Work Days: B&B not recommended

I spent a couple of days at the Vangorda Place Bed & Breakfast because I wanted a secure place where I could do some work and also relax for my book club meeting.

Suffice to say that it really was not the best experience, and I would not stay there again, despite it's 9.0 "Exceptional" rating on Booking.com.

I hope I don't sound whiny. Those of you who are familiar with me know that I love well-behaved dogs, but...

At the B&B there were three dogs, including an out-of-control whippet puppy and an adorable geriatric mutt that appeared to be selectively deaf. The dogs had the run of the house (literally), and there was a gate in front of the entryway because the puppy had a tendency to charge out of any open door. The whippet was literally bouncing off of the walls and furniture.

They barked when the owner wasn't home, and I came out of my room once to find the fake fruit that had been on the dining room table chewed up and strewn around the room. Before I was fully aware of the situation, I went to the bathroom across the hall and made the mistake of leaving the door to my room ajar. In the (very) short time I was in the bathroom, one of the dogs (presumably the whippet puppy) got into my room, on the bed, and chewed a pair of earbuds.

I would have appreciated a "heads up" that the dog was destructive and to keep my door closed at all times.

I made another mistake by sleeping in the first morning after arrival. From the glowing reviews, I figured it would be fine, and I could enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Unfortunately, while there was a staggering array of cereals to choose from, there was only about 1/4 c of 1% milk in the refrigerator. (If you wanted soy/almond milk, you were in luck, though.)

There were plenty of bagels, but only a thin coating of cream cheese remaining at the bottom of the cream cheese container, so options were pretty limited. And if you wanted cream in your coffee? There were just two of those little individual cream packets. It was a bit disappointing. The fresh fruit was tasty, though!

The owner also indicated, when I asked her about wifi, that she was on a limited data plan, and that "checking email was okay" but if I had lots of photos to upload or do other heavy internet use, that I should use the Starbucks in town. I was so put off by this that I never used her wifi, but did all my work through my phone's wifi hotspot.

Also... no trash receptacle in either the room or the bathroom. Not sure if this is was to cut down on the work of emptying trash between guests, or what, but it felt weird to have to collect my trash in a bag, just like I do when I'm in my car.

That said, the bed was comfy, and I appreciated being able to have a bright space to work and spread out without papers blowing around or getting wet. I laid out my files out on the bed, and had electricity and was able to connect to the internet. All good.

And on the plus side, I fired up the Canon Pixma iP100 for the first time on this trip, and it worked GREAT. I was having to go through invoices and bank and credit card statements for the fire reconstruction/insurance, and it was so much easier to work with paper statements than electronic copies.

Paper still rocks when you need to make notes, and need to work with multiple documents on a small screen!

So I was able to get my work done and talk to my book club folks in the evening (we read/listened to Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which generated an interesting discussion).

Next morning's breakfast was a bit better. Supplies of milk had been replenished and there were fresh strawberries. I took a much-needed shower and changed into clean clothes.

Life was good. Now I just need to figure out what to do next.