Cruising down the road, the weather was perfect. I jumped off the highway at Glenwood Springs which is a nice town. Really cool place. I gassed up, got some late lunch and messed around town for an hour or two. Then i jumped back on the highway.
I was a little behind schedule and making it to Denver was going to be a push. It was getting dark, late and i was tired. Somewhere near golden i started to encounter rain and a little snow again! So i decided to get a room and get some rest. I kept an eye on the exits and looked for a hotel, but one after another exit went by with no services. Finally, a comfort inn! So i pulled off the exit and into the hotel parking lot. I was already nervous just looking at this place for two reasons. One, there were kids everywhere so that meant it was going to be loud, and second, it was a pretty fancy hotel for a Comfort Inn; please don't be expensive?!
I walked in and i could tell immediately that the guy at the desk was having a bad night. I asked if they had rooms and he gave me the old sales pitch that he was full but think he had "just one room left"... i thought to myself yea right whatever buddy, this isn't my first rodeo and i love to negotiate, so bring it on! "yes, i have two more rooms left one with a king and one with two double beds" OK, i thought, i want the king so what's the price... $180 plus tax! I said to him WTF dude that's an expensive room. There is no way that room is worth that price. I told him i travel a lot and have stayed in plenty of hotel rooms to know that price is not justified here. Either he needs to do better or i was going to keep driving. He offered to reduce it by $10 which honestly i told him just was an insult. I pulled out my trusty iPhone and told him i would have to think about it and i needed to see what other options were out there. I walked out the door and looked up hotels near me..... none! Damn! The nearest hotel was 26 miles away and it had 3 out of 5 star ratings... great.
Exhausted, i walked back in, gave the guy a super dirty look and acknowledged without saying a thing that he had won. I handed him my credit card and got my plastic key. I walked back out to the truck to get my stuff. By this time it was about 9:45 pm and i had been driving all day. I got my bags, walked back into the room, sat them on the floor and plopped down on the sofa. I couldn't wait for a hot shower and to jump online and catch up on emails and such.
Just then the lights flickered and went out. WTF!!!!!!! The power to the entire area had just gone out! You have to be kidding me. I sat there patiently and thought it would be just a few minutes. After 15 minutes of darkness i walked back out to the front desk to inform them of my long stay in the wilderness with no comforts and that i had just paid and exorbitant hotel rate for services that i cannot use and that we would be having a frank discussion in the morning when i check out about the rate of this powerless room! He agreed and so i went back to the room.
Now, to be completely honest i will tell this part of the story... So i was hungry, dirty, tired, and now irritated. I walked a block away where they had power. There was a subway and a few little retail shops. As i walked over i could smell the smell.... pot! Well, it's not illegal in CO so now's the time to try some legally. There was a little pot shop there and it was really a pretty cool place. Very clean, run like a doctors office. I walked in, got a cookie, ate it (after my subway sandwich) and then walked back to the hotel. I plopped down on the bed and passed out. Next thing i remember was waking up at 12:45 am when the power finally came back on. I got up, took a quick shower, and then got back into bed. I slept like a rock.
