Road Warrior - Always Carry A Spare Car Key When Traveling

This weeks adventure took me on winding country roads through quaint little towns, where main street is square and old City Hall buildings rest in the middle. Montezuma, Iowa was one of them, a very quaint little town, with Mom and Pop grocery stores and modern cafe's. A mixture of the past and present.

My destination, Agency Iowa. My first trip as a graduated Portrait Consultant. I decided to stop along I-80 at the Amana Colonies "mini mana's" as I call it, to treat myself to a little something. My bangs are getting too long and the wind blows them in my eyes, I had meant to pack a scarf but forgot. There were only woolen scarves available so as it was scorching hot, I opted for a cheap butterfly sun visor. I probably looked like a trip in my rusty old 91 Aerostar van; Classic Rock blaring on the radio, butterfly sun visor and shades.

The Super 8 in Ottumwa was only slightly better than the one in Mason City. I approached the front desk and the first thing that I observed was the office chair, the arms taped with duct tape. "You need a new chair" I said to the clerk. "Business is bad" he said. The lobby was inviting with the pool right there with beautiful stonework flooring. Again, I was hoping to make use of it but never found the time.

The room was ok; coffee pot where it should be, on the sink. There was a refrigerator this time so my yogurt didn't spoil. I unloaded, changed and headed for Agency. Another nice little town, more modern than the rest of the little towns I've visited, It was a "newer" town with ranch houses and split levels rather than little old farm houses.

I had a great first day with a bit of a humorous ending. I made my draw for the day plus a little bit more. I earn a salary, plus a draw on my commission every day. I have to sell a specific amount to meet that draw and everything over that I get a percentage of the sales. If I sell above a certain amount I draw a higher percentage.

Unfortunately I heard several of our customers express their surprise that they were going to be able to purchase additional portraits. One customer said "If I'd have known that, I would have wore a suit". Apparently this mission wasn't well planned, and this particular customer had only received a call about having their church directory photos taken the day before and the customer only wanted their free 8x10, putting a damper on sales. These parishioners had not had a portrait done in ten years. I even spoke with a middle aged gentleman who hadn't had his portrait taken since his High School photo.

The evening went by quickly. After my last customer, I went out to get the next one and there was nobody left. My partner said I kept up well and we both showed an equal number of sets. I was anxious to leave and get back to the motel and in my hurried state, I took a load out to the van and had to go back for the laptop so I could transmit my business to headquarters. I had thought I had tossed my car keys on the front seat of the van and went back in. My partner and 3 photographers were standing by the van so I wasn't worried about leaving them there.

Its funny the tricks your mind can play, especially when one is tired (also still sick). When I returned with the lap top I couldn't find my keys. It was dark but we looked with a flashlight all over the front of the van. We concluded that I must have taken them back inside and I was able to get a lift back to the motel with my partner (the lady who locked up the church had already gone).

Back at the Motel, I had no wheels to wander about town to look for dinner. So I hooked up my work laptop to transmit the days business and I didn't have much luck with that either. I could not transmit via wireless, I'm not sure why, so I resorted to dial up. It took eons. So I wandered down for coffee in the lobby because the coffee pot didn't work and I had a nice chat with the desk clerk while he made me a fresh pot. Whom I later found asleep at 2:30am when I returned to fill my cup.

I gave up on transmitting and thought I would try again in the morning. For some reason I had no problem with it the next morning, though the entire time I was having trouble with the work lap top, mine was connecting just fine.

It was good to see my old rusty van the next day and the photographers were more than happy to announce that they had found my keys laying on my table in the basement of the church. I ended up having yet another good day, almost identical to the previous one. However I had to drive three hours home immediately following. The good news is that in chatting with another customer, I was advised to return home via a different direction that was all four lanes and it would cut 1/2 hour off my drive time.

The roads were empty and dark and the most excitement I had was passing a sign advertising the "American Gothic Home" that was in the painting by Grant Wood. It would have been interesting to visit if it were not in the middle of the night. I arrived home at 2:00am barely alive, having stopped 9 miles from my 1st ex-husband in Columbus Junction to get gas and coffee. I had pondered asking if I could crash there, but the stop was refreshing and I woke up a tad and just wanted to get home. When I finally did, I was too wound to go to bed but finally did at 4:00am as the birds began waking up.

(Because I didn't take any photos this trip, I have graced you with a few of my favorite photos from the wedding I shot over the weekend and my version of "American Gothic". I was told when I began working with photographers, that they were very sensitive about their work, I've learned this past weekend, that I fall into that category as well..lol)

Peace
Liz