Motel Madness

We went to rifle this weekend for Stake Conference since the church meetings were so close on Saturday and ran until late I searched the net for a Hotel. Note:I HATE being the one that picks the hotel, having to decide if a good price means a disgusting room or a great deal, so I always get really nervous when we pull up to the Hotel. I thought I found a definite winner, decent review, recently refurbished, and King Suite with a foldout couch and "a full kitchen" for the same price as a two queen regular room. SWEET! we won't have to spend money on Sunday and we can just cook our own dinner, breakfast and lunch.

UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE #1: Imagine my surprise when we go to our room and it looks the same as a regular King bed room, with just a microwave and a mini-fridge. I went to the front desk and asked if their King Suites were supposed to come with a kitchenette...They said no. Frustrated I told them they needed to change their website because it says that it comes with a full kitchen. They seem surprised and so I help them find the page on their website that says TWICE that there is some sort of kitchen in the King Suite. They apologize and say they can cancel our reservation if we'd like...hmm, do I want to pay $15 more to go the La Quinta down the road and get a normal room...

I give them another chance and ask if their family suites have a kitchen and if so do they have any of those available. They have one which they show to us, its very roomy and though the "full kitchen" consists of two burners and a sink next to a cupboard and microwave in a small hole in the wall with a mini-fridge just outside (it obviously wouldn't fit in such a spacious full kitchen). I think about my boys being boys in a normal room and ask the price and they give it to me for the same price of the King Suite...alright I think I can do this, I think and we take it. Very roomy, no crib for Jacob and we forgot the playpen, but with the two beds we can split one each with the kids and if need be get some linen for the foldout couch. SCORE!

Unfortunately I thought by the website that the full kitchen would have included some sort of dishes, nope...no pots to cook spaghetti, no knives to slice our pineapple, no bowls, no nothing. I mentally kick myself for not grabbing the pot I had planned on bringing, at least we had switched to cereal instead of pancakes for breakfast and Ryan had thought to pack some bowls and spoons. Oh, well we'll deal and I start re-planning our meals while Ryan got ready for the Priesthood Session.

UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE #2: While Ryan was at Priesthood Session I decided to give the boys a bath while I got ready in the bathroom for the Adult Session of Conference. I turn on the water then look for how to plug the tub. There's no little switch, there's no visible way to plug the tub. The boys are already clambering in so I decide to just let the water run while they play and cover the drain with a washcloth or something. A few minutes later I hear banging on the floor below me. Confused I do mental checklist of how we would be bothering our neighbors...Not being loud, not jumping or doing the conga, nope...Then there is a knocking at our door with a simultaneous banging on the floor. I run and answer the door, it's the lady from the front desk there to inform me that I need to turn of the water since it is leaking through the floor. Result: no baths or showers while we stay there...and we should have gone with La Quinta.

UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE #3: That night Jacob wouldn't go to sleep with the rest of us up...he was overtired from missing a nap and so very grumpy. We finally got him to sleep around 8:45 (normal bedtime is 7:00). Teancum also missed a nap and wouldn't go to bed until Mom and Dad decided to go to bed 9:30. Jacob woke up at 11:00 inconsolable and after 20 min we got him back to sleep, until 5:30a.m...no sleeping in for any of us....

Other than those 3 experiences our trip was rather pleasant. We picnicked at a new playground, took a morning walk around the pond and saw 2 beaver den's, 4 beavers swimming, geese and birds, and fish jumping. They boys had a great time throwing rocks in the pond and playing at BK's play place, and most important conference was very uplifting and edifying.