Sunday, July 08, 2007

Ho Jo

Tom and I headed on a road trip to California to bring our son (Tommy) his belongings he left behind. Tommy’s plan was to send for it when he had the funds. Tom thought it would be nice to bring him his things and have some time together. We wanted to rent a trailer and attach it to our car. Unfortunately, U-Haul wouldn’t do that because Ford Explorers tend to tip over when pulling a load. I’m not a big fan of tipping over so we looked into other options.

We decided to rent a cargo van. The day came and Tom went to pick up the van. He got there and Enterprise would not rent us the van because we were going out of state to California. It seemed they didn’t have a replacement option there. When things looked bleak, Tom said a prayer and it was Avis to the rescue. Tom had to first remove all the seats before he could load up the van.

So we headed out after I got off from work around 5:30 pm. Our plan was to go as far as Portland and continue on the next day. We had a great time talking and laughing. When we finally got there, we checked into Howard Johnson (Ho Jo) (pictured above) and then we figured we would find a place to eat. What do you normally do when in a new city? You ask the hotel clerk about the restaurants that are nearby, right. Sure, but this guy steered us wrong.

We stopped at a place called Buster’s BBQ. It looked good on the outside. But we didn’t get good vibes when we went in. You had to get your own tray and get on a line to order. The place was dirty looking and we just left. We drove and saw a place called Newport Seafood Grill. It looked lovely on the outside, but shall we chance it? In order to get there we had to turn around. We pulled into the Fred Meyer parking lot and noticed a Starbucks sign. Note to self – lattes in the morning.

The Newport Seafood Grill was nice looking on the inside, but the service was really bad. It took forever before someone took our order. When we finally got our food, we found out they ran out of what we wanted. The food was okay, but it hit the spot. I thought the whole situation was funny and helped Tom find the humor in it.

Just for the record, Ho Jo’s are really old and they tried to update this one with free Wi-Fi. So Tom set his laptop on the table and tried to connect. He had trouble getting a signal. He’s not surprised. I took a shower and when I came out, what did I see? - Tom on the floor next to the door with his laptop open.

“Honey why are you on the floor by the door?”
“Well it’s the only place I could get a signal.”

Our first day was full of laughs and I have to thank Ho Jo and Newport Seafood Grill for my entertainment. My next few blog posts will be about our trip. Stay tuned.

© Nadine Z. 2007

19 comments:

Shionge said...

How sweet Nadine to cart his things all the way for him but you know what? This is wonderful bonding time too with hubby on a road trip. I've enjoyed this very much :D

Nice to explore other States and yes, it is so funny to be on the floor and I can just imagine you blogging on the floor too Nadine ;)

Can't wait to hear more about your trip...have a great safe trip my dear friend :D

Demara said...

Nice new look here!!! WOW was it hard to do? Your trip sounds like it is a lot of fun! Glad to hear it too...

Anonymous said...

How fun, roadtrips with the hubby :)

eph2810 said...

Nadine - that is just too funny. I can picture my Sweetheart doing the same thing - laying on the floor to get a signal...
I am looking forward reading more about your trip.

Blessings to you and yours.

Keshi said...

sounds like u had good fun Nadine :)

Keshi.

Bungz said...

It's great that you could see the humor in the situation. Guess, it helps us grumble a lot lesser! I should try and find the humour in the city traffic here.

Art said...

Good trip? :) Hey, that wi-fi in the hotels is notoriously 'iffy'. Hope the other parts of the trip went better!

Believer said...

Funny stuff during travels can make for great posts and conversation. Looking forward to more.

Growing with Julia

Emily Suess said...

LOL The things we do for a signal. Sounds like a blast.

Dedee said...

I love road trips. I hope yours continues to be fun. I can't wait to read about it!

Deb said...

Sounds like quite an adventure!
Keep us in the know.
Nice of you to take Tommy his stuff.
Blessings

Louise said...

FUN FUN Can't wait to hear about the updates....have fun :)!!

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, we;ve had one too many experiences like that! Trying to find something to eat when you're tired is frustrating. I have a friend who has a GPS, and that is fantastic for finding good eats and sleeps!

palmtreefanatic said...

sounds quite entertaining Nadine;)
I will be anxious to hear the rest of the trip!
I am in KY right now relaxing and enjoying my time as well...

OrangRecneps said...

AVIS Rocks! I get all my rental cars for the project I'm on from them. The one time I didn't I really regretted it. They have the best service, best people, well the best everything.

Have a good trip!

Stace said...

HoJo...isn't that the place where they're supposed to leave the light on for ya? can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

Cheri said...

Sounds like fun. Looking forward to hearing more.

Anonymous said...

While on road trips humour is key!

Mrs.Martin said...

Sounds like what I would do, if getting a signal meant laying on the floor, by door. You got to do what you got to do. And great attitude about the hotel and eats. Love it.