The Motel Life

Posted 01/21/2018

Relaxing at the Red Lion

This is the life.

The Red Lion Inn, which (apparently) has a vibrant, colorful past as the motel-of-the-week in the back-room poker game at Moe's, changing hands as often as the maids change the sheets, has been my home-away-from-home for a couple months now. Known for it's "affordability", it's casual, free-and-easy nature, it is a haven for those who have neither the inclination nor the finances to afford the best of what Tucson has to offer.

Its clientele include pensioners on holiday, students on field trips, and young families on extremely limited budgets. The rooms are comfortable and clean (just don't look too closely at the well-worn cabinetry). The staff is attentive and friendly. They serve a free breakfast in the morning and free snacks during "happy hour" (4 - 6 pm). They have (affordable) laundry facilities available for customers. They have a jacuzzi, a pool, and a miniature putting green.

On the downside, the buildings are relatively old and not very well insulated, sound-wise. Water rushing through the drains can be heard very clearly. The air conditioners are outdated and in need of replacement; in fact, the one in my first room failed after a week or so.

The parking is kind of wonky depending on how many people are checked in. Several teams of contractors were staying there and their trucks and trailers filled up a lot of spots. Then there were some folks driving rental trucks. Some nights it was a challenge to find a good spot -- but that's mostly because my latest rental car is a bit bigger than my last one, and people aren't leaving a lot of room between spots.

The free breakfast was certainly adequate, consisting of eggs, sausage, biscuits, waffles, cereal, fruit, yogurt, various breads and bagels, muffins and occasionally pastries. Plus fruit juices and (of course) coffee.

I try to keep from going overboard on the food, restricting myself to simple proteins in the morning and a sandwhich or bagel for lunch. The other members of the team (who are local engineers) generally go out for lunch every day, but that's not for me. I can't eat that much food, and I generally try to minimize the amount of time I'm not working. A five- or ten-minute break for a quick sandwich or apple is enough for me. Plus I can't rationalize spending that much money for food I really don't need!

My daily schedule is essentially getting up at 5:30, eating breakfast between 6 and 6:30, reading news and catching up on Randstad emails from 6:30 - 7:15, driving to work at 7:15, arriving at 7:30, working til 6:30, back to the hotel for dinner by 7, Skyping with the family between 7:30 - 8:30 (or so), then getting to bed by 10 pm.

The routine doesn't change much on Saturdays, other than doing laundry from 8 - 10 in the morning before heading to the office to work from 10:30 - 5. Then relaxing with some movies or websurfing til time to Skype with the family again.

Sundays are (mostly) spent with Jeanne and her family, going to church and then going out for lunch and then visiting with Stan and Ellen and then just hanging out before heading back to the motel to start the whole week all over again.

I'm on my third room now. The first one was a simple room with a bed and bathroom and mini-fridge and overhead microwave; the second one was a very nice suite, with a separate living room, a full kitchenette (with full-sized fridge) and large closet and two televisions, one for the living room and one for the bedroom (but the one in the bedroom didn't work very well). The third one, herein pictured, is the simple room again. But at least it has decent WiFi.

The first two rooms did not have decent WiFi. They were in the back of the motel complex and kept losing signal, so we had to resort to old-fashioned telephone calls sometimes. It was really annoying. I do like to see my family's lovely faces when I'm talking to them!

Speaking of which, I can't wait to get home for Christmas!

Glasses ...

... or No Glasses?