Santa Barbara gun show?

We made it as far as Santa Barbara last night. We checked into a hip, stylish motel (as you can tell from the pictures). Take a guess which chain this was. 

Wrong. (Unless you know me and my thrifty nature.)

It was a Motel 6.

The room was much more stylish than any Motel 6 I had ever been in - it even had a flat panel TV. It was still a Motel 6 though - I had to pay $2.99 for wireless internet and the towels were almost big enough to be useful. And it still was a rough night's sleep, what with the Hells Angel that had to start his bike every 20 minutes just to make sure it still worked and the guy above us who got up at 5 AM and made a stunning amount of noise packing up to leave. 

Apparently we missed the big show though.

I went out to walk over to the local drug store for yogurt and noticed that there was no traffic. And then some sort of SWAT vehicle pulled into the bowling alley next door. I walked over there and saw a LOT sheriff vehicles and police standing around. They also had the road blocked off. 

Figuring that someone tried to steal a bowling ball, I wandered across the deserted street where a reporter guy came up and asked what I knew about the shooting. The one that happened at our motel at 4:30 AM.

Can I pick motels or what!

We had heard nothing - no sirens, gunshots, or clever CSI banter. Eventually the street was opened back up and most of the official vehicles left. Then a massive ladder truck showed up, pointed its ladder at the top of our building, and a sheriff who apparently managed to get up on the roof but couldn't figure out how to get back down climbed down it.

The weirdness has started and we haven't even got to LA yet.

Today we drive to Hollywood, see the Scottish Conan, then go to our motel in Santa Monica (NOT a Motel 6). Here's hoping for a complete lack of excitement! (Except when Amy Sedaris shows up!)

That's it - move along...