Tales of the OFMC: Sweet Suites
This cabin in Cooke City, Montana, was another on the low end. They didn’t usually rent it out but because there was no place else available in town they opened it up for us. Now they’ve been spruced up and are in regular use.
If you travel much you inevitably find yourself in some places that are really nice and other places that are not so nice at all. In the 30+ years the OFMC has been doing an annual trip we have certainly had our share of both.
Of course, when you find a really good place you want to go back there. However, life goes on and sometimes you can never go back.
One of the nicest places we ever stayed was in Taos, New Mexico. The El Monte Lodge was just a little to the east of downtown on the main road. The room we got in 1997 was a large suite with three or four beds, a kitchen, loads of room, and our own private fenced, shaded patio complete with barbecue grill. And it wasn’t very expensive. We knew a good thing when we saw it and decided to stay two nights.
This place was so nice we went back a few years later. Got the same room. Loved it.
Don’t go looking for the El Monte if you’re in Taos now. It’s gone. Replaced by some big new resort. It was just too good to last in a place where that location was too much a prime piece of real estate.
One of the worst places we ever stayed was in Gallup, New Mexico. We had just come from Laughlin, Nevada, in a brutal trek across the state, with fierce winds pounding us from due north that had us leaning hard to the left to keep from being blown off the road.
We got into Gallup ready to sit still somewhere. We grabbed one of the first motels we saw and were pleased that it was cheap. Yeah, there was a reason it was cheap. It was total crap. This was in the days when there were just the three of us and customarily we took turns in rooms with two beds of one person sleeping on the floor.
The problem was, there were insects running all around on the floor. Bill had the short straw that night and we heard about that place many times for a long time afterward.
On the other hand, one of the better places we have stayed is also in Gallup, and I highly recommend it. That’s the El Rancho. This is an old place where the movie people used to stay when they were shooting in Monument Valley, nearby. All the rooms are named for stars. And while it costs more than the numerous dumps in town, it is actually cheaper than the modern places in town. And it has a lot more character.
Then there was Jordan, Idaho. This, too, was back in the days of just the three original guys—Bill, John, and me—and in the time when we still camped sometimes. There was really nothing in Jordan but we did find a farmer’s field that doubled as a campground. We pitched our tents and went to sleep.
Only thing was, a hellacious rainstorm broke out overnight. Oh well, if you’ve got a good tent you just ignore it and go back to sleep. Not the case for Bill. His tent had a rain-fly that somehow came loose in the fierce winds and he woke up getting drenched. He had to get out in that rain to reattach the fly. John and I knew nothing of this but come morning we heard a lot about it.
Wow, now that I’ve gotten started I could just keep going but I won’t. Let’s just say our adventures in accommodations have gotten a lot tamer since we’ve all reached the point where we have enough money to stay in the nicer places.
Biker Quote for Today
I know I’m alive. When I ride even the familiar seems strange and glorious. The air has weight as I push through it, its touch is as intimate as water to a swimmer. — Dave Karlotski
