One of the factors that I had to consider when thinking about this little experiment was cost, obviously. When the manager from the hotel that I had looked into called and told me what she could do for me, it sealed the deal. The price was so good that when she said it's usually a $200 per night room, but I'll give it to you for "blah blah blah", I said "you mean one-blah blah blah?" She said no, just "blah blah blah". I considered it a sign from heaven that I should definitely take this opportunity. So, for the next couple weeks this will be our home.
The room is perfect. It's got a king bed and a pull out couch. That means that during the day, when the couch is folded up, there's a little bit of room for the kids to play on the floor - something you don't get in the traditional size hotel rooms. It even has a rocker/recliner, which is awesome for rocking Jack to sleep. Every morning there's the usual Holiday Inn style breakfast - which includes some kind of eggs, breakfast meat, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, cereal, yogurt, pastry's, biscuits and gravy, bagels, etc. We've been eating this already for two weeks now and Israel is tired of it, but the kids and I don't mind it.
We have a small fridge and a microwave in our room, so for the other meals of the day it will be sandwiches or microwave food. Every few days we get hungry for something "real", so there are a few options in town, but not many. The nearest McDonalds (not that I consider McDonalds "real", this is just to give you an idea of our isolation) and Walmart are an hour away! That's kind of insane in my world. Yesterday for lunch we stopped at a place called the "Bear Trap." It looked like a hunting lodge inside and out. Complete with at least 5 different kinds of stuffed animals hanging on the walls. For environment, this really wasn't my style, but the smell coming from inside lured us in. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is wild about Pasties apparently. I got to know pasties when I lived in England, I didn't have them a ton, but I liked the idea of them. Meat, vegetables and potatoes baked into a pastry shell. The story I heard of their origins was that farmers wives made them to send out into the fields for their husbands to enjoy for lunch. Anyway, several months ago I had gotten a little longing for them, so I had tried to make my own using my recipe for shepherds pie and some crescent roll dough. They were ok. But, the "Bear Trap" really knows how to do them. Quincy and I shared one yesterday and it was awesome. I have a feeling we'll be stopping by the Trap every now and then - I'll get a picture next time.
Israel leaves for Minot today. I'm a little nervous. One thing I've learned over the past couple weeks is that hanging out in a hotel room with the kids, ok, really it's with Max, can make you crazy. That kid just has too much energy to be safely contained in one room. So, my plan is just to plan. I think we'll go for a morning venture each day, return for naps, and then do the beach in the afternoon. There are plenty of places for us to explore each morning. Last night I took a look at the map and used the internet to figure out something for today. Hopefully I'll get the chance to post some pictures tonight or tomorrow. I'm a little nervous to see how things will go without Israel, he helps with the kids a lot when he's around, but I am pretty familiar with doing it by myself when I need to, it's all going to be about my attitude.
As I waved goodbye to Cindi, my neighbor of the last year, I said "you should consider making yourself homeless, it opens up all kinds of options." I stand by that.
