Surprises in New York

So you're driving along and there's a sign that a toll booth lies ahead. The man hands you a card, which has a big 15 written on it. It has a table showing how much you pay when exiting the toll-road at various exits.

Pretty cool, but I don't think we have those in California. So we drive along and there's a big "Exit 16" sign, and another sign that says "Next exit 17 miles"

"Oh," I say to myself, I guess that must be "Exit 33" -- thinking that, like California and Hawaii, that exit numbers and mileposts have some relationship.

Nope! Seventeen miles later is exit 17. Well, I guess that's another valid way of doing it. I wonder what they do if they add another exit between 17 and 18, say.

Hotel soap

So we checked into the Econo Lodge in Schenectady. In the bathroom were the usual -- some lotion or shampoo or something, and two bars of soap. I unwrapped one: it was in a dozen pieces! Hurmpf, bottom of the stack or something. This is OK for a quick swipe of the hand, but I wouldn't want to shower with it. The other bar was fine though.

By the way that Econo Lodge is a bargain: if you have an AAA card, or you're over fifty, it's like $62/night, plus the usual taxes.

We spent two nights there. The breakfast is nothing to write home about, but you can have a really nice breakfast -- and dinner too -- on the money you save there vs. some of the alternatives.

Anyway, we drove to Saratoga Springs, making just one wrong turn, and checked into the Comfort Inn on Old Gick Road. This is a step up from the Econo Lodge, both in accommodations (pool, fitness center, indoor hallways, etc.) and in price (not quite 50% higher). I went into the bathroom and unwrapped the first bar of soap. You got it -- a dozen pieces. The second one (which we used for showering) was fine.

So what is it with soap in Albany-area hotels?