Where I Slept and What it Cost
As I've done on most of my tours, I carried a tent and sleeping bag, but only used them when I had to. I'm sure some would say it's ridiculous to carry the heavy camping gear and rarely use it, but I find that it greatly reduces the worry of not being able find indoor accommodations. And because I value spontaneity while touring over almost everything else nowadays, I refuse to arrange for lodging more than three or four hours ahead of time. Sometimes I will just show up and ask if a room is available; sometimes I'll call ahead earlier that day while I'm still on the road, and in that case I usually just ask if they are "likely" to have a room when I get there. I really, really dislike formally reserving a room until I've actually seen the place.
Day Cost Description
9/12/22 $20 Marion United Methodist Church. Free, but I left a $20 donation
9/13/22 $77.75 Laketree Inn & Suites
9/14/22 $68.87 Original Springs Hotel
9/15/22 $183.15 Green Tree Inn
9/16/22 $10 Camped behind the KT Caboose restaurant
9/17/22 $85 The Globe Hotel B&B
9/18/22 $64.61 Fitzgerel's Nightly Rentals
9/19/22 $64.61 Fitzgerel's Nightly Rentals
9/20/22 $70 Slumber Inn Motel
9/21/22 $106 The Painted Lady Bed & Breakfast
9/22/22 $76.94 Prairie Lodge Motel
9/23/22 $48.84 Grandview Plaza Inn & Suites
9/24/22 $65.94 Post Rock Motel
9/25/22 $55.86 Evergreen Motel
9/26/22 $55.75 Hillcrest Motel
9/27/22 $55.75 Hillcrest Motel
9/28/22 $93.06 Curtis Inn
9/29/22 $120.23 Cobblestone Hotel & Suites
9/30/22 $0 Camped in town park
10/1/22 $93.5 Cardinal Inn
10/2/22 $83.25 Cattlemen's Lodge and Suites
10/3/22 $100.78 America's Best Value Inn
10/4/22 $133.28 Bluegrass Inn & Suites
10/5/22 $0 Mother-in-law's house
Total cost of lodging: $1,733.17
Average cost: $72.22
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
We allow $150. a night average. Anything in our area under $100. is downright suspicious and falls into your 'see it before I book it category'.
I"d love to have your spontaneity, I'm Type A all the way!
2 years ago
Yes, I much prefer to tour in the most non-touristy places I can find: Much less traffic (a big consideration of mine), cheaper lodging, cheaper food (with some exceptions), but primarily it's because I just think it's more interesting.
Part of it is that I enjoy interacting with local people for whom I'm something of a novelty, and who aren't jaded by the constant presence of tourists. It helps that I'm curious by nature, and seem to always find interesting people or sights in the most stereotypically dull places. Of course, I've been told more than once that I have a very low bar for what is "interesting." ;)
I've always enjoyed reading your journals, but I also think that doing all the pre-planning would be a bummer for me.
I think I'll do another tour next year, and see how my spontaneous approach works. If I get into trouble on the tour, or even if it's just not fun, or is stressful, I'll be sure to document that as faithfully as I can.
Jeff
2 years ago