When we came back to Chicago briefly in July so I could teach my summer class we booked a Holiday Inn in Oakbrook Terrace (a forgettable little strip of land in the Chicago suburbs). Despite the supposed 3-star rating of this property, it was one of the worst hotel experiences of our trip. Very disappointing. Everything about this hotel was cramped and unfriendly. From the driveway to the lobby to the elevators to the cramped uncomfortable rooms, this hotel felt claustrophobic and uninviting. Though there was lots of brass and gilded flash in the lobby, everything beneath the surface was cheap, especially in the rooms. There was only one luggage cart in the whole 100 + room hotel. The restaurant was closed more often than open – it was even closed at 7 pm on Friday night. The poorly-trained staff do not help matters. The staff seemed completely incapable of handling even the simplest requests. It seemed that this Holiday Inn only cares about profit margins. We have stayed at Motel 6′s that were better.

So when Priceline landed us at another Holiday Inn, this time in Skokie, we were apprehensive. Fortunately our experience was the exact opposite of Oakbrook Terrace. Here the staff could not have been more helpful and friendly. The hotel was roomy and comfortable and the rooms themselves were so much higher in quality. The restaurant was open during posted hours and there were nine luggage carts.

It is interesting that two properties of the same hotel chain could be so different. It shows that you can’t necessarily trust a brand name to deliver the same quality at all of their branches.

That would be between August 15 and Labor Day. We noticed a large spike in hotel rates immediately on August 15. Here is the comparison of hotel rates for our trip:

• Before Aug 15 – $44.28
• Aug 15 and after – $62.00

That is a 40% increase in price.

Those last two weeks in August is when many people go on vacation, so the hotels jack up their prices. We did notice that hotels (and the roads) were more crowded after August 15.

We recommend you take your vacations before August 15; preferably in June when the rates are the lowest.

The Big Ride

• Days: 85
• Miles: 13,775
• States: 39 (plus two Canadian provinces)
• Hotels: 42
• Gasoline cost per day: $13.47
• Hotel cost per night: $46.03
• All other costs per day: $37.57

I like mountains. They are pretty. To look at, that is. Driving them is fun, kind of, for at least the first, oh, half hour or so, and during daylight. Mountains are considerably less pretty and fun after an hour or more and in the pitch dark.

Last night we left Yellowstone through the Northeast gate intending to take US 212 to Billings, Montana where we had reserved a room for that night. Fifteen miles after we had left Yellowstone, as the sun set behind us, a sign stated that US 212 was closed. This surprised us since when we entered the North gate of Yellowstone earlier that day and the nice park ranger give us a paper listing “all road closures” there was no mention of US 212 being closed. The road closed sign was at an intersection with a road leading to the southeast. I looked at my paper Rand McNally map which showed that this road, Wyoming 296 took a fairly straight line to Wyoming 120 which we could take north toward Billings. Knowing that the nearest other exit from Yellowstone, the North gate was about 50 miles in the opposite direction of Billings and knowing there was a dearth of roads in the area, we decided to take Wyoming 120 and I didn’t look at my computer topographical map. The first few miles were uneventful until the road gradually became twistier and hillier. As total darkness enveloped us the road became a virtual obstacle course of hairpin turns and sharp ascents and descents. There were no lights anywhere, no crossroads, and the moon was absent. Then we spent ten minutes following continuous extreme switchbacks up a very steep mountain slope then, after three 180-degree turns and a run across a cliff-edge barely visible in the headlights to our left side, we began an equally steep and twisty decent. I coasted for the next six miles soon catching up to a slow-moving pickup pulling a horse trailer. We crawled the remaining fifteen minutes looking at the rear of a rather unhappy horse. We finally reached Wyoming 120 having traversed the 32 miles of Wyoming 296 in 63 minutes. We both felt thoroughly nauseous.

This morning in Billings I looked at my topographical map and saw that what we had traveled through was called Dead Indian Pass, maximum elevation 8,148 feet. Further research discovered that the Nez Perce Indians had taken this pass attempting to elude pursuing U.S. soldiers thinking the soldiers wouldn’t be able to get through. Smart Indians.

For your viewing pleasure, a screen shot of the map of this road section is included.