Day 4, Saturday
Comfort Inn Polaris, Columbus, Ohio
Some days the driving is not fun.
Breakfast is lost on me. It usually comes with the price of the room, but there is seldom anything that catches my fancy. I’m not usually hungry in the morning however I grab a biscuit with gravy and eat half.
Back in the room, I check messages again before doing the newspaper editing. One thing that keeps bringing my spirits down is the water ban issue back home. It seems every day the commissioners are threatening to fine anyone caught using an outside hose. There are constant leaks because of the old system of pipes and with the horrible drought this year, water levels are critical. I’ve got to stop reading that site for my own sanity, but I like to keep track of what’s going on.
I check out of the hotel before 10:30 a.m. The desk clerk says to take I-270W to avoid going into downtown Columbus. I fill the gas tank and a few minutes later, take the ramp off I-71S to I-270W… and I hate it! The traffic is heavy and I can’t see anything! There is a lot of construction, and to make matters worse, it rains – hard. Vehicles don’t slow and I feel like the walls of the concrete over passes and the surrounding construction zones and traffic are closing in on me. Tears don’t help the visibility, either.
I want to go home! Can I possibly find another way home? Can I get a fine even if it’s raining and there are no workers about? And this is the better way through Columbus? I feel claustrophobic in cities. My mind wails and babbles. Stop it! I have to get hold of myself. Breathe!
I reach I-70W and once away from the city and out of construction areas, traffic spreads out, the land flattens, speed limit rises to 70 mph, the rain stops, and I breathe easier. I can see fields and farms and when I cross into Indiana at 12:20, it’s even better. However, the bridges, as in Ohio, have cement sides that I can’t see over. It would be nice to see water.
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| Leaving Ohio |
The first rest stop comes 15 minutes from the border. I pull in. Hopefully, there will be someone to answer my questions. Indianapolis is getting closer. Uh, oh, another city; do I stay on I-70W or take I-465 which, on the map, looks like it goes around?
This is another unmanned facility and before getting back in the car, I take a few photos of the ominous, black sky. Hadn’t someone at the last hotel mention tornado?
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| A few moments later, the sky fell to earth |
A few minutes later, I run into heavy rain again and it is the weirdest rainstorm ever. The landscape across the fields and ahead looks gray like fog, but it isn’t fog or mist. It looks like the sky is actually falling to the earth!
And it rains so hard, and traffic doesn’t slow down in the least. How can anyone see? I’m scared witless, position myself behind a big rig, and focus on his tail lights. Oh, my, gosh, do I dare drive through Indianapolis in this? Can I take another city in the rain and poor visibility? I am brave! I can do this!
But I see a Comfort Inn sign in Greenfield and decide to call it an early night. It’s only 1:30 p.m. I need to work anyway as Saturday is the busiest work day. This hotel is easy to find right off the interstate, but the front entrance is small and I feel I’m entering the back door. It’s not very inviting. There’s a pool right off the lobby. A swim after lunch will be just fine.
The clerk says check-in isn’t until 3 p.m., but finds a room available -- Room 307. She says the time change to Central time is the Illinois border and to stay on I-70 through Indianapolis. It’s a struggle to get the luggage trolley into the narrow elevator. I push open the door to the room. Ewww, what’s that smell? It’s like dirty socks and reminds me of the hotel in Syracuse, and again I think it must be some kind of cleanser they use. It’s not a clean smell, for sure.
I return the luggage trolley to the lobby and see a Cracker Barrel across the parking lot. It doesn’t take me long to remember why I do not like these places. It’s 2 p.m. and the place is practically empty. The hostess sits me next to a large group of loud-talking people (which I don’t mind them having a good time, but with plenty of tables available, it would have been nice for a quieter place.) And the meal… bland, making me determined to never eat at another Cracker Barrel again.
Back at the hotel, I don my swimsuit and head down to the pool. It looks just OK at first, not very inviting, though. I go to get in. The handrail only goes down the first two steps. I have to let go to make it down the other three. That’s a safety issue, for sure. There looks to be pine needles around the floor of the pool which is weird as this is inside.
I swim to the deep end and begin my usual swim exercises, but soon my attention wanders. This room is in bad shape and not well maintained. There’s no clock, the walls all have deep scratches and dirt smudges. The floor is painted an ugly, milk chocolate and looks like…. Well, I won’t say what it looks like. The more I look around and notice, the more my stomach churns. I can’t take anymore and make my way to the shallow end.
I struggle up the three steps to where I can reach the hand rail. I don’t want to touch it now that I can see it from the underside. It’s filthy and rusty. Gross! Gross! Gross! I hurry back to my room trying not to drip, but I don’t want to spend another minute in that pool area.
I set up my laptop and can’t get internet service after going through all the directions she had given. I try to call the front desk, but the phone won’t work. I get dressed and go back to the lobby yet again. She says there’s problems with the internet and will come up with me. She gets off at floor 2 because she has to go reset the internet then will come to my room.
She can’t get the phone to work either and after returning with new cables, she finally brings back a different phone.
I settle down to check messages and finish the work for the week. I post on Facebook about the crappy hotel rooms. Friends suggest swappig to Hampton Inns. But I’m a Choice Hotel member and I loved the Comfort Inns when I journeyed south. I write in my journal while watching TV.
End of day overview:
Average weather: rainy, humid, 82-73 degrees
Miles driven today: 168
Trip total: 926 miles
Hours driven: 3
Hotel: Comfort Inn IN086, Greenfield, Ind; Room: 307; Rating: 2
Meal: Cracker Barrel; Rating: 2
Expenses:
Gas: $22.98 Meals: $26.65 Hotel: $106.39
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