Road trip, West Coast Spring Break

It isn’t the thing you expect that bites you

9 Comments

Saturday, March 12 2022

Today’s map and (incomplete) video of the route

The lack of confidence I expressed yesterday in the Tennessee Department of Transportation to respond effectively to a snow storm was entirely misplaced. Despite heavy snow falling until 8:30 AM the local roads were just slushy and the Interstate was clear by the time I left just after 10 o’clock. I wish that clearing the six inches of snow from my car would have been so easy but that took me almost half an hour using a small brush and scraper.

6 inces of snow on my car

The weather turned out to be the least of my problems as I woke up about 2 AM feeling very itchy and, when I turned the light on, found bedbugs on the sheets. I immediately checked the T shirt I was wearing, got dressed and called the front desk to get moved to another room. I had this problem in 2018 in Arizona and, since then, have been very careful not to allow my belongings to get anywhere near hotel beds or sit on the bed myself so I know I am not carrying any bugs with me – but I do have a few bites.

I also had an unexpected problem with the tablet I use in the car to record GPS data for my road videos, It was not charging, despite being powered, and ran out of juice near Birmingham, AL. This meant I was unable to track the last hour of my journey which actually ended in Tuscaloosa, AL.

The weather did have an impact on the day as my sightseeing activity was supposed to be driving the Lookout Mountain Scenic Byway in northern Alabama and hiking in DeSoto State Park along the byway. With snow on the ground, temperatures still below freezing and strong winds blowing I decided to give it a miss.

Travel is always an adventure. This was a strange day that turned out completely differently than anticipated. A day in which I gained an hour due to a timezone change but will lose an hour as we switch to Daylight Savings Time overnight. Although it’s called “Summer Time” in the UK it definitely did not feel like summer here today.

9 thoughts on “It isn’t the thing you expect that bites you”

  2. Bed bugs – ughhh .. one travel experience I have yet to experience. Hope you sleep better tonight.

  3. Good to get all the bugs out early in the trip. Oops, you mean real bugs! Safe travels, Steve. I’ll look forward to your updates.

    1. Thank you, very amusing! It’s good to hear from you and glad to have you following along.

  4. What did the hotel say? We’re they embarrassed or just like…ok let’s go and did they comp you the room?

    1. The guy at the front desk was sympathetic but couldn’t offer me the discount I asked for and said he would ask the manager to email me. Of course, I have heard zip so I have complained to the chain’s customer service and will do a charge back when the credit card bill arrives if I haven’t heard from anyone by then.

  5. Ugh, sorry about the bed bugs. And glad the storm had passed through early enough for you to have the roads cleared and on the road in good weather. It hit us all through the morning and into the afternoon.

    1. I was surprised that the weather didn’t set me back at all but the bugs really bugged me.

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