"OFWW" wrote in message ...

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 10:23:05 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message
. ..


It doesn't seem to matter where I travel but I find a lot of poor
conditions
in motels, hotels, hostels and campgrounds. When I'm on months long
bicycle
trips I'm in a new place pretty much every night. The last trip, from FL
to
NY, I repaired things in rooms just to satisfy my needs... or asked for a
different room/site. I stopped using one chain motel as I encountered
terrible conditions in too many of them, e.g., sticky carpets, filthy
carpets, water controlled by the wrong faucet, loud/broken A/C, burn holes
in sheets/pillow cases/comforters in non-smoking rooms, useless or no
Wi-Fi,
out of control guests, disengaged staff. Independents are a crap shoot.
Some
were well maintained places with great staff. Others were absolute dumps
in
locations where there were no options (for someone traveling by
bicycle!).
The biggest name in campgrounds doesn't guarantee anything either...
though
a few were exceptional. Hostels are all over the map when it comes to
condition and cleanliness. I've had great experiences camping in the back
yards of Warm Showers hosts and have hit the jackpot a few times. An
encounter on the road in Savannah, GA resulted in the free use of a new
guest house and vehicle to visit a fort! Business travel accommodations
have tended to be a bit better on average but by no means perfect in every
case.

One pet peeve is faucets in sinks and showers where the hot and cold water
are reversed. Some are labeled as such but most are not. It's perhaps
worse
than not having sufficient (or any) hot water as it can be dangerous.
Another pet peeve is clogged drains and they hand you a plunger or tell
you
not to throw paper in the toilet!

I am a bit jealous of you. It was a dream of mine to ride across the
US, but it never happened.

"An encounter", meaning someone didn't see you on the road? I used to
ride a lot with a lot of near misses. I still ride if it isn't too
cold, now that I am retired. I'd bet you have a lot of tales to tell
and photo's as well.

This encounter was a good one... a chance meeting of someone interested in
what my son and I were doing. I've had the other kind of encounters... the
biggest offenders have been large motorhomes. Seems those folks don't know
where their fenders are and don't understand the "vacuum" they create at
55-75 MPH. In and around Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and the Tamiami Trail
(Rte 41) in FL were the worst places for those encounters but they've
happened elsewhere.

In regards to your dream... make it happen! The first trip is the hardest
but assuming you learn while on the road it gets easier and future trips are
less stressful in the planning.