As I reached the intersection, Angel rolled past on his bicycle and we exchanged greetings. Seeing Anne just a few steps ahead across the street, I let her know that Angel was headed to the shop and she turned back. I continued to my beer. I sipped it at a table out front while making use of their WiFi connection. Hydrated and updated, I was about halfway back to my car when Angel passed me going the other way. Apparently it takes me about the same amount of time to drink a beer as it takes Angel to get things under control at the shop.

I have previously stayed in Kingman on three occasions. Those stays were at the now closed Brunswick, the Hill Top, and El Trovatore. When I decided that I was really going to attend the festival, I called the Hill Top and learned it was full. I then called El Trovatore. A few rooms were available. The rate was about 50% higher than normal "because of the festival" and half of the total would be charged in advance. This was not really unexpected as I'd heard rumors of raised motel prices for the event at other motels as well and in 2012 all of the (much smaller) charge for my stay had been required in advance. I reserved a room.

Moving on from San Diego meant it was time to start working on a driving schedule to Kingman. I had been on the road about two weeks and the reservations had been made some time before that. I couldn't remember whether I had reserved three or four nights. Should I plan on a Wednesday or Thursday arrival? I called El Trovatore on Monday and Sam, the owner, answered the phone. I explained my dilemma and asked which day my reservations began. The lobby was full just then, he told me. I should call back in twenty minutes. That was about a quarter past 7:00. I waited until about 8:00 to try again. Things were still really busy, he said, and he had not been able to check. He would call me back. Yes, he had my number from the current call.

There was no call that night or during the day on Tuesday. At about 8:00 PM, I called but got a recording. I left a message that basically repeated what I had said the night before. While I waited, I accessed my credit card account. The advance charge had not been made before I'd left home and I now learned that it had not been made since, either. After about an hour and no call from Sam, I made reservations elsewhere. The lack of the charge seemed to indicate no reservation at all. That was troubling but understandable. Sam could have just forgotten to record it or somehow lost it. And it was no where near as troubling as the fact that he had not called me as promised. I sent an email message explaining the situation.

So that's how Dave Wickline, who made a last minute decision to attend and was sharing the room, ended up at Motel 6. I stopped by El Trovatore around 10:00 AM on Thursday but the office/lobby was closed. I stopped again on my way out of town and found Sam outside. I tried not to be confrontational and that worked to a degree but not completely. Regarding the advance payment, he explained that he had decided not to charge anyone until they checked in. He rightly saw this as a good thing but it would have been so much better if folks had been told about it. Sam and I obviously think a little differently. To him, not returning my call was no big thing and being really busy was all the justification needed. I'm thinking that being too busy to take care of your business is a problem that will eventually take care of itself.