Beavers and Such

Day 2: From Athens, OH to Zionsville, IN

So... Athens, Ohio. That's all I've got to say about that.

< crickets >

Just kidding. Athens was a nice little stopping point to rest on our way to our first exciting destination. But more about that later. Athens answered some very important questions:

1) What is it like staying at a Super 8?
2) What is it like staying in a "Pet Friendly" room?
3) How will my kids do sharing the same bed?
4) Will the room feel "clean enough" for me to fall asleep?

We checked in at 9:30pm on Sunday night. The front desk man was secured behind a huge iron gate fortifying him against any possible attack that did not include small and perhaps explosive projectiles. Why did he need to be thus secured? I don't know. I did not want to think about it at the time. Other than that, the hotel was decently clean and near silent. Comforting? Creepy? Too isolated perhaps? Maybe all of the above. But again, I tried not to think about it. It was a great deal online.

The room itself was nicely clean. And to my surprise it did not smell "Pet Friendly" which was a great relief. I was expecting the worst and was met with pretty good. The night passed uneventfully. I mean, I didn't sleep, but I gave that up ages ago.  After getting the giddiness out and a firm word from daddy, the kids eventually settled down and fell asleep. Sure Leo fell out of the bed and defied my "chair-next-to-the-bed-anti-fall system." But he was fine and we all got a little unexpected amusement at 2am.

The morning came and we ate the free and non-tasty breakfast of waffles and brown water they call "coffee." The breakfast would have tasted better had the owners not scolded Pauly for pulling a chair up for Leo to watch him make the waffles. Apparently, Pauly could've started a fire behaving so recklessly.

After breakfast we stopped at the ranger station at the nearby Wayne National Forest and pet a real dead beaver. 2 Lessons: 1) Petting a dead beaver's soft fur is amazing. 2) Petting a dead beaver is also weird.

Finally, we grabbed some lunch at a mom and pop family diner and then hit the road for Zionsville, Indiana. Oh the treasure of Zionsville! Never heard of it? Well, you are missing out. Zionsville has special treasure and allows for unlimited laughter, shenanigans and a fun time for all. COUSINS!!! Really there is something to be said about the magic that happens when cousins get together. Leo disappeared the instant we stepped into their house and was not heard from until he and big cousin Colin came down the stairs with the Fart Gun blasting. Ruby delighted her heart in all things girly and dress-up and even got her toenails painted for the very first time by her cousin Ava: pink with sparkles.

The hardest part about visiting Zionsville is having to convince the kiddos to leave and head back in the car for hours to a place called, "Iowa." They don't think visiting the Antique Archaelogy store (from the show "American Pickers") can be as exciting as cousins. They are probably right.