Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Almost home


Miss D. and I are overnighting in the bustling metropolis of Forrest City, Arkansas.  Tomorrow we'll drive the last four hours to get home, but we were just too tired to try to do it this evening.  Besides, we were stiff and sore after almost a week on the road and a selection of not-so-comfortable beds.  (Sleeping on a memory foam mattress is lovely, but you - literally - sorely miss it when you have to use a different type!)

Renting our hotel room proved entertaining. We looked for a better-than-average hotel with suites, in the hope of finding a room or suite with a hot tub, because both of us were excessively stiff after too many miles in a pickup cab. The nice lady at the reception desk confirmed that she had one, but as far as she could remember, no-one had ever rented it since it was installed!  Apparently there just isn't the demand here for that sort of luxury.  Even funnier, when she tried to assign it to us, the computer system refused to allow it - the owner had apparently blocked it from rental availability because of the lack of demand.  She eventually sorted it out, and Miss D. and I have enjoyed massaging our aching backs and knees with jets of hot water.  There's a lot to be said for a good hot tub.  I think we're going to have to put it on our 'nice-to-have' list for when we eventually buy a home of our own.

My visit with the Louisiana DMV this morning proved fruitful.  It took over an hour of navigating their somewhat Byzantine computer systems with the help of a clerk, but I managed to complete two out of three tasks on my list.  The third is pending receipt of paperwork from another source, after which I'll finish it via snail mail.  It was definitely worth the detour to talk to a human being face-to-face and sort things out directly, rather than try to do so over the telephone or via the Internet.  (Al, if you read this before we get home, the paperwork's been organized and paid for.  It should arrive in our mailbox within a month.)

I'm going to turn in and get some beauty sleep (although no-one in his or her right mind would ever consider me beautiful).  Tomorrow morning we'll be homeward bound.

Peter

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can quite heartily recommend an adequately-sized tub with water jets as excellent back therapy, but they do require either a considerably larger than standard tank-style water heater or a tankless gas or propane one.

Anonymous said...

Check out SoftTub. My wife and I bought one of their larger units and it ran well for five years. We replaced it with a more conventional hottub, but for a multitude of reasons which did NOT include dissatisfaction with their product. It's 110 and doesn't need a slab..

Anonymous said...

I just stick to a hot shower the next morning on the back for those bad motel beds. A hot stream and stretching exercises at the same time - pretty much gets the kinks out. Have a safe trip.

Ed Skinner said...

Forrest City? I got stories. Check your wallet and purse.

Rev. Paul said...

Glad to hear you're nearly home. And what Ed said, srsly.

Sher Khan said...

Hope you tried the Old Sawmill Cafe in Forrest City. It's a real down-home buffet, and we always try to stop there when we're on I-40.

Old NFO said...

Glad it worked out, and it's kinda HARD to ignore someone standing patiently in front of your desk... :-)