Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn

If you didn’t immediately follow up the title with a resounding “say what?!” ala Rappers Delight then I am not sure we can be friends. But I will say go listen to it now and then come back and read this post because that song was on repeat in my head all weekend in Ukiah while we stayed at the Holiday Inn. 

And if you didn’t immediately ask why we spent a weekend in Ukiah at a Holiday Inn, then I am not sure you have been following my life for the past 15 plus years. For background, Martin found a bike race in Ukiah that he wanted to check out and he thought it would be fun to make a weekend out of it and see my sister and family at the same time. We made the weekend happen but Dana somehow missed the memo.  They already had plans to be out of town so just the four of us spent the weekend wandering around Ukiah and hanging out. 

We drove up late Friday evening and after breakfast Saturday morning at the hotel, the kids and I dropped Martin off at the starting line and then headed into town for a day of exploring. The plan: grab snacks at Schat’s bakery to take to the nearby park/playground to kill the time before meeting Martin at the finish line later that afternoon.  Apparently “killing time” in my book is buying a lot of food (snacks for the day and bread to last the week at Schat’s, crepes at the farmers market and sandwiches at the Bottle Shop), doing some window shopping (the bookstore convinced us to go inside) and hanging out at Todd Grove park. Around 2pm, time thoroughly killed, we made our way to the finish line to celebrate with Martin. 

While he didn’t win the race, the kids were still excited that he had finished and didn’t hurt himself (they might have picked that up from me) and Martin was stoked to have completed a proper race in the top third. 

That afternoon we (meaning Martin and the kids) swam in the outdoor pool (I should point out that while the pool was heated it was only 60 degrees outside), we (meaning the kids and I painted our fingernails all of the colors of the rainbow thanks to a nearby Walgreens) and then we (meaning the whole family) went out to dinner at the local Applebees. 

Overall the weekend was great: very low pressure and good times with just the family. Who would have thought a Holiday Inn in Ukiah could bring this feeling of joy?!