Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Washington Waterworks

The whole crazy experience began one summer day in 2003 when my wife and I were returning to San Diego from Vancouver, British Columbia. We had driven all the way to Vancouver from San Diego, with stops along the way in Seattle and near Fresno.

On the second to last day of the trip, our plan had been to take a ferry to Vancouver Island early in the morning, visit the city of Victoria, then catch a 2 p.m. ferry to Port Angeles, Washington, drive south for a few hours and stay overnight in a hotel.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Everything was going to plan until we we got in line for the ferry and were told that it was already full. But the next ferry didn't leave Victoria until 8, and we didn't arrive in Port Angeles until 11.

There is almost nothing on the western coast of the Puget Sound, so I drove south on the 101 through dark woodland forest until we reached a Best Western in Tumwater, WA, just south of Olympia. It was 2 a.m. and we were very tired. We only planned to sleep a few hours and leave the next morning at 6 to drive to San Diego. We checked into our room and I proceeded to jump into the shower for a quick rinse.

While I was in the shower, my wife came in to urinate. I heard her say, "Oh gross, gross, so gross!" and then she ran out of the bathroom. I had shampoo in my hair and soap on my face, but I peeked my head out from behind the shower curtain and to my horror saw the toilet erupting like Mount St. Helens.

Apparently, the guest before us had done something strange to the toilet, and it continued to spew disgusting smelly sewage into the bathroom. It was as if the main sewage line for the whole hotel was re-directed to that toilet.

I raced to wash the shampoo and soap off as the floor continued to fill with nasty brown water. I toweled off quicker than I ever had in my life, then with one foot did a quick double hop off the towel and out of the bathroom. 30 seconds later, the water began to seep into the carpet in the hallway of the room.

My wife was waiting outside, and I packed up our suitcases and literally threw them across the hallway over the dirty water and exited as quickly as possible. We went downstairs to the front desk to complain and were given another room, but not before the front desk clerk went up to inspect.

I was a bit peeved when he gave me a look like, "I can't believe you did this." I was too tired at that point to argue, but we finally got another room and slept for less than 3 hours.

Needless to say, we won't be staying at that hotel again.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount

The whole crazy experience began one summer day in 2003 when my wife and I were returning to San Diego from Vancouver, British Columbia. We had driven all the way to Vancouver from San Diego, with stops along the way in Seattle and near Fresno.

On the second to last day of the trip, our plan had been to take a ferry to Vancouver Island early in the morning, visit the city of Victoria, then catch a 2 p.m. ferry to Port Angeles, Washington, drive south for a few hours and stay overnight in a hotel.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Everything was going to plan until we we got in line for the ferry and were told that it was already full. But the next ferry didn't leave Victoria until 8, and we didn't arrive in Port Angeles until 11.

There is almost nothing on the western coast of the Puget Sound, so I drove south on the 101 through dark woodland forest until we reached a Best Western in Tumwater, WA, just south of Olympia. It was 2 a.m. and we were very tired. We only planned to sleep a few hours and leave the next morning at 6 to drive to San Diego. We checked into our room and I proceeded to jump into the shower for a quick rinse.

While I was in the shower, my wife came in to urinate. I heard her say, "Oh gross, gross, so gross!" and then she ran out of the bathroom. I had shampoo in my hair and soap on my face, but I peeked my head out from behind the shower curtain and to my horror saw the toilet erupting like Mount St. Helens.

Apparently, the guest before us had done something strange to the toilet, and it continued to spew disgusting smelly sewage into the bathroom. It was as if the main sewage line for the whole hotel was re-directed to that toilet.

I raced to wash the shampoo and soap off as the floor continued to fill with nasty brown water. I toweled off quicker than I ever had in my life, then with one foot did a quick double hop off the towel and out of the bathroom. 30 seconds later, the water began to seep into the carpet in the hallway of the room.

My wife was waiting outside, and I packed up our suitcases and literally threw them across the hallway over the dirty water and exited as quickly as possible. We went downstairs to the front desk to complain and were given another room, but not before the front desk clerk went up to inspect.

I was a bit peeved when he gave me a look like, "I can't believe you did this." I was too tired at that point to argue, but we finally got another room and slept for less than 3 hours.

Needless to say, we won't be staying at that hotel again.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Next Article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader