Poignant.

llustration by Pawel Kuczynski

Review: La Quinta OK City

Today, I'd like to share a review that I recently left on Google reviews for the La Quinta in Oklahoma City that we stayed at on one leg of our cross country trip this past month. It was an experience. An experience that I'd like to forget:

My family and I were relocating from Washington state to Virginia last month and has the misfortune of finding one of our trip stops in Oklahoma City. Because we had our two cats with us, finding a pet friendly hotel was a priority and we'd been staying in La Quintas the entire way to our destination. But on this night, we discovered that not all La Quintas are created equally.

Upon arrival we were met with an empty parking lot which was our first clue that this was going to be an odd stay. While my husband and I were checking in, my brother said he witnessed a man pushing a cart of empty cans through the parking lot. Lovely. Our room was on the complete opposite side of the hotel from the lobby despite being empty. Once we found our room, the issues with the hotel becoming glaringly apparent.

Firstly, all of the other patrons of the hotel for the night were huddled in rooms together as if we all could find safety in numbers. Three quarters of the hotel is hauntingly empty with tattered curtains hanging in the window and pitch dark inside. Secondly, the railings and condition of the building were so rusted and dilapidated, that it reminded me of the current condition of the Titanic which rests at the bottom of the ocean. The grounds were littered with sandbags, bags of concrete and dead and dying grass. Our room was the only bright spot of the experience if by bright spot you mean the slight sheen off a fresh, wet turd. It appeared to be recently remodeled but the clothing rack was barely hanging onto the wall and the bathroom floor must have been polished with corn syrup. There was a used towel on the back of the bathroom door. The air vents emitted what reeked of stale urine and the sheets smelled of smoke. 

The three of us had a serious conversation about leaving and even my cats wouldn't get out of the carrier (and at this point, they'd been in there for hours but though that was a better alternative than to walk on the carpet). "It's only one night," my husband said and I gave in. I called my Mom to let her know where we were in case we were murdered during the night. We all slept with one eye open just waiting to hear the sound of glass breaking as one of our cars was broken into. It didn't feel safe, at all. There were some loud people and our room butted up against a party/mini golf place which played loud Top 40 hits for hours.

I set my alarm early so we could leave the next morning as soon as possible. You know you're in a crap hole place if you are pleasantly surprised to awaken to your car windows intact. After this stay I read the other reviews and were happy to report we didn't see any cockroaches, though that probably would have convinced my husband we should have left so I don't know if that's a blessing or not. 

Please, go somewhere else. (And I mean this to Nick, the nice guy who checked us in- you're too nice to work in such a septic pit!). There's another La Quinta down the freeway a bit that looks so much nicer. We passed it five minutes down the road the next morning. And shout out to the photographer who took the online photos of this hotel- you must be quite a talent to polish a turd like this place.

Update: This place has since closed! Unbelievable, right? 

The Game of Life

Did you ever play the game of Life as a child? My brother and I did quite often and as many times as we played, I usually always made the same choices. 

The first one, college versus career, I always choose college which was a "choice" drilled into me since early childhood at school. 

"Go to college if you want to have a good career," they'd say to us every year. My earliest memory of this mantra is from third grade and I don't even think I truly knew what college was, let alone that I'd have to pay for it. Pay for school, how weird?! I used to think to myself, "Why wouldn't you go to college, it's the only way to make money as a grown up?" This brainwashing from a young age is detrimental to kids in so many ways- what about the trade careers and other unglamorous professions? What about electricians, plumbers, factory workers, farmers, and all the other careers that form the backbone of society? Kids need to be taught that these are also good options because not every child, young adult, or adult is a student. Sure, everyone can learn but the tedium of college gets to even the best students and they shouldn't be told that this is the only option to success in life. 

Along the twists and turns of the game you come to obstacles like "tree falls on house, pay $15,000 if not insured." I'd say 9/10 times I didn't have insurance because my childish brain always thought, "Why would I pay for something that could happen but might not happen? I want to keep my money!"

This memory came back to me today when I had to file a claim for a new windshield for our car that was damaged on our cross country trip. A rock had been thrown into it causing an immediate crack that has since grown. I just thought it was humorous how simple childhood thoughts evolved as you grow older. I would never consider insurance a luxury, more of a necessary evil for things that "could happen but might not happen." It's funny to think that I thought as a child that adult Ashley would fly by the seat of her pants, hoarding money and hoping nothing happened to her car or house. 

Now that I'm thinking of it, I'd like to make some revisions to the game:

1.) Student loan debt, pay $100 every payday. 

2.) Win lottery! Should not exist on the board, at all. 

3.) Car payments, pay $300 every two paydays. 

4.) Call Comcast, lose a LIFE tile.

5.) Make an insurance claim, lose a LIFE tile.

6.) Lose your job, choose a new career card after spending a turn or two on the couch depressed- lose a LIFE tile.

The end of the game when you reach the golden years of your life there were two choices, Millionaire Estates and Countryside Acres. Both of which sound lovely but where was the fork in the road that went towards your kid's house called, "Mooch Off Your Children?" That sounds cheaper. 

Oh yes, children. The air is filled with money your entire lifetime!

Bunny Side Up

Hello, I'm Ashley and this isn't my first rodeo blog. I've recently moved back to Virginia after living in Washington state for three years. My husband is in the Navy and we've moved five times in six years. It's constantly an adjustment because every once in a while my life gets flipped upside down. That has just happened again so here I am, looking for a way to connect with the world and my family because I've moved to a place where we know no one anymore. (All our Navy friends from the last time have since moved on themselves.)

I had another blog before, Apartment To Apartment, which was pretty applicable and still kind of is given our moving situation. However, I wanted to start fresh with something new since I'm at a time in my life where another page has turned. 

When we moved to Seattle I opened a bakery food truck which was amazing and difficult. It was also heartbreaking to close when we had to move across the country. Now, I'm trying to figure out what's next career-wise for me since the truck dream is over. 

I want to use Bunny Side Up as just a place to share my life, thoughts, ideas and anything else I feel like putting out into the world. So welcome!