June 29, 2009
Lions, and Bathrooms, and Cars, OH MY!
by Becca Priddy at 12:14 PM
Monday - [undisclosed location]
Let me tell you a bit about the strange little “town” we’re staying in this summer. I woke up this morning, staring at the popcorn ceiling, with a spring stuck in my back from the motel bed. The ceiling—probably asbestos contaminated—has more glitter than a high school dance team. The walls that aren’t faux wood panels, are a 1960s American interpretation of a Japanese garden. And if you look closely, you might be able to find hidden animals in the leaves or clouds. Wait, let me just show you…
The bathroom is iffy to say the least. The first day we stayed here the motel manager wouldn’t let us use it. Instead, he gave us a spare key to the room next door so we could use that bathroom until they fixed ours. If you compared our motel to the movie Psycho, you’d be pretty close. If that’s not creepy enough for you, the motel was owned by the Bates family once upon a time, and no I am not lying.
The town is… small. I don’t think it’s more than a square mile, which means dining options are limited to the saloon, the gas station, a casino, or a mexican food place. In 1906, this was the most populated town in the whole state, thanks to the gold rush, and like most mining towns, everyone left after the gold rush, and it hasn’t changed much since then. There are wild burro—descendants of the burro brought by the miners—and there are mines still littering the mountains.
Every morning we snoop around town, driving past all the car companies’ top secret garages to check things out and see who’s in town. This morning it was pretty dead, although the gate in front of the BMW garage was open, making me suspicious that they might arrive today. With nobody in town, we take the 50 mile drive to the top secret desert location. Most days we drive at least 200 miles, checking every corner of the desert.
We pulled up to the convenience store, and right there in front of us were about 15 prototype GMC trucks! They have a new Duramax clean burning deisel engine, but my mom’s photographer in another location already shot them yesterday and they’re already up on the web. With no point in shooting more photos, we turned to head back “home.” As I was driving through the parking lot, I noticed someone sitting in the back of an SUV dusting off, what looked like big foot slippers. As I thought how strange that was, and maybe that I could bust the next Big Foot hoax, I made another loop through the parking lot. By the time I got back around he was fully dressed, in a lion costume! Trust me, I don’t think I could make this up, even if I tried. Turns out he and his friend drove in from Vegas just to check things out. They’re part of a furry community in Vegas, and the lion’s name was Qubi. Who would have known I’d meet a lion out here… After a few photos were taken, we headed back to town, and checked out the BMW garage. The gates were locked up, and no cars were there. They’ll be here soon, it’s getting hot out.
After a great cheeseburger—from the mexican restaurant no less—we headed home. We’ll be out again tomorrow, and I’m hoping the beamers will be here soon!
Until next time…