continued........ Read Part 1 HERE
As we sat in the car and pulled out our smart phones I remembered that I had seen many hotels for less than $40 a night in Flagstaff on Travelocity when we were researching hotels the first time around. So again I pulled up Travelocity and began to look at hotels and prices. We decided to give the Ramada a call since that was a hotel we knew by name and trusted. I called and spoke to a super nice man who told me that they had available rooms (YEA!) and could match the rate I was seeing on Travelocity. That was awesome because the rate I was seeing was $38 a night! The hotel was only a few miles away so we made a reservation and headed over! It turned out that the hotel was right across the street from the Walmart we were at earlier int eh day. I ran into the office and checked in while everyone waited in the car. This time I used cash in case we needed a refund because luck didn't seem to be on our side yet for this trip.
After getting the key we drove around to where our room was and unpacked (again). This room was much nicer than at the Ski Lodge and Cabins. It had a flat screen TV, telephone, desk, mini fridge, microwave, coffee maker, small closet, and even extra outlets on the nightstand and desk for convenience to plug in your electronics. I was thrilled! So we settled in a bit then bundled up and went out to the parking lot to play int the snow.
The snow in the parking lot was plowed snow so not very good to play in but the kids didn't care, they were just happy to be out of the car and in the snow. But we decided to walk around a bit and see if we could find a spot with better snow. We ended up finding a small area off to the side of a bike trail that had untouched snow that was perfect for playing in. Munchkin 2 decided it was the perfect time to make a snow angle while Munchkin 1 made tunnels in the snow with his hand.
Snow Play
The Making of an Angel
The Angel
Since we had found a great place to play for a bit Hubby ran back to the hotel room and grabbed the little sled so the kids could sled down the hill that was there. The snow was a little to soft to sled but they still had fun trying. They would get partway down then get stuck, Munchkin 2 would get a little farther than Munchkin 1.
It wasn't long though before Munchkin 2 was crying because her poor little hands were frozen. So we headed back to the hotel for some hot chocolate and to figure out dinner. Dinner was a challenge because we were short funded because of the mishap at the first hotel so we had over $200 less than we thought we were going to have. I had a gift card for McDonald's that I had gotten through Klout so we decided to just do a bunch of stuff off the dollar menu and call it good. So that is what we did.
The next morning we got up and almost missed the free hot breakfast at the hotel, yep they had a free hot breakfast too, because we thought it ended an hour later than it did but got there in time to grab a quick bite before starting the day. Although Munchkin 2 just seemed to want to play with the jelly and toast rather than eat anything. That would be Hubby's fault for letting her do it on her own. :)
The Munchkins Hanging out Watching TV
We spent the morning in the hotel room hanging out and watching TV. The kids laid claim to Hubby and I's tablets for a while. We decided not to go out until after lunch. We just did a $5 Hot and Ready Large Pepperoni Pizza for lunch and then headed out to Wing Mountain which is the play mountain.
Sledding Fun
Wing Mountain cost $12 per car to get in and it was pretty neat. They had a few hill to sled down, a smaller one and a bigger one. We started on the smaller one since this was the Munchkins 1st time then made our way to the bigger one. We had brought our boogie board as well and took the kids down on it. It was a blast. We do wish however that it was colder because a lot of the snow had melted and there were huge puddles everywhere that we kept sliding through. It was also mostly ice rather than snow so we couldn't really make a snow man.
The Munchkins
The View
On the way back to the hotel though we stopped by Snowbowl to check it our since the Munchkins and I had never seen it. It was neat. We stopped at a little area and went down a small hill and there the snow was perfect. There was even a half built snowman that Munchkin 1 thought was awesome. The view was incredible and I got some great pictures of the Munchkins. They were pooped though and we were all cold so didn't really play in the snow. But next time we know where to go!
Back at the hotel we did the $5 Hot and Ready pizza again for dinner and then just lazed around. I got in the shower around 9 and by the time I got out everyone, including Hubby was asleep. I wasn't even in the shower for very long. I had some good quite time though!
The next morning we went down for breakfast (earlier this time) and then went back to the room to pack up and head out. It was nice that since I paid cash I didn't even have to check out. All I had to do was leave the keys in the room when I left. It doesn't get much easier than that!
Our trip was great. It was stressful at times and had a rocky start but everything worked out and we had some wonderful time as a family. This is a trip we plan on making an annual event but now we know where to stay (and where not to stay) and some really cool places to go to play in the snow. I think next year though we are going to go earlier in January so the snow will be fresher and we might even get some while we are there.
