This weekend is our big camping trip . . . at the Holiday Inn! Let me explain.
Since we decided not to go to Utah this month (which, by the way, was a really bad decision--it pains me to think that I could have been eating at Cafe Rio surrounded by friends and family instead of sitting in the dark here wishing I could vacuum), we thought it would be fun to go camping. We decided to go camping at Hocking Hills State Park, where there are plenty of short hikes, pretty scenery, and interesting caves.
As we thought about taking our family camping for the first time, we realized that a two-person backpacking tent and a WhisperLite stove were probably not going to meet every one's needs. While we could certainly borrow/rent/buy all the necessary equipment, it seemed like a whole lot of work, especially for one weekend. Maybe if we planned to camp on a regular basis we would drop the money and invest in the gear . . . but neither one of us sees frequents camping trips in our near future. Well, if we weren't going to camp, then we could do the next best thing--stay in a cabin!
I immediately began researching cabins in the Hocking Hills area. I was totally overwhelmed with the number of cabins available! How would I ever choose? But I soon realized that they all had two things in common. (1) Jacuzzis. Nice idea in theory. Bad idea with David and Mary. (2) Kitchen counters. As looked at picture after picture of each and every cabin, I kept seeing kitchen counters. And I saw the breakfast dishes, the spilled milk and granola glued to the counter, the peanut butter-covered knife laying there, the smeared sticky honey, the crumbs, the crumbs, the crumbs! I couldn't get those kitchen counters out of my head! I started counting how many times during my "vacation" I was going to wipe off the counters. Suddenly, I didn't want to go anymore. Why would I want to go stay in some crummy un-baby-proofed cabin only to spend the entire weekend cleaning up the kitchen, over and over again? No thank you. I'd rather stay home and clean up my own kitchen over and over again. That's when I changed my Internet search from "cabins" to "hotels."
I quickly learned that in a town in the Hocking Hills area there is a Holiday Inn Express. It's not far from the state park, they serve breakfast, there is a pool, and there are no kitchen counters.
I discussed my concerns about the cabins with Greg, who whole-heartedly agreed. (Greg wipes off the counters just as much as I do, if not more.) So we made reservations at the Holiday Inn. (At the same time we bought tickets for a ride on a restored railway, conveniently located near the Holiday Inn.) Maybe one day it will be worth the effort (and financial investment) to camp. And maybe one day it will be fun to pack everything up (including the refrigerator) and temporarily relocate to a cabin in the woods. But today is not that day. Today I want a reprieve from wiping off the kitchen counter. Which is why we are going camping at the Holiday Inn.
