After a quick turnaround from the weekend, we packed up today and headed to Darien Lake.  We have never been, but we had heard many good things about it.

Almost everyone that I chatted with about DL have stayed in their trailers.  When we said we were staying at the hotel we were looked at like we were crazy! Here was my reasoning:

• The kids get a ton of outdoor exposure at our trailer
• I need a break too, and if we were to stay here in a trailer there would be beds to make, food to cook and dishes to clean - where is that fun for me?
• With a 5 month old, there would not be much space for her pack n play
• When we did the calculations it was cheaper to stay in the hotel than it was to stay in the trailers
• All of the executive RVs were booked, so we would have to bring all of our gear - pots, pans, dishes, bedding - again, I wanted time to relax and to not lug all of the gear!

I have to say that I was not expecting much from the Lodge at Darien Lake, but it has surpassed what I expected. The lodge itself is pretty bare-bones, there is a small food service window that offers pizzas, salads & subs and there is a swimming pool - thats about it! Our room was very clean and appeared to have been fairly recently updated. Our room also had a refridgerator which was a nice surprise as I did not expect to see one.

We brought our plug in cooler so it was nice to have the extra space, we bought milk, yogurt, drinks, and a few odds n ends that needed to be kept cool.  We brought our own kettle for tea, but there is a small coffee maker in the room. We also brought a toaster for breakfast in the morning, along with cereal.  All in all, not a bad set-up.  The room itself has 2 queen beds and a pull out sofa.  There is a dresser with a television on it. The closed-in washroom holds the toilet and shower/tub, while the sink is outside the bathroom (Nice for getting ready in the morning.) 

Again, the decor was fairly recently updated and the carpets were clean. The main corridor hallways even had a nice smell as you walked along them, something not normally noticed.  My only complaint with the room is that it would have been nice if there was some sort of a table or desk and there were no chairs of any sort.  All in all, so far, so good!

After we checked in and took a break from the driving and shopping, we went for a walk and ended up at the park.  The kids had fun on some of the rides and my youngest son is going to be a daredevil like me! FINALLY, a coast riding buddy! Now if only he would just grow taller!

Tomorrow is water park day, looking forward to it!