Ever, Ever After: The TR Formerly Known as Wishing You Were Here- May 2011

[CandleontheWater]

I'm glad you guys didn't stay at the scary hotel! When I lived in Jax I spent a lot of time working in south Georgia and there are some sketchy places!

I hope you had enough gas to make it to the next exit, or at least a AAA membership to come bail you out!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Cliffhanger! I remember once when I was younger my family was going on a car trip. We had reservations at a hotel (I can't remember where) and when we found it, it was surrounded by high fence with barbed wire around the top! Needless to say, we pulled back out and kept on going until we found a better place to stay!

 

[Nermel9]

Ugh, that hotel sounds creepy! Glad you didn't stay there! Hope you found somewhere relatively nice to stay, and managed to fill your gas tank too!

 

[PirateKate]

As always, you tell a great story, very entertaining, and with a cliffhanger!

I need to figure out a better way to take notes on vacation, or need more discipline in doing it. I take my laptop, and end up only getting it out once. It is faster for me to type than write, or I could use an app in my phone, but talk about slow pecking that out... I'm horrible, if a day or passes, I can't keep it straight anymore!

Thanks! It sort of felt like a cliffhanger at the time. Will we make it to the next exit or not?

I don't think I could handle making notes on the phone. That would take forever. We usually bring a laptop and never use it, too. I think it's kind of nice to have a break from the Internet while at Disney.

Uh oh...is trouble a brewin'? The boys look so happy! I have to remember to take pictures in the van on the way down. My pictures, however, may look slightly different. Mostly you'll see sneers and tears.

We had a portable DVD player in our car when Sophie was a baby and she was rear facing. As long a you have the headrest attached, the screen just attached to that. At least for our model.

The boys were great on the drive that night, especially considering how late they had to stay up. It's always easy to remember to take pictures on the drive down, because there's not much else to do. And I don't believe the sneers and tears for minute.

I think our model would attach to a rear headrest, too.

Oh no...I hate trying to book unknown hotels for that very reason. It sounds like, if you guys had stayed, it would have been very stess-inducing (trying to unload in the dark and while trying to keep both eyes attentive at all times). And if you were that hestitant before you even pulled in, I doubt you would've slept very restfully.

I hope there was an exit in less than 17 miles!

I've usually had pretty good luck at finding good unknown hotels, but this one was definitely a mistake. I do think I would have been nervous the whole time we were unloading the car and I'm sure we would have heard noises all night.

I was sure hoping the next exit was less than 17 miles, too.

Oh my! Not the "How much gas do we have?" ending... EEK!!

Good call, my friend, to leave the exit entirely!! Well done!!

It's funny, we're usually pretty good about filling the car up before it gets too low, but somehow, once I originally decided we could make it, then I just quit thinking about.

That whole exit was feeling kind of creepy. Maybe it would have been better if we had been checking in during the day...

Hey Kate! I completely lost track on your PTR with real life taking over the months of March AND April, so I don't know ANY of your plans - this will be a total surprise. Loving it so far - I so enjoy your writing and those adorable pictures of your boys.

GOOD CALL on leaving the hotel. Your Momma Gut is usually correct! I hope you make it to the next exit...

Hey, Brook! I know how just how time consuming real life can be sometimes. Our plans were really more like guidelines, anyway.

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I always think my boys are pretty photogenic.

I'm glad we left. My Momma Gut was screaming to leave immediately.

What a great surprise for drives down to the House of Mouse. Too bad they aren't quite old enough for headphones.

And I'm glad you guys decided NOT to stay at that motel. I would have been creeped out by all the people walking around that late as well. Especially with toddlers. >_<

Boy oh boy...I do hope you guys made it to the next exit before you ran out of gas.

The boys were so excited when they figured out what the screens were for. I don't really mind them not using headphones. We just need more Wiggles and less Elmo.

I think if it had just been Jeremy and me, it wouldn't have bothered me so much, but I just didn't want my boys to stay there. I would have felt like everyone was staring at us when we got out of the car.

Running out of gas late at night really isn't the best way to start a trip.

My car has the dvd player in it with wireless headphones. When the boys were younger they didn't like wearing the headphones, and I didn't like giving up my music so they could hear the movie through the car speakers... so I bought a small set of speakers (about 4" tall) that do not require another power source, simply plug into a headphone jack, and now we are all happy. Now that they are older, if they can't hear, they don't mind using the headphones. I have the headreast in the middle of the back seat up a little, enough to hold the speakers in place so they both can hear.

Wireless headphones sound cool. One less cord for Landon to chew on. I did miss having my music the whole time this trip, but I'm hoping I wouldn't mind as much if they were watching an actual Disney movie. The speakers is a good idea. I don't think I would have thought of that.

Uh-oh!

I also hate booking hotels unknowingly. I'm glad you didn't stay. Sounded shady.

After that, I don't plan on booking any more hotels unknowingly. Next time, we'll wing it and pick out a really nice looking place to stop whenever we've had enough.

I hate how every hotel looks ok on the internet, but you really don't know what you will get until you arrive! I hope you guys found somewhere close by that worked out

The Quality Inn actually did look pretty nice on the internet. The lobby might have looked pretty nice, if it hadn't have been abandoned. I'll definitely be more careful next time.

Thanks, Hotel California is now stuck in my head.

I used to travel A LOT for work. Some of the more questionable places I've ever stayed have been Quality Inns. They tend to be second hand hotels located in what is typically not the best part of town. I usually try to book Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, etc. Maybe a little more pricey, but you can pretty much count on consistent hotels.

I hope you were able to find a truck to tuck in behind and draft to the next exit! I probably wouldn't have wanted to stop for gas anywhere at that exit anyway.

You're welcome! Hotel California always gets stuck in my head, too. It's really too bad, because I don't even like the song.

After deciding that Quality Inn was too bad to stay at, I was already inclined to never stay at a Quality Inn ever again, but after your anti-endorsement, I'll definitely not stay there again. According to Expedia, it was a three star hotel and it really wasn't that cheap. Oh well. Next time, we'll pick better.

I didn't even think of finding a truck to follow. I was just as glad to leave the exit, even with the low gas tank.

Joining in! Your boys are adorable!

We always stop in Savannah on the way down and we always stay at the same hotel. It hasn't failed us yet!

Hi! Thanks for joining in!

I'm guessing your Savannah hotel is not the Quality Inn. Maybe next time, we'll find a place in Savannah we really like.

 

[PirateKate]

Oh wow your boys are too cute!!! Sounds like you're off to a great start! Good for you about not staying there...toooo spooky especially with two little ones!! Hopefully you find a nice place! Looking forward to more!

Thank you! Up until the spooky hotel and the low gas tank, we were off to a great start. I think we made the right decision in leaving. I would have hated to haul the boys out of the car with all those people hanging around. It was a pretty strange exit.

Great updates, Kate. Love the photos of the boys watching their Wiggles and Elmo.

Good instincts on the hotel. We almost booked a spot in Naples that looked good on the internet, and then Nicki told us it was in the middle of "drug city". If it doesn't look right, then it isn't going to be right. Smart idea to move on; I just hope you make it with the gas.

Thanks! I always think it's funny how serious they look when watching their shows, especially Landon.

I wish I had known someone to warn us about that exit. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it was in the middle of drug city. Maybe that's what everyone was doing outside so late at night. We don't usually let the gas get so low...

i would have left that hotel too! walkers scare me. i feel hypocritical, because when i was i teen we walked everywhere. now when i see anyone walking i assume they are looking for trouble. sure hope that you made it to the gas station.

I just didn't think there should have been people walking out that late at night. It seemed really creepy. Plus they all looked like they were looking for trouble. I think there are some places when walking doesn't seem out of place, but this wasn't one of them.

I'm glad you guys didn't stay at the scary hotel! When I lived in Jax I spent a lot of time working in south Georgia and there are some sketchy places!

I hope you had enough gas to make it to the next exit, or at least a AAA membership to come bail you out!

I guess we found one of the sketchy places in Georgia. I'm glad we left, too. It probably would have been fine, but no reason to risk it.

We definitely did not have a AAA membership, so we were really hoping the next exit would be soon enough.

 

[PirateKate]

Nice DVD player...I think we solved all that and are just going to bring our laptop in July; this way Max can watch movies on the way down and I can type out notes (I hate writing things out by hand) while we're there. Yay! But a dual screen model...that is a big surprise.

The laptop is a good idea for Max. Our laptop doesn't have a long enough battery life to be a good portable DVD player. I bet Max is able to refrain from banging on the keyboard, too. Carter and Landon both seem happy to have their own screen. They don't really like to share.

Cliffhanger! I remember once when I was younger my family was going on a car trip. We had reservations at a hotel (I can't remember where) and when we found it, it was surrounded by high fence with barbed wire around the top! Needless to say, we pulled back out and kept on going until we found a better place to stay!

Ooh, a high fence with barbed wire sounds horrible. You could really check out any time you like, but never leave that place. I bet the barbed wire wasn't even featured on the website. I know the Cadillac wasn't on Expedia's website.

Ugh, that hotel sounds creepy! Glad you didn't stay there! Hope you found somewhere relatively nice to stay, and managed to fill your gas tank too!

It was seemed very creepy at the time. I'm willing to admit that it's possible it was just late and there were just a lot of people out for some good reason. But I'm still glad we didn't stay. We figured we'd find a good hotel eventually, but the gas tank was posing a serious problem.

 

[PirateKate]

The mood in the car was tense. We weren't seeing any billboards for a really close exit. We were seeing a bunch trees and not much else.

I kept glancing nervously at the gas gauge. 16 miles. 15 miles.

"The exit has to be soon, right? It's never that far between exits."

"Well. We've never run out of gas, yet."

"Have we ever been this low before?"

"No. We haven't."

And then, we saw the sign- Exit 76. We were going to make it.

I made sure to pull off and we were happy to find that the gas station was still open.

With a full tank of gas, we could drive all the way to Disney World if we wanted to.

But we didn't want to. Jeremy and I were getting really tired. It had been such a long, long day. And it was getting so late.

It was the billboard that sold me on our hotel choice. I saw someone sleeping with a soft white pillow and fluffy white bedding.

"Hampton Inn. Cozy bed ahead. I know where I want to sleep tonight."

The Hampton Inn was fine with Jeremy, so I drove those last, long miles to the appropriate exit and Jeremy went inside to get us a room.

The outside of the hotel looked nice this time. The parking lot was full of nice cars and devoid of people hanging around. The only other sign of life in the area was a police car going through the drive through at Wendy's.

I felt safe.

Jeremy came back with our keys and said it was only twenty dollars more than we paid for the Quality Inn.

We hauled our sleepy boys into the room. The room was nice. It was clean and quiet. While the white bedding was not quite as fluffy as it had appeared on the billboard, it looked plenty cozy to me.

We got to work, setting up Landon's bed and getting the boys changed into jammies. Despite how late it was, the boys seemed thrilled with the new room to explore.

Carter was quick to jump on the bed.

Landon was busy checking out the drawer space.

"How are they not tired? I'm exhausted."

"They've probably had an easier day than you or me."

Carter certainly didn't look like he'd had a hard day.

Pretty soon, we were all ready for bed. I nervously turned out the light, hoping the boys would go right to sleep and not cry.

Landon immediately launched into a horrible, terrible cry as soon as the lights went out.

And so did Carter. Great. Two screaming toddlers in a hotel room...except...Carter wasn't really crying!

Carter finished off his cry with a hiccup, just like Landon. He was just copying the horrible racket his brother was making.

I felt Carter would get to sleep fastest if I didn't comment on his mimicry. I felt really bad for Landon, who seemed miserable.

But not thirty seconds later, Landon was quiet. His breathing sounded like he was asleep. One down.

"Shake shake, shake shake, shake shake!"

Carter was singing Shake It by Metro Station. While he does have a nice little singing voice and I do like to hear him sing, I was unable to appreciate it, given the late hour.

Carter finished the song and started laughing hysterically...and then Landon joined in, laughing, too.

No! I had thought Landon was asleep. The boys laughed and laughed. I consulted Jeremy to see if we should do anything, but he said to let them laugh.

I suspected Jeremy was mostly asleep.

After twenty minutes of laughter, the boys finally fell asleep for real. And once I was convinced they were okay, I fell asleep, too.

 

[amandaw]

Love the update! So glad y'all didn't run out of gas & found a nice hotel as well!

Oh, boys & their endless amounts of energy. I often wish I had 1/4 of my son's energy. But, the part with them singing & then laughing really got me laughing, too. And now I have that song stuck in head as I'm about to head to my bed & try to go to sleep.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Joining in! That hotel sounds really creepy! I'm glad you guys found a nicer place to stay and didn't run out of gas!

 

[lbuzz52]

My Kids get really goofy at night when they are tired too! I have no idea where they get that Behavior from
I can't complain though. It's better than the alternative grumpiness

I'm so glad you found a nice quiet fluffy hotel! Hamptons are pretty decent in my area too

 

[CandleontheWater]

I can't believe the boys weren't exhausted either! Don't you wish you had half their energy sometimes!

Your update made me feel better about the trials and tribulations of trying to get toddlers to sleep in hotel rooms. I'm glad I'm not the only one with kids who don't magically drift off to sleep without protest as soon as their heads hit the pillow! I do have to admit that Carter singing metro station made me laugh! At least it was better than crying!

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm glad you didn't run out of gas and good call on the Hampton Inn. Their beds really are pretty comfortable.

There's just something about being a kid in a hotel. You always have to explore and jump on the bed. I think it is a kid law or something. I'm sorry they decided to sing when all you wanted to do was sleep, but at least the laughing and singing must have lulled them to sleep as well.

 

[KatMark]

So glad that you made it on gas and got to a Hampton Inn. We love Hampton Inns...we've always had spotless rooms and very comfortable beds.

I love how Carter was jumping on the bed and Landon is checking things out for, perhaps, bed bugs, to keep his family safe?

 

[merbobear]

Subbing! I'm glad you stayed in the nicer hotel...sleeping in a scary gross place wouldn't be a fun way to start off any vacation!

 

[Mrs. Gumdrop]

Your boys are just so adorable. Their laughing and enjoying each other in the dark just sounds precious...unless of course all you want to do is sleep and get to WDW! I am glad you decided to skip that sketchy hotel. Your peace of mind is worth way more that $20.

 

[emma212010]

HAHA too cute!!! My brothers do the same thing especially when they're tired! Giggle giggle giggle!!! Glad you found a nicer hotel!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

It's always good to fall asleep happy! Cannot get much happier that giggling away with your brother!!!

 

[kaileighbug]

Hampton Inn those are nice. Anytime we are thinking about a hotel I start searching online. Then I use hotels.com or like sites to read reader reviews. I thought I found a hotel in Sandusky for this weekend till I found the reviews...Willing to pay more for a better place even if we are only sleeping there for the night and at Cedar Point all day....

 

[Nermel9]

Yay, so glad you didn't run out of gas, that would have been scary! Hampton Inn's are usually pretty nice, good place to sleep for the night!

Awww, so cute, the boys giggling themselves to sleep, that's so sweet!

 

[jc040404]

Love that you just let the boys giggle until they fell asleep. So cute!

Glad you didn't run out of gas before you found something!