We were trying to make it to Odessa, TX the first night so she could visit family not seen in a while, but we did not make it. Due in part to our late departure and the late night partying, by 11 pm we were both exhausted and ready to rest for the night. We made it from Fort Worth all the way to the big town of Sweetwater. We managed to find a suitable seedy motel for the first night of our adventure. The Longhorn Motor lodge. In the dark, drab West Texas night we had found an oasis of lush green light. The entire motel was rimmed in green florescent lighting. Absolutely a site to behold. As we pulled into the drive all kinds of thoughts flashed thru my head. I saw bits of old movies, and the covers of long forgotten Pulp Fiction novels. I didn’t know if the man behind the counter would give me grief or not. I was afraid he might, given that the age difference between the Princess and I. Would he think that this was some late night rendezvous? That we had met in some backwater bar on the highway, and this was the only place we could go? Was I having an affair? Was she? I also had ideas about the man behind the counter, what would he look like? Would he be a skinny old man, who reeked of booze and cigarettes? Or would he be fat man in his forties, who had greasy hands and hair with sweat stain under his arms? I imagined it would be the later. I don’t know for sure, but at the time I never gave it any thought that it might be a woman. But true to our fantasies it was a man who was old, fat, and greasy. I don’t think he much cared why we were there. I think all he wanted was his money, his form to be filled out correctly, and to go back to his beer, or bed or both. Thru all of this I became more and more excited. The Princess and I had agreed that we would forgo the modern sleek corporate hotels in favor of small roadside motels. The ones that weary travelers might have sought out before the day of the super highways. Before modern conveniences had jaded people. A time before the Internet, a time when super highway meant four lanes and roadside attractions. The glory days of the automobile. And this is what we had found the first night and without even trying. I could barley wait to get to our room and discover what we had ourselves gotten into. I was not to be disappointed.