P1010760
Originally uploaded by kayekilla.

Since I took Em to Long Beach last weekend I thought that I would show her another worthwhile side of SoCal - the Inland Empire.

Right across the street from a UHaul rental place on Foothill Blvd (old Route 66) in Rialto is the Wigwam Hotel. It is one of the best places to catch some Z's the old fashioned TeePee way.

The wigwams used to be painted with authentic colorful Native American like zigzags but the new owner told us that his family had bought the place just a few years ago and started renovations by repainting them all light brown. I appreciated the symmetry but I think the zags would really set the place apart from the Uhaul joint and strip mall across the street.

One thing is for sure, the walls of these teepees are as thin as the originals at the turn of the century. The Wigwam Hotel gets a lot of traffic from dump trucks and visitors of what I suspect to be permanent residents of a couple of the wams. After just one night in the teepee we had a bunch more questions for the owner like, why does it smell a little bit like pee inside? Why are the ceilings so low? Where are the dream catchers and buckskin and genuine Indian artifacts? Luck for us he was happy to answer. Apparently there is no good reason for the low ceilings and the tops of the teepees are full of nothing but the spirit of the old wild west.

We didn't ask him about the pee smell. I wanted to keep it light because even though we didn't sleep a full night with all the smells and the racket, thats just how it is when you sleep in a teepee. If you can't take the heat, stay at the W.

side notes: Emmas dad called the next day and informed her that her grandparents, Lefty and
Lois, had actually lived in one of the wigwams at the wigwam hotel for one year with their infant child back in the 50s. I thought she seemed very comfortable in our wigwam.

FYI: A wigwam is actually a domed structure and a teepee is the triangular shaped situation you see in the pic and at all wigwam motels.