Wofford Travels – 2019-10-17 – Independence, MO
Greetings,
It’s only day 2 of our US Road Trip and I’ve already learned my first lesson. (It would be great if this were the only one.) So-o-o-o, I typed up my blog, it took about a half hour, and had checked it periodically as I typed, then did a final read through, (I really hate it when I make silly typos…or the computer does it for me.) and was just about to hit “Post,” when the screen disappeared and everything was gone…nowhere to be found! No-o-o-o-o! You know that feeling. This is why I went to a blog in the first place. Trying to send emails, from who knows where (often in Europe), I had more of these incidences than I would like to think about. I wrote quite a bit then too because there is all that history! Of course, there was a little rectangle on my blog page that said “Save Draft!” Duh-h-h! Tom said, “Don’t worry,” (not the one writing, of course) “you can just work on it in the car,” (which I did.)
Now the disadvantage of writing in the car is that you have lots of time…sounds good, right? Not if you keep reviewing and tweaking what you’ve written. So, what normally would take me about 30+ minutes, took twice as long. There are advantages to being under pressure to get it all done while still at the hotel. Also, I like to post it in the morning so that it can be read during the day while it’s still fresh. I now had to wait until we got to our next hotel in the evening. OK…enough on that.
We left our hotel in Clarksville at 9:45 AM. Our drive took us across 3 major rivers: the Ohio at about 11:00, (we took a rest stop at 12:00) the Mississippi, and twice over the Missouri, around 2:00 and then 2:30. Another rest stop followed. Why mention them? Because, we use that time to get some exercise, brisk walking to keep the leg cramps at bay, particularly for Tom who is the driver.
We are now in our regular travel mode, which means breakfast at the hotel and then an early dinner: 4:00 to 5:30 PM. This way, we don’t get too hungry and the restaurants are virtually empty, so service is great! We had many choices off a major Interstate and went with Ruby Tuesday at 5:30, for what? Yes, the unlimited salad bar…for me. Tom selected the ribs.
That out of the way, we continued on until we got to our hotel, Super 8 in Independence MO, at 7:30. Now, one of the first things we do, while checking in, is inquire about the Wi-Fi. We were given the login and password and proceeded to our room. However, when Tom tried to get on his laptop, the Wi-Fi wasn’t working. In the laptop setting, you could see “Super 8 Independence” with a check in front (but, there was no request for a password). I went to the front desk and the desk clerk checked my iPad…still no luck. She said that they didn’t have a secure system (what?); she could lower my fire wall (what, what?) but said she didn’t want to do that, and then proceeded to give me the phone number of their Internet provider for ME to call and resolve the issue! In the meantime, Tom went out to get some wine. I had a feeling I would probably need it!
I called the toll-free number and got a technician who walked me through my iPad settings: check the Wi-Fi, go to the Wi-Fi address, etc., etc. No luck. Then we tried my iPhone, rebooting it, trying to get on the Internet, still no luck. Thirty to 40 minutes on the phone and no success. He said he would have to check with some other technicians, take some other actions, and (the dreaded) call back. I now even had a case number. I hung up and a few minutes later, Tom got in. Well, the good news for us is that we only went through ½ bottle of wine!
Of course, I’m not hearing back, so around 10:00 I call toll-free again. I was told that they were going to call back in a day or two, there were certain protocols they had to follow. Wait a minute; we’re leaving tomorrow morning. Did that get mixed up? I told the gentleman that this would be of no use to us as we would be gone, but maybe it would help the next guest. He offered to try the laptop and Tom said to leave it alone, to ensure that IT didn’t get messed up. So, now I’m behind on my first blog (which I have to rewrite from scratch) and can’t send the second one. I am typing these notes on our laptop. It’s important to write when the information is “fresh” because everything can begin to run together after a while, especially, with days of riding.
OK, I can’t wait to see what the next day has for us. You know, there are adventures and there are adventures. I’m looking for the good kind. Fingers crossed!
Tita