Sorry Radisson, Red Roof Inn wins

On our family vacation last month, we spent some time exploring two of our wonderful national parks — the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and Mammoth Cave National Park. 

Because this was Ethan’s first big car trip (and John’s too I think), we decided to drive down over two days, rather than spending a marathon day in the van (that came on our second day out — on our supposedly “short” day in the car). So we packed up the van (it took two days) with all of our camping gear, clothes and food, and headed toward Kentucky for our first overnight. 

We made it from here to Louisville without too many problems, and decided to stay at a Red Roof Inn because it was relatively close to a mini golf course (found by the same GPS that led us astray in Indiana — that story follows — thereby allowing Garmin to redeem itself somewhat). We checked in and took our bags up to the room before heading out for dinner and mini golf. Our room was on the second floor, and as we approached the door, Ethan was clearly impressed by the “balcony” that led to the rooms. 

When we opened the door, he walked in and stated, "Wow, this is the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Look at this fancy desk (built in along the one wall), and the nice beds (they were fine) and the fancy sink (a normal hotel sink).” We found it particularly funny that Ethan found the Red Roof Inn so nice, since we’d stayed at a fairly nice Radisson Hotel just two weeks earlier. Apparently what appeals to a five year old is not the same as what appeals to adults. 

Ethan was so excited it was hard to peel him away from the room to go eat and golf. But we managed, and had a very nice evening, which made up for our rather frustrating side trip earlier in the afternoon. 

 ••• Moving back in time a few hours •••

The trip started off fairly well. We got out the door close to when we had planned, didn’t hit too much traffic and were all excited to be on vacation. But midway through Indiana, the boys started to get bored. So, looking at the GPS, I saw we were near the Brown County State Park (only 13.5 miles away). I decided it would be nice to stop and do a little hiking before heading on our way, so we took the exit and headed toward the park. 

Well, 13 miles on twisting back roads can take quite a lot of time to drive. This makes it even more disappointing when you discover that the GPS has taken you to the horseman's entrance of the Park, and the very friendly (not) woman at the gate won’t let you through because you’re not pulling a horse trailer. 

So, we turned around and drove the same twisting 13 miles back to the interstate without getting our hike in, but having spent an extra 2 hours in the car. Ethan thought it was pretty cool, though, because we pulled off the road at the campground for a few minutes, and some of the horse people let him pet their horses. (They offered to let him sit on one, but he wasn’t ready to do that.)

But what’s a vacation without a few “disasters” to provide good stories afterwards?