So, moving on past the stinky rest room area in Grady, NM - I will fast forward to our first stay over in New Mexico. The last time I was in that area, we stayed in a log cabin which I found to be really creepy with all it’s dead animal carcases hanging on the walls and lack of DirectTV or DishNetwork for me to enjoy. There’s nothing quite as lovely as waking up for a glass of water and seeing some dead moose head staring at you and then not having a choice of 899 channels to choose from as a distraction.

For some reason or another, this time around, we were not able to stay at the cabin. Even though the people remembered us well, and seemed friendly, and the cabin was empty for the time we wanted to stay in it, we were told no. The hubster then decided he would find us an alternative place to stay at near the Ute Park/Eagle’s Nest area.

I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I left this process completely up to him, didn’t ask any question… I just went along with the flow. After all, he knows me well and clearly knows what I like and don’t like.

We arrived at the “inn” around 3 in the afternoon on a beautiful sunny day. When we pulled up to it, I really thought some kind of joke was being pulled on me. It looked like one of those places you see in the movies where 9 people get murdered and 2 escape only for one of them to finally get caught thus leaving just one victim to go and get help or become the next sociopath……… You know the kind of place I am talking about.

It definitely wasn’t 4 stars.

Or three.

Or two. I really doubt it even could have qualified as a one.

After my husband came back out from checking in, he along with everything else he had smelled like it had been locked in a smoke chamber for slow roasting. The smell alone should have given me some form of lung cancer. I was really unhappy by this point.

We pulled around to our room which was considered one of their larger, “classier” rooms. It even had a theme! Imagine my super excitement when I saw we were going to be in the Southwest Room! All I could picture was a room full of dirt and cacti which definitely did not equal a good time for me.

The first thing I noticed was that the room opened with a key. It’s been at least 20 years since I have been to any hotel, or inn that used an actual key to access it. Hell, I don’t even use keys to get into my own house.

And then we stepped inside. Oh my.

The Room.

Their “large” room was smaller than my kitchen. It had two beds in it, separated by some wall. There was barely enough room to walk along the sides of the bed, and if you had more than two people trying to pass it wasn’t going to happen. They were nice enough though to cram a desk, two chairs, a microwave, and what I think was a refrigerator into a very tiny area in front of the door.

They also had satellite TV which went out whenever the wind blew.

The Bathroom.

The bathroom was a real gem… if you could get in it. The door was so narrow that a child could barely walk through it. We had to walk sideways and do some old timey shimmy to get through it.

I had been holding my bladder the whole trip because well, I didn’t want to use those disgusting bathrooms and I am not much of a public restroom type of gal. After squeezing myself into the bathroom, and finding relief I discovered that the toilet paper had a layer of dust on it. I kid you not.

I screamed. I really did… Thankfully we travel with toilet paper and wet wipes and other things so that I can always regain my sanity in moments like that.

The shower was so unpleasant that after showering, you still felt like you needed a shower. I opted to pass on using it and stuck to giving myself a sink bath, and even then I felt diiiiiiiiiiiirty.

The Beds.

After we had done a bit of site seeing (I even went for a small hike in honor of Claire and got some amazing pictures which I will post tomorrow) we came back to the inn to catch some Zzzzz’s. I instead caught bedbugs. I am STILL itching.

Plus, the beds were tiny. Much like the bathroom, they were clearly meant for someone age 4-8. My husbands feet hung over the edge as if he were laying on some little girl Barbie mattress. It was pretty damn funny. The beds were also supposed to be queen size, but of course, not only were they short in length, but in width as well. I don’t know how two eight year olds would have been able to sleep comfortably in it. But, at least I could fit into it. Ahhhh, the benefits of being short.

Needless to say, we were all wide awake and ready to go at 4 am. Of course nothing was open at that time so we just sat around getting bitten by bed bugs and other micro rodents. It was AWFUL! I think I would have preferred sleeping outside in a tent compared to staying in that place. Actually, I would have preferred to sleep in the truck than either of those two options.

So, there you have it. A fun house masquerading as an Inn… and that was only day 2 of my 6 day outing.

Imagine my surprise when I got home and visited the inn’s website only to see them proudly displaying that AAA had given them a one diamond rating. You can visit their own website to see how they describe it, and just how creepy it is from their very own pictures. The shower actually looks WORSE on their site than I recall it being.