$35.00/night with outdoor pool

When I was a kid (and now, too, but especially when I was a kid), just the thought of staying in a hotel with a swimming pool made me happy. The jumping, the splashing, the breath-holding contests under water - it was all such a blast! As far as I was concerned, the only difference between a "good" hotel and a "bad" one was whether or not it had a swimming pool.

One year in early March, my family took a vacation to southern California. We stayed at a really cheap motel that would have been pretty mediocre had it not had a pool. It did, though, so as far as we were concerned, we might as well have been booked over at the"Disney Land Resort".

It was a pretty slow day at Knott's Berry Farm, so my brother Gregory and I decided to go on the log ride 15 times in a row. Being already soaked after the first run, and knowing our dad would make us go and change our clothes anyway, we decided to take advantage of our drenched state. It didn't end there, though. We had to, of course, pass the pool on our way to our motel room. Gregory suggested it, I agreed, and we both jumped in, fully clothed, and laughed and swam and were observed by some of the other guests there. "We're from Alaska!" we yelled out at them, and they nodded their approval.




Last week my mom came down for a visit and stayed at the only hotel with a pool here in Valdez. Sophia and I, of course, leaped at the opportunity for some pool time and had so much fun. She loves the water, but I've never met a kid who doesn't. I'll try to remember that when she some day begs us to stay at Rowdy's Motel because it features an "outdoor pool", even though there's a much nicer Holiday Inn across the street.