Not The Hilton

The Alpine Inn:

Well, I called ahead because I wanted a place to stay that was close to the hospital so I could drive myself back and forth.  The helicopter nurse gave me a list of hotels that gave discounts to people who had relatives in the hospital.  Not knowing the area, I called and made a reservation for a week at the Alpine Inn.  Trina and I got there and they thought we were married which was a hoot unto itself.  They fumbled over my room assignment then offered me a suite with a kitchen, bath, king bed etc.  They offered it for the same price as the normal room.  Hmmmmmm.  Then they told me it hadn't been occupied for a long time, Hmmmmmmm.


We got to room 207 and hesitantly opened the door to see a sunken in king sized bed, a beat up television cabinet and a television I think was from 1957, but I had my own technology so THERE!   I was exhausted and wanted to take a shower so I went into the bathroom that looked like a basement, gray tile from floor to ceiling and a toilet that rocked from side to side and scraped against the tile floor as it rocked.  I waited about 20 minutes as the shower water ran to get warm.  Finally it got, kind of warm.  Before I went in for the shower I turned on the heater in the room as it was very cold.  It didn't seem to want to work so I took my shower first and came out a popcicle.  Finally after fiddling witht he heater for a long time it just would not heat so I called the front desk and told them I just got out of the shower and to arrive in ten minutes.  In about 20 minutes a soaking wet man appeared at the door.  I told him that the knobs don't seem to work and I'm freezing.  He knelt next to the unit, reached to the right side of it, showed me the cord and said, "You need to plug it in."  I was embarrassed but yet kind of upset.  I had not sense of humor at this time but I did have my box lunch from the other day so that made me happy.  It was like a Golden Corral meal.  A sandwich, soup, fruit, pudding, cookies and some ohter things.  It was nice to have it in the room.  I tried not to sleep in the sunken in bed so I slept on top of it covered with my winter coat. 

Oh, I forgot to mention, when I looked for a picture of The Alpine Inn on the Internet I could not find one.  Go figure.  It was as bad as you think.  I recall Trina's suggestion, "You're in Rockford, keep the door locked and the drapes shut."  YIKES!