Dayton, OH
This morning at 5 AM at the Danville Hampton from Hell, I was awakened by the conga line starting up again upstairs and doors slamming across the hall, just like last night. Bleary-eyed, I wandered down to the front desk to complain. They just said they’d refund my stay if I wanted. Maybe it helped that at the same time I was dealing with the front desk, several young children were running around un-supervised. One yanked the house phone out of the wall while another was prying signs off the walls, while several more were running amok in the breakfast area, knocking stuff over, while the staff was trying to set up for breakfast. The hotel must be really desperate for guests if they’re willing to put up with all that. Anyway, this was the first time I’ve ever asked for my money back at a Hampton Inn, and I’ve been using them for years and am a Gold rewards member.
Anyway, after a very cold day I made it to Dayton, Ohio. That’s only a little over 200 miles from where I started in Danville, but it was a grueling drive. Even with a sweatshirt, knit wool sweater, a jacket and a winter coat on top of that, it was bitterly cold. The sky was overcast and the air was damp, which just made the chill worse. When I arrived in Dayton, the temperature had made it up to a whopping 48 degrees. I got a room for 2 nights (at another Hampton Inn, presumably much more civilized).
Sunday is supposed to be 56 degrees here in Dayton, but Monday should be 65. The weather forecasts to the east are currently quite bad – Washington, PA (western edge of PA) is supposed to be rainy and cold through Tuesday night, and so on. I’ll have to decide what I’m going to do, as driving the last 600 miles to New York in cold rain is not my idea of fun.
