Shreveport, Louisianna (holding pattern)
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Where There's Smoke, There's......
So much for the gourmet waffles.
We awoke this morning to the sound of the hotel's fire alarm.
Immediately, the humans started grabbing clothes and purses to get out. But by the time they were ready to head out the door, the sound had stopped. My little stuffed bear heart was pounding! To my horror, I began to realize that there had not even been a thought of saving me! Now I saw where I really stood with these humans.
The archeologist went downstairs to see what was going on -- and I tagged along -- and we found a breakfast room full of bemused travellers and a few people wandering through the lobby with their bed sheets wrapped around them.
The fire alarm was set off because someone burned their Belgium waffle!
In the corner of the breakfast room, the griddle was still smoking and the criss-cross carbohydrate carcass was still smoldering. Looks like the archeologist wasn't going to get her longed-for treat after all.
When I turned to smirk at her, I saw she had her head turned to one side and was trying to crack it. It was a frightening behavior that she continued all day long.
It seems she bolted out of bed too fast from the fire alarm that she had a crick in her neck the rest of the day. It almost serves her right for not trying to save me from the (waffle) fire!
A Surprise While Packing
After that excitement, everyone decided to chill out and take a dip in the pool before we left. I hit the fitness room to work on my teddy bear abs.
Afterwards, while packing the car, the humans found that their front passenger tire was low. Really low. Almost flat. They went to 3 different gas stations before finding a working air pump. But after filling it with air, it still didn't look good. The oldest human started talking with a local human who recommended Moore's Goodyear on Greenwood Ave. Slowly, the humans drove there.
A Change in Plans
Well, to make a long, hot story short:
- It wasn't just a flat tire; the tire rim itself was cracked and had to be replaced.
- But it was Saturday and there was nothing open to get the part until Monday, so we were going to spend the weekend in Shreveport.
- Matt, the friendly manager of Moore's shop, drove the humans to the airport so they could rent a car. (We love Matt!)
- Worried about the cost of the tire rim, the humans got out the motel coupon book to find a cheap hotel for two days. They found one near the casinos that line both sides of the Red River that separates Shreveport and its sister town, Bossier City.
All that took most of the day, but then the humans decided to make the best of an unexpected situation and take the little human to the Louisianna Boardwalk for a movie and dinner.
The big humans felt bad for abandoning me during the false fire alarm escapade, so they tried to make amends by taking me and the little human to a movie they thought we'd like: Kung Fu Panda. And I have to admit, after seeing this bear-inspirational film, I was so proud of my bear heritage that I felt at peace with the universe and forgave the humans for neglecting to grab me during a fire alarm scare.
But all that metaphysical peace was shattered after the movie at our next stop on the Boardwalk.
Where Bears Come From
It was at the Louisianna Boardwalk that I had the shock of a lifetime, something that has shaken me to my very bear core.
All this time, I had thought I was a real bear -- a powerful, wild animal who had been born in nature and then come to Russell Sage for an education to prepare me to make my mark on the world. Today I found out differently.
Today I found out where bears like me come from.
Bears like me come from the Build-A-Bear Workshop store.
I'm still grappling with this new-found reality -- the fake, fluffy nature of my very being. Perhaps I'll write more about it as I absorb the truth more and recover from the shock of it all.
A Ruff End to the Day
For the humans, things got almost as bad. We ate dinner at a "crab shack" on the Boardwalk where the food tasted good going down, but didn't settle well. The little human didn't feel well after the seafood and eventually threw up. We all felt bad for her and took her back to the hotel.
But at the hotel, the humans found bugs in the bathroom and went to get their money back. They had paid for two days in advance with cash, and now the motel lady wouldn't give them their money back for today because it was already past 10PM. So they took their money for one day back and went in search of another hotel.
But here's the thing about Shreveport that we didn't know -- every hotel is full every weekend (even the cheap ones with bugs in the bathroom!) because of all the people coming in for the gambling. We couldn't find any hotels anywhere in Shreveport (by 11Pm they all had signs taped up on the front doors saying NO VACANCY!).
We ended up driving 30 miles west into Marshall, Texas before we found something. We were lucky to find something there, too, because there was a kids baseball tournament going on in town!
Also, the archeologist got pulled over by the Marshall police for pulling out of a gas station without her lights on. She used what little charm and sincerity she had left and told the officer about being on vacation and having to get a rental car and not finding any hotels in Shreveport and the little human getting sick and on and on -- and he just gave her a warning, not a citation. I think he did it just because it was quicker and he wouldn't have to listen to her sob story any longer.
Anyway, the humans did finally find a hotel room in Marshall -- they got the last room at the last hotel in town. It only had one king sized bed and a jacuzzi, but they took it because it was 1AM.
The hotel was out of roll away cots, so they got some extra pillows and the archeologist slept in the jacuzzi.
And that was the end of one long, hot day!
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