GOUGING TRAVELERS

A road trip is fun and a sketchy itinerary allowing for unplanned side trips makes it even more enjoyable , compared with that of commercial tours that don’t deviate from their set goal.
But beware of weekend events to spend the night at a seemingly small, sleepy town can be a surprise and change one’s plans drastically.
Such as a marathon, or antique car show, a flower or quilt show, a graduation, or a bicycle race.
Such was our experience on our recent trip to Washington.
We’d already spent a week in Seattle, driven to Bainbridge Island for the Bloedel Reserve and to Sequim to see their gorgeous lavender fields on friends’ recommendations and derived unexpected enjoyment, then to Crescent Lake to discover for ourselves the magnificent site we’d not known of, and down along he Hood Canal before we reached Tumwater.
It was about 5 p.m. and tired after a day’s drive and excitement, we decided we’d stay at a favorite chain motel. Well, NO Room!
Wondering why all rooms were booked so early I inquired of the reason and told “there’s a bicycle race from Seattle to Portland.” Our hearts sank as the distance was one hundred miles and we were only at the midpoint along a freeway that showed smaller towns toward Portland and few on highways on either side.
It was the famous STP race, we later learned from a cycling friend, unbeknownst to us who don’t cyle.
But optimistically, we tried other motels south toward Portland, and at each received the same answer. Some motel clerks suggested calling ahead to other towns, and consulting our AAA tour book, I called one and was rudely answered,”We only have one room selling for $299 plus taxes.” It was one of those basic motels that advertise for $49.99 or something similar on usual days. No thanks, we weren’t buying.
Finally, my husband spied an Indian casino with lodgings so back tracked a few miles. There, to our surprise, a large number of cyclists with their bikes were already pushing their wheels toward their rooms while some others with race numbers on their backs stood in line to register. Each had a reservation and quickly taken care of.
When we got to the desk, the clerk didn’t say “No” but brightly said, “Let me look” and typed into her computer. “Oh, how about a queen for $399 plus taxes?” Nope, we weren’t that desperate yet; it was still an hour to sunset so my husband decided to drive the nearly sixty more miles to Portland, and then for good measure, drove past so could secure a room without outlandish rates.
Gosh, all we wanted was a clean, comfortable room. The motel we stopped at was an answer to prayer; it was nice, reasonable and had a good breakfast.
Unlike the motels set out to charge unreasonable prices just because they could take advantage or weary travelers who’d failed to make a reservation, perhaps a year in advance for an event?
What was an otherwise wonderful trip was somewhat marred by the motels that would gouge travelers just because they could take advantage of the situation.
I think they are as usurious as stores that charge excessively for necessities after a disaster.