Headed to EOCI this Thursday

[Azucar]

My first visit there with the kids. My brother in law went yesterday and said he was skinny looking........... Any one have a decent motel in mind? I have aaa???? I saw Best western which looked decent enough........ it'll cost me a some hard earned $.... but the kids need to see him!!!! My brother in law said it was a pretty straight drive,,,, I might do some sight seeing on the way back any suggestions for keeping the kids happy any points of interest any one knows of.....??? I'l be driving back on Saturday after I get done visiting him in the morning.... I have never been east Of Multnomah falls lol......

[javagirl]

Hi!
Good for you! He will be so happy to see you and the kids and it will also help calm your worries about him I am sure.

I stayed at the Red Lion and got a cheaper rate thru priceline.com. It was a very nice place. I think Best Western is right across the street, so I am sure you will be happy there too. The pool is outdoor at Red Lion, so your kids might be happier at Best Western if they have an indoor pool this time of year. Both hotels are close to the main strip in the town and EOCI is just on the other side of the downtown area...very easy to find.

I like stopping in Hood River for a coffee and a bagel. Cute town and I think they have a Saturday Farmers Market?

Anyways, good luck! I wish I was able to visit more often.

-javagirl

[Azucar]

Just wanted to post my first visit that the kids and I had at EOCI. What a drive! It really wasn't all that bad as I thought but after the Dalles the scenery got pretty boring in my opinion I really couldn't figure all the hype about the gorge because after that.... well you can only take so much of barb wire fences, a river that seems to look the same no matter what you look at and then I started counting cows and getting excited when I saw a town sign coming up on the freeway lol. We left on Thursday around 1:30 ish and got there close to 5 ish... I am so not a speeder.... oh well. We went to the motel first. I ended up choosing Holiday Inn Express and from the looks of the prison visitation room the next morning I recognized many faces from the night before when the kids and I swam in the pool. There was one gal with two children who had driven all the way from Springfield I think with her mother. I felt sorry for her having to drive farther than I did..........

The visits itself were actually really nice. One of the gals on here had mentioned that they had play room connected to the visiting area but I was thinking more along the lines of like the size of a broom closet in my mind but it was fairly big and well equipped (they could have had more blocks and books). My husband hadn't smiled that much since before he was first detained. The toddlers played so much with him, horsey rides like the one in the photo on my siggy, blocks, read stories, played house and so on. We visited a total of three times, twice that Friday and once on Saturday morning before we left. The guards were really respectful and actually had great demeanor. The only issue we had was that it was fairly warm in the visiting room and the toddlers kept taking off their sweaters they had worn into the visiting area and the guard came over to tell me that they had to keep them on.... learned my lesson.... they didn't wear anything into the visiting area that they could take off on the next two visits. I wish that the vending machines had some healthy offerings like fruit roll ups, nuts or granola bars because the kids junked out totally on what I thought was unacceptable like soda, candy bars and chips.... Frosted animal cookies were a hit with my crew lol........... We talked a lot, It suprised me that my spouse wanted to get pictures done... it just seemed weird to me that he would want a picture of his family with him taken inside a prison IMO. But I understand now he will take anything he can get.

As for the hotel, the youngest toddler wouldn't sleep until I gave up or eat for that matter while we were there. I plan on using Holiday Inn Express again as my hotel choice. I felt safe, it was clean and the kids gave it a thumbs up. They had a continental breakfast that was decent enough and it was served at 6:30am so the kids could get something in their stomachs before being carted off to check in for visiting at 8:00 ish. I signed up for a Priority club when I first made reservations as if you frequently stay there it will allow you to rack up points like the credit cards who let you rack up miles. Just by signing up they give you 30,000 free points that you can redeem for free nights there. 10,000 points = 1 night stay so I already have 3 nights coming to me


Food wise... well there was the usual fast food joints that we went to, Burger King for lunch in between visits on Friday, dinner on Thursday evening was at a Chinese Buffet place that was ok, dinner the next night was pizza at Pizza Hut , we took it back to the hotel as the toddlers were plain out fizzled after playing with daddy all day. Next time I am going to venture to more mom and pop restaurants and take a chance. There was a Super Walmart in Downtown Pendleton that was a life saver for snacks to take back to the hotel. We went to the movies to wind down Friday evening and saw Ice Age II which went well with my 4 year but my 2 year old got tired off it... an hour in and I spent the rest of the movie in the lounge letting him jump off the benches while my 14, 12 and 4 year old enjoyed the rest of the movie.

Thanks for reading my book, and sorry its delayed but typing all this is really a no go at work and tonight I finally had the time to peel the older two off my computer for some mommy time)

[javagirl]

This is a great recap! Thanks for sharing! My next trip to EOCI will be at the end of May. I can't wait

-javagirl

[JJT]

I am glad it went as well as it did. Toddlers never seem to sleep well in motels!!!

JJT

[EK'sOneAndOnly]

I'm so glad everything went well for you! My fiance is at EOCI as well and it is quite a drive...lots of flat land...haha. Anyway...Best of luck if you need anything at all PM me