Let the bangs begin! Yeah, we’re in a different room now and while it’s great not having people walk like elephants above us even if this room is smaller, hotels are still noisy, especially in the late afternoon/early evenings as well as early mornings.

So continuing on with the trip, we flew to Salt Lake City on a Delta Airbus. That flight took an hour and 10 minutes. The next flight, on a Boeing, took 3 hours and 45 minutes. I was exhausted from start to finish!

I liked the snack box they gave us. It helped give me enough of a burst of energy to write a little. Like about how the dream premonition of us flying instead of driving turned out to play out in real life exactly as I dreamed it. Same side of the plane, same happy tears as the plane dipped in the same direction it did in the dream when turning.

Had some lung tightness here but it’s from the hotel. Same problem I had in Roseville. This room we’re now in should be better. It has to do with the ventilation system in the rooms that haven’t been remodeled yet. Even he could smell the funny smell and the dank musty odor in the last two rooms, especially the last one.

Backing up and trying to go in order of events…we arrived in Tampa and got our stuff from the baggage claim area. Then we got a call saying our ride was there. The elevator is in the middle of the parking garage and the guy that came to pick us up forgot which side he stepped out on. So there I was, exhausted as hell and standing in humidity I wasn’t used to while he used his clicker to try to find the damn car. When he finally did, we drove across the Tampa Bay causeway into Clearwater, and then what did the stupid cock do? He dropped us off at the wrong hotel!

So there I was thinking this can’t be happening! I was hot, I was sweaty, and I was exhausted. There were also some ants running around by where our suitcases stood and I was beginning to panic. The woman at the desk was kind enough to give me some ice water.

Then I ran and got the attention of a Lyft driver I spotted who dropped a woman off and he brought us to the right hotel which wasn’t too far away. But then I started to worry again when we got there and the receptionist said she didn’t see our reservation; just that we canceled the 24th. However, she said they had a room available. I was so relieved to hear that! I don’t know what I would have done had they said they didn’t have a room even though it had a 4 in the room number, a very unlucky number. I was also disappointed that it was on the second of three floors. I’ve always hated people above me.

The room was large and with a great layout but I noticed the funny odor right away as I mentioned before. This one had two tables, a king-size bed, and a loveseat that opened into a bed. There was a half-wall dividing the room, too. Being short, it was nice to have lower toilets again too. We can hear a few commercial planes and small planes here but nothing like at our old place.

I will continue in the next post!

Later…

The things I noticed most as our plane was descending into Florida were just how green everything was and all the water as well. So many clouds too. Every day it said it was going to rain but we haven’t had any rain yet.

Actually, it’s storming now!

Our first night in the first room was when Tom found they had wired the money from the house. He immediately started moving the money around and paying off our debt.

I managed to sleep well enough the first night and even took a nap not long after I got up since I was so exhausted.

At around 2:00 PM the next day, I started hearing tons of stomping above us. My first thought was that kids had checked in up there. It went on for hours and I finally went down to the front desk and asked Jessica about what was going on up there because I needed to ask her something else while I was at it anyway. She said it was a couple that returned from out of town for a couple of weeks. I guess you save on rates if you rent by the month, and you keep your room even if you’re going to be gone for a while.

We ordered some McDonald’s food and also a Walmart delivery.

Meanwhile, the chaos above continued. I felt like I was in the NHA again or next to that bitch at the VV. It was like a wrestling match was going on above me. I was so glad they didn’t return when we got there otherwise I would have been forced to stay up till midnight as I was when they returned the next day. They also woke me up at three in the morning. It was terrible. They not only stomped around like crazy but they slammed shit and dropped heavy things on the floor, too.

The next day we moved up to the third floor. We’re actually across the hall and one room away from them. Noticed the pet sign on their door so I wonder if some of the noise came from that depending on how big it is. Lots of banging up here too but at least it’s not over my head and there’s no nasty smell in here.

I still can’t believe how much hotels have changed over the decades, and it really sucks. Before this millennium, I’d stayed in a million hotels yet I don’t remember hearing anyone around me once. Now it’s like people can’t sit still and they’re not out of their rooms for long either.

Last night I slept the best I’ve slept since the move and it was during the times most people are usually at their quietest which helped. This room also doesn’t stink like the other one but I can feel the humidity even with the AC running. The floor is sticky but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. My skin is actually loving it. I just hope my lungs don’t mind it! Will definitely have to use the dehumidifier when we get into our new house.

Still wake up hot and cold at times but it definitely seems to help if I take two black cohosh pills before bed rather than one. I also got children’s melatonin which is only one milligram and that helps me get to sleep. Really want to stay on days as long as possible.

The car made it across to us in just four days but it needs to be washed badly.

This morning we made a run to Walmart. Clearwater is lovely but I definitely wouldn’t want to live here. Too many people. Too young. Too many blacks. Some Asian guy accosted us in the parking lot wanting to pray for us. Yeah, that always does a world of good. rolls eyes

Did a load of laundry in the hotel laundry room.

I’m excited about tomorrow! We’re going to look at a couple of houses in a small park north of Tarpon Springs. The realtor actually lives there. One of the houses backs up to a wall and there’s nothing behind it but just open space. It isn’t on a corner so we would have neighbors on either side, so I just hope the soundproofing works well for traffic, storms, and anybody who might let their dog bark a little too much. I was wrong when I said one layer of soundproofing was equivalent to a 10-foot concrete wall. It’s actually 1 foot. I think the most challenging part is going to be doing the windows but we’ll find out hopefully soon enough.

They run credit checks and background checks and the guy was funny as he told Tom that as long as we haven’t robbed a bank in the last few weeks, we should be OK, lol.