Take the cilantro, leave the zamboni

Hey guys?

I just remembered that about 10 days ago I posted about how to survive the noisy, cold-at-night madhouse that is Camp Oelker.

A few of you said "Uh, I would just get a hotel."

I got back last night and thought, "Hey, I wonder if that would have worked?" (Did I mention that I don't have the money to do that for a week? Cuz I really DO NOT. I found the suggestion amusing at the time, for that reason.)

Just for the record, the nearest lodgings are something called the "Frola Motel" about 20 minutes away in Lisbon, and all I can find out about it is that apparently it is clean? Oh and the next closest thing is something called "Palmentier's Motel" about 30 minutes away outside of Minerva, again reportedly clean and with no website for finding out more. Yes, Camp Oelker is _that_ far away from things. Really.

Am I failing to explain just how very, VERY out in the boonies Camp Oelker is, or is it just hard to internalize the concept? I think it might be the latter-- I was thinking about this yesterday as I drove back. Most of us never really leave the parts of the country that have hotels and shopping centers. And even if we do, it's usually for vacation spots that still have cute little restaurants and bed and breakfast places. Guys? We should travel outside that zone more, really we should, and make excursions to the wilder parts of the nation. Just not in winter, okay? (And yes, for the record, I'm mocking you all a little bit for your yuppieness. If you don't like it you do not have to read. I do love you all, but I need to mock you this little bit, okay? This is how a week back in Appalachia changes how I look at things.)

*shrug* I don't have the money for a whole week of staying in lodgings off the farm, anyway. I did have the excuse to ditch for a night in a motel in a larger town, which was a nice break. I was just talking to karakara98 yesterday about how tiny even that "larger town" is! Oh, middle America, you're somehow more wild than other countries, because we expect you to have motels in all your towns.

Oh, but one more thing: there _is_ a comfortable, nicely appointed lodging option about a 10 minute drive away from Camp Oelker. Sadly, it's also over my budget, and owned by the chair of the county GOP, so I hope you'll forgive me for NOT giving them my money. It is either funny or sad that would be my best option for staying off the farm. Maybe both funny _and_ sad.

The next time someone describes my part of western Mass as rural, I'm going to laugh at them, openly and with vigor. Isn't America a funny place?