyDelete