We were blessed to be invited to the wedding of some good friends. It was over three hours away from home, so we needed to plan ahead. So naturally, we didn't, really.
About 3 weeks ago I started looking for somewhere to stay. Now, this wedding was happening in a REALLY small town, and there wasn't much in the way of accommodation. The local motel had internet ratings approaching zero stars and comments like, "The owner is too old to clean. Don't stay here unless you like the smell of mold." Well.
Most of our travel with Babygirl since her transplant was to family's homes, or to our (always clean on our arrival) beach house. I hadn't really considered the implications of cheap motel hygiene.
But we are nothing if not flexible, so I looked at alternatives. And one really excellent alternative is KOA Kampgrounds.
Now, camping in the northeast in October is almost guaranteed to be a nightmare. If it isn't raining, it's cold. Tonight, for example, is lovely with a frost warning.
But KOA Kampgrounds have Kabins. (Yes. They spell EVERYTHING possible with a 'K'.) We've used the Kabins before. They are Kute. And Kozy. Which, literally translated, means 'impossibly small.' The last time we used them, we had narrow bunks, a double bed, and a porch. But hey, it's just three of us, and we have Kamping gear, so as long as we have heat and power we're cool. Sorry, Kool.
So I Googled KOA, found the one nearest the wedding and discovered that they have some awesome Kabins that sleep up to 8 people and include a full bath and partial kitchen! We opted for one that sleeps 4 (a small bunk room and a queen-sized bed in the room with the kitchen/table). It had a covered porch about 15 feet from the edge of a beautiful small lake, surrounded by changing leaves. It was 5 miles from the church and 10 miles from the reception. Perfect.
We put the address in our GPS and drove off into the rainy dark (by the way, if you are in need of rain, give us a call. We'll stop by and open up the back of the truck to load/unload and the heavens will open, guaranteed). Now, you need to understand something about me. I am NEVER bored. And this is because, like a toddler, I am willing to fiddle with just about any damned thing.
So, I played with the GPS. I pushed every button. I changed the voice from Jan (who gives detailed instructions) to Michelle (who just announces, 'Turn right HERE!') to Yeti (who grunts when the turns are coming and gives an exasperated growl when you miss it). I watched us change altitude, direction, speed and icon type (Hubby likes the one with the dog hanging his head out the window). I discovered that we can get audiobooks on the GPS and listen while.......holy crap, we missed our exit 20 miles ago!
Ooooppppsss. That's when I discovered the little red button turns off Jan. Or Michelle, or Yeti or whoever. We re-entered our destination and traveled down unlighted country roads in a dark so dense it looked like we were riding in a videogame. We arrived only a few minutes after our scheduled time, checked into our Kozy little Kabin and crashed. Krashed.
And despite the detour, we had an excellent time on the ride.
DeeDee
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