I needed a break from posting mill images, so I thought I’d post something from the 2004 TREK USA relay.  This shot just wreaks of spring, doesn’t it?

What was left of the Rebel Inn was just sitting in the middle of nowhere, Nebraska. I really love this shot, but even more, I love the story around it.

During the relay we kept the people back home informed of our progress through our daily web postings and emails (when we had connection, of course). One common theme was the quality of the hotels we had the opportunity to stay in at night, after a long day of running. They could almost all be considered cheap hotels.  Sometimes “cheap” simply meant “inexpensive,” like a well kept Motel 6, or a Red Roof Inn.

Other (thankfully rare) times “cheap” translated to “sleezy,” “nasty” or “filthy.”  I’m talking about the type of hotel where you are afraid to turn down the sheets. You sleep in your clothes, with your shoes on top of the bed spread. I’ll spare you the details.

Anyway, in my daily emails to my coworkers, I always tried to include a couple of photos from the day. On May 5, 2004, I included this one. I simply captioned it “Our accommodations for the evening.”

With the knowledge of our previous experiences, and presented with an image of this, obviously long abandoned, shack, I assumed everyone would get the joke.

I was wrong.

Our marketing guru emailed back: “WOW! Did you really stay there? That looks awful!”

I hope I’m a better at photography than comedy.