Traveling In Unknown Territories

Traveling across Highway 36 East in Missouri to take my mom to a funeral was quite an experience educationally and socially.  I had reserved two rooms (one for me and mom, and one for my cousins from Illinois) at one of the two Hotels in this small town sight unseen...Needless to say when mom and I exited the highway and saw the OLD billboard, minus color and letters on the add, I knew we were destined to a learning experience neither one of us was prepared for.  Pulling into the dilapidated building with the air-conditioners so old, trash littering the premises, peeling paint, and holes in some of the doors, I somehow managed to drag myself to the office (which was the residence of the owner) and request a 'look-see' at the room, as my mom was fragile. (Prior to that, I had told mom to make her physical disability a little more prominent because we were gonna get out of this reservation one way or another!!!) The office stank of old cigarettes, mold, and grease.  The proprietor asked what mom's disability was and I told her she had had two hip replacements and that walking was difficult.  She then stated "you didn't tell me she was disabled" (as if that was any of her business to begin with...just saying) and the rooms are on the second floor.  I looked up at the frail steps with the rotted railing and informed her that mom could not walk up those steps and that she had told me we would be in rooms 3 and 8 not upstairs. I stated we would not be staying and would head on down the road.  The woman actually followed me to the car and said "come and look at room 8, it's available after all and has a bed and a half "(I'm thinking what the heck???), so being considerate I agree to look - after all, we are there and I did give the woman my credit card.  Entering the room, I was engulfed by mold - I swear it was everywhere!!!! When commenting on the smell and discussing my allergies, the woman asked "You can smell that dearie?" Uh...YES!!! The room had two doors to the outside and one of them had no doorknob and you could see light from outside around the entire door and there were holes in the wall (going to who knows where).  She said "come and see how clean the bathroom is".  By this time, I just want to leave, take a shower, and get a penicillin shot for whatever germs had landed on my body, so I peeked in quickly and said "no thanks' we are leaving.  She followed me to the car again and wanted me to see if my cousins still wanted a room. OMG LADY - NO!!! ARE YA NOT LISTENING???? I jump in the car, tell mom we might be sleeping in the car and head east. Amazingly, we found a quaint little motel about a mile away that was CLEAN, had fresh sheets, TV, parking, and no stairs. I paid for the two rooms quickly and we were set!!!! I called the other proprietor back to make sure she didn't use my credit card for the disgusting rooms, and she informed me that she would be charging me for one of the rooms because she might not be able to rent it out for the night. (ya think???)  I just SMILED and considered it a blessing...after all, it's only money - NOT GERMS!!!!!