The housing I was able to obtain for Ninja and myself on my first travel nurse assignment was in a hotel in Connecticut. My goal did not include living in hotel for 13 weeks, but it was summertime in New England. Everyone is on vacation at that time of year and housing is at a minimum for options and a premium for pricing. The necessity of finding pet-friendly housing in addition to that was even more of a challenging task. Hence, hotel with a kitchenette was where we were going to live for this assignment. It was close to the hospital I was going to be working at, the turnpike entrance to get to work was across the street, Ninja was accepted at the hotel and it had a kitchenette. That made the best sense for the situation at hand.
Ninja and I completed our 2 day drive to Connecticut without difficulty. I wish I could take credit for the navigation, but it was second to utilization of my favorite GPS technology. It brought us directly to our new home.
I drove into the parking lot of the hotel which went up a steep hill, resulting in the need for a sharp right turn to continue up the hill followed by a left turn to reach the top of the parking lot. Hotel was on the left. Observed the front entrance along with the lot continuing towards the back of the building. I decided to drive towards the back, namely so I could check out the entire area to gain understanding of my options and become aware of my surroundings while staying there.
During the drive towards the back, I noticed a lovely maple tree. Underneath the tree, I observed a woman with long blond hair and in her hair was a circle of flowers. She was sitting along with 3 other ladies. It seemed they were having a picnic or a celebration of some sort. I then drove past two pick up trucks. The tailgates were down and some fellas were sitting on said tailgates drinking beer with music playing. I obtained a parking spot and got out of my SUV, Blue Velvet, and was overcome with the smell of reefer. Thought to myself, OK, it appears it is legal in this state and continued to let Ninja out of the car to do her business.
We walked further to the back of the parking lot where I observed the dumpster where I would be bringing my trash, a pole with a circular garbage container where Ninja’s “business” would be placed and a picnic table behind the dumpster. Aha, that is where the overwhelming reefer smell was being generated. There were a couple of people smoking there when we walked by enjoying their weekend. The name that popped into my brain for the picnic area was the “reefer madness picnic area”. My stomach was telling me this parking area was party central. Not something I was anticipating nor thrilled about.
Ninja and I checked in to our new residence via the front desk. We were provided a room on the second floor with the window inside the room facing the wooded area. This was a great area for Ninja, or should I say me? If we were on the ground floor with the parking lot view, she would bark at all passers by in her attempt to protect me.
Checked out the kitchenette area which included a full sized refrigerator, oven and microwave. There was not a dishwasher, yuck. I was provided 2 glasses, 2 plates, 2 coffee mugs, 2 of each utensil, 1 pot (the cooking kind) and 1 frying pan.
Prior to booking my stay, I was pleased to read that there was a gym in the hotel. I enjoy the gym thoroughly as it is my stress reliever. It did not go into details about what equipment was included. In my mind I was expecting typical “gym” items such as weights, cardio machines, bands etc. I left my room and headed down to the first floor to find out where it was at the front desk. I was pointed in the direction across the hall. I opened the door to the gym and found one stair stepping machine and one treadmill. No weights, no bands, no other equipment. Somewhat disappointed, but fortunately I had a gym membership and I found it was located a mile and a half from my new living quarters. Plan B was already in the books.
Okay, a lot of processing was going on inside my head. “It’s temporary Michelle, you got this!”
Yes!! How long were you a travel nurse?
When i was a travel nurse i would occassionally get rooms the same! but yes its temporary!!