I think I have exhausted the pictures, but I still have opinions

I promised to talk about where we stayed and where we ate. Partially so that we would remember the places we like. But we wanted to make recommendations too. Sometimes TripAdvisor.com and Yelp.com just don't cut it, you know?

I'm about to rag on the Best Western Regency Inn Marshalltown, Iowa. But I didn't want to turn people off Best Western. I use BW second only to Hilton properties. They are clean, have great service, and are a lot higher end than you give them credit.

Our first experience, at least the first we remember is in Ogallala, Nebraska. I searched Bestwestern.com and I don't see the Wagon Wheel any more but that was our go-to-place. They didn't have an elevator and the complimentary breakfast was continental where they served Honey-nut Cheerios. A lot of people like Honey-nut Cheerios. But these were disguised as just plain Cheerios. Anyone who has glucose problems knows how sneaky they can be, so I don't need to explain the crash and burn you can experience with an undeclared cereal. Enough said.

All of that in account, you had to give them points for being there and in a place called Ogallala. I mean, who wouldn't stay in Ogallala if they had a chance. That, and it was in the middle of Nebraska, so unless you wanted to drive to Lincoln or Omaha, Ogallala was pretty much it. The first time we stayed there was when we brought CaDiva out to Des Moines via Lincoln Towncar. She wanted to stop in Cheyenne because it was dark and rainy. I needed to get home so I could rest before headed back to work, so I said push on. Besides, it was western Nebraska. Even dark and rainy, what could we hit?

We made it to Ogallala (that is almost as much fun to type as it is to say). We found it in the AAA guide book and called them on my old analogue cell phone. It weighed about a 150 pounds and was perpetually out of battery and signal, so finding a place to stay on the fly was a plus. (See all references to our honeymoon trip to understand what a perk that is). The Wagon Wheel had two rooms, one upstairs with queen beds and one down with a King. We put HRH upstairs and we took the king. She was lonesome but she had the shower to herself and a remote control in her hand, not to mention she wasn't on the fold-out, so we think she was happy.

We liked the place so much, we stopped there several time between Iowa and the west coast. The last time we were blocked by the College World Series of baseball. No hotel for a 100 miles in any direction. We ended up in Kearney, For some unaccountable reason they pronounce it Carney, but they had a room so, we were good.

The next Best Western I remember was in our trip up Highway 101 on the Oregon coastline. We wanted to stop at Newport. We had a whale-watching cruise booked and the room looked so posh. The hotel had a hot tub and we planned to seriously relax. This was not a great trip. Oh, we loved Oregon and would go again in a minute. But it was seriously last minute, like they told me Thursday to be in Portland on Tuesday for a month long detail. Add to that CaDiva was seriously not feeling good. And we were going to be gone so long, I wanted one final Saturday with HRH and The Mom before we left. We ended up at the Farmers Market as it was closing down and didn't get on the road until well afternoon.

So this trip to the coast was hopefully going to make up for CaDiva feeling trapped in the hotel, with a weird warning light on the Highlander, and a penchant for falling into Washington every time she tried to find the dealership. She picked the first of our Best Western Plus stays, this one was the Agate Beach Inn which promised us either ocean or lighthouse view and 1000 foot walk to the beach. I say supposed to because we didn't have Jillian yet, and I didn't read MapQuest that well. We should have taken the right fork, but we took the left. The right would have had us at the hotel in about an hour during the daylight. The left took us on a winding road through the deep dark of the woods, during which CaDiva insisted she saw a Jack-a-lope. I told her she was nuts. They don't live anywhere near the ocean. We got to the hotel around 10:30, beside a crying child and whining woman, in the midst of remodeling.

But the room was lovely, would have been nice to enjoy it longer. The food was great. And the service was excellent. We would stay there again any time.

Even locally, we have pretty good luck with the Canterbury Inn and Suites Best Western in Coralville, Ia. We had a going-away dinner for two of my coworkers in their restaurant. An absolutely wonderful Friday night buffet. CaDiva and I decided to stay the night so I could take her to the Amana Colonies and Tanger Outlet Mall the next day. We saw the information about the honeymoon suite and had fantasies about taking the suite for a Stretchy Pants Clan away game.

It is a two-floor suite with a private hot tub. Unfortunately, when we saw it in person, we found that it was up a tiny dark stairway most of our ladies couldn't climb on a good day. But the fantasy lives. We booked rooms for the trip with one group by the pool. This Best Western actually had doors from the room to the pool. We would do it again, but the pool side rooms were a little hot due to the heated pool. But the night with all of us sitting in the twin spas with wine and trash talk was a great.

But our all time favorite was a Best Western Premium, in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Yeah the same city Clint Eastwood was mayor of. We even stopped by his restaurant, the Hogs Breath Inn. We had a room with a balcony looking out onto the bay, a fireplace, and all at government rate. This was our first Premium and if you get a chance, try one. If you only get one chance, go to this one.

Ok, CaDiva doesn't take great pics of me, but this will give you an idea of the balcony without me stealing any more pics form the Best Western.com.

Ok, maybe a few more.

We stayed there three days, had another whale watching cruise, during which we made a beloved niece sea sick but found a great place for lunch. We did, not Chance. She was VERY patient with her Aunt's desire to go out on the water in rough weather. This was the time I saw the side of the ocean, remember. Oh man. You can see the top of the ocean, and you can see the front of the ocean. But, until you are standing nose to nose with the ocean over your head and nothing but Mother Nature keeping it from falling down over you, you Have Not Seen the Ocean. 

All of this is my way of saying, if I tell you never ever go anywhere near Best Western Regency Inn in Marshalltown, it has nothing to do with Best Western. 

When we ate at O'Hungries that Thursday evening and CaDiva told the server her bottom bun on her burger was damp, her only comment was it looked that way last night too. But she didn't think CaDiva would want her to poke her food to see if it was that way again tonight. And when she mentioned there were mushrooms on half her burger, the same woman said, oh it comes that way. I called the front desk for third day to tell them there was a message light on my phone that went off at Midnight again. And the message button rang busy. The front desk, after she finally answered, tried to explain how message system works. And when I tell you the card keys took a dozen tries to open the door, not only am I not exaggerating, because HRH counted. The front desk knew about it, since another guest standing at the registration deks told me it would be a problem as I checked in. 

There is a Hampton Inn just a block away. Try that one.

What should we talk about next

I haven't traveled lately, not since the girl trip to Coralville. I don't know what to tell you about next. I'll admit my old friend IBS has been visiting for a long time, so I haven't been terribly motivated. But one name does keep coming back to me, Best Western.

Oh, I have several hotels on my top list. I sleep well at almost all Hampton properties. I have had some of my best meals at Marriott hotels. I spent three glorious weeks at a Double Tree in Sunny Isle, Fla. I even had one nice long stay at a Westin in Jacksonville. But one of the most surprisingly consistently hotel chains I have stayed with is the Best Western.

It started with the cross-country drive to bring CaDiva to Iowa. We made it to Cheyenne. It was dark, rainy and we were very tired. But we were also a day behind schedule. We got a late start leaving Santa Rosa and I got us lost in Sacramento, so we only made it to Truckee that first night. CaDiva wanted to stop in Cheyenne but HRH and I said we should push on. CaDiva's argument was the darkness and rain. I pointed out we were driving into western Nebraska, what was there to hit? During the course of later trips we would learn that rainy nights were not so bad that I couldn't drive us, especially in mountains. But that is a different story.

We discovered many tricks to traveling cross-country but this trip we were still learning. We would drive until we were within an hour of wanting to stop, then pull out the AAA tour books and look for the mile-marker about 60 out then look for a hotel. This particular night we found the town of Ogallala, Nebraska. And I just loved the word...O-ga-lla-la. You can't really beat that. I wanted to stay there just so I could tell people I had spent the night in Ogallala. Oh, the Nishnabotna River is good too but that night we picked Ogallala and the Stagecoach Inn.

They had a King on the ground floor and a Queen on the second floor. Since the Stagecoach didn't have an elevator CaDiva and I took the lower level and HRH took the upper room. The rooms were clean, comfortable and came with a continental breakfast. I learned not to eat the Cheerios since they had Honey Nut in the little dispenser and I can't do sweet first thing in the AM. But we needed to get a start in the morning anyway. We were one day from Des Moines and I would be sleeping in my own bed that night.

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After that, we stayed at the Stagecoach every time we could. There was one trip we had to stay in Kearney instead because of some sort of state tournament took up all the rooms for 100 miles. By the way, it is apparently pronounced Carney even though they spell it Kearney.

We got to the point that we looked for Best Westerns.  We looked forward to a night in Newport, Oregon. But I took a miss turn and we drove two extra hours in the dark, through the mountains, and the woods. And no matter what she tells you, CaDiva did not see a jackalope as we rounded that one curve. Anyway, we didn't get there in time to luxuriate in the hot tub or walk the beach before our whale watching trip the next day. The hotel was under renovation but it was comfortable and welcoming as all the others we have stayed at since.

We stayed at the Best Western Canterbury in Coralville, Iowa for our first not-quite-annual Hahn Women girl trip. I fantasized about the tower suite there. Although the stairs would be have been too much for CaDiva and I. But it was a two story suite on the second story of the hotel. It had a hot tub on a private terrace. I originally proposed we rent it (way too expensive for just one of us) as a party suite for all the ladies. We still had a great time but when I get the oomph to plan another I think I'll take a few clues from that first trip and keep us with more time to bond and a little less free schedule time.

After our recent trip to California where we stayed at the Best Western Plus Bay View at Carmel by the Sea I learned there are three classes of Best Westerns. The Plus is obviously elegant but I still got a good price. It had a lovely balcony. You have seen it before. I posted a couple pictures of me and my sea gull friend, discussing who got my bowl of Cheerios. The room had a fireplace in a corner and a grand view of the bay.

We ate at Clint Eastwood's restaurant, of course that was before the empty chair incident. There was a cute little mini mart next to the hotel where we got sandwiches and drinks for noshing in the room. We took another whale watching trip and drove the 17-mile drive to CaDiva's brother's wedding.

I think there is a way on this blog to attach that map application where you can track your favorite hotels. I have had some great nights and and longer stays at some hotels. I would love to share them with you here.