February 26, 2014 (Wednesday)
Guess who’s coming to town? Motel 6.
My first contact with Motel 6 was in 1970, in Fresno, California, when we as a family of seven needed a place to stay for a night or two. We could afford TWO rooms, with a total of four big double beds and two baths. The rooms were only $6.00 each for the night. What a bargain that was, even in 1970. We had been to Disneyland and were on our way to Yosemite National Park.
That was 44 years ago, and the prices are not the same now. The chain still considers itself an economy hotel, but as the Native Americans said to the United States Senator negotiating a land agreement, “You’re not getting a deal like Manhattan Island again.” (Most of you will remember that legend has it that the island was bought for strings of beads). Minimum rates these days are around $40 per day.
Prices in general today are about six times what they were in the late sixties and early seventies. Disney World just raised its admission price for adults to $99, for example. A really cheap new small car sells today for around $14,000, which is four times the price of a very nice, completely equipped big new car in the late sixties.
Motel 6 special rates these days start at about $40 per day, but you can count on paying more in the future than you have in the past. Our Motel 6 will be located near the intersection of Business Highway 35 and FM 3036, which has become a very busy road. Many of us remember when it was carved out of the woods.
Everything is changing. I am reminded of that every morning when a stranger in the mirror stares back at me. He seems to be saying, “You haven’t changed a bit!” Yeah, right.