I tried...and failed. :cry:

[Maddy McCall]

We left at about noon yesterday, headed from Mississippi to Crawford. We had planned to leave earlier in the morning, but my son woke up with stomach problems.

Well, we got on the road, and we did fine. We went through some pretty rough thunderstorms from the LA/TX State Line to about Canton. Passed 4 wrecks. One REALLY bad one. Made it through that fine...


We were about 3 hours from Camp Casey when my car went "flap, flap, flap" and shut down. I thought it was the fan belt (I had just had a new one put on Friday, new hoses on Saturday), so I managed to get us to the side of the road. Tried to start the car again. Nothing. Nada.

It was about 7:00, dark was coming, my son had to get to a bathroom, and it was HOT. So, I called information and just happened to get a great tow company. It took them about 20 minutes to get to us.

The tow truck driver put us completely at ease. He took us to a convenience store so that we could run in to the restroom. Then, he took our car to the repair shop, and even took us to a motel near to the car shop. He was a great guy. Wherever you are G, you are my guardian angel!

Ok, so we are at this little roadside motel, and, remember, I have my schnauzer with me. While my son and my pup are in the truck, the tow truck driver goes into the motel office with me and tells the owner what has happened, and asked for a room for us. We got a room--it wasn't the Ritz, but it wasn't terrible) and all was well, until...

I took Lucinda out to do her business, and the owner came running out of the office and said, "You can have no dog in there! You didn't tell me that you had a dog." Ok, I've been through absolute hell. So, I told the motel owner, "I am sorry. Under the stress of everything today with the car and my son, I didn't even think to mention it." I said, "If you will just let me stay here until morning, I will move us to another hotel." He agreed.

I felt pretty bad about the owner not being happy with me.......until the ROACHES started crawling. Open a drawer, the roaches would scurry. Turn off the light, wait five minutes, and turn the lights back on, and the walls were covered with those tiny little black roaches.

So I am thinking...this place is infested with roaches,there's not even an ice machine here, the carpet had so many stains on it that it looked like someone had been murdered in the room, the room stank so bad that the owner tried to cover the smell with car air fresheners hanging everywhere, there are curly-q's in the shower, on the countertop, BUT my healthy, clean, no-flea, immaculately-groomed, 10-pound dog can't stay here?!!!

So morning came, and I was on the phone with my father trying to make arrangements to get my car home. We were discussing whether or not he should make the trip today, spend the night here, and then head home tomorrow, or whether he should leave tomorrow morning, and then head home Wednesday. You know, we were problem solving. (And my dad was upset--with worry about my son and me. A wonderful dad I have.)

So, I was standing outside the motel room to talk to my dad, because I had no signal inside. And Lucinda walked outside and sat at my feet. Well, obviously, the owner had not told his wife that he had allowed me to keep the dog there overnight. It was only about 10:30, and checkout time was at 11:00. So she came running across the parking lot to me, and she said, "You cannot have a dog here!" I asked her if she could just wait a second until I got off the phone with my dad. No, she continued, "No dog. No dog." :grr:

So I hung up with my dad, and, by then, her husband has joined her. So I told them, "If you will let me have just five minutes, I will call Enterprise, get a car, book a room somewhere without roaches that allows dogs, and we'll be out of here."

So THEN they both start asking me questions. Does she bark? Does she use the bathroom on the carpet? (Sheesh, Hell no, Lucinda, I'm sure, was APPALLED by the carpet!), blah blah blah. (The hotel had only two other vehicles in the parking lot. So I'm sure they needed the business.) So, they change their tune. Well, if she won't bark, and wake up other guests, and if she won't potty on the carpet, you can stay.

I, being one to never impose on anyone, told them that I would let them know, that right now I had to make arrangements for my car. Well, I called Enterprise, which was just down the road, and this great guy came to the motel to pick us up.

The looks on the owner's and his wife's faces when I loaded my luggage was PRICELESS.

Now, we are in a "national chain" hotel, and we even have internet service. Everything is fine, we are safe, in a clean place--and DOGS ARE ALLOWED.

I've told y'all so much about the dog-situation, let me fill you in on the car. My car is probably a goner. The engine is locked up. Metal fragments in the oil. :-(

If it would have just been a starter or an alternator, I would have had the car repaired, and we would have continued on to Crawford. But, since I'm going to be out a couple thousand to get the car fixed, and because I'm going to have to have it towed home, I'm staying put.

I haven't had any sleep, so I'm going to lie down for awhile. My son is already asleep. I am sorry that I let DUers at Camp Casey down. I am sorry that I couldn't get the canopy and stuff to you. I am sad that I didn't get to shake Cindy's hand. :cry:

I tried, but I failed. :-(