Planning vacation travel

Chris and I, like many Americans, are planning to travel this holiday season to visit family and friends.

I never really experienced this myself since most of my family live in the same city, or at least within a good 2-3 hour driving distance.

But Chris' family lives all over -- from Oregon to New York.

Last year's hotel booking was a nightmare. We arrived at the Motel 6 at 11 p.m. and discovered that our room looked like it had been rented out to a raccoon. Labeled nonsmoking, the room smelled of stale cigarettes; contained only once chair, which looked like it was commonly used as the ashtray; and had dingy white sheets that were stained and had cigarette holes.

When Chris returned from the car with our luggage, he found me frantically flipping through the phonebook for salvation. We found it up the street in a Howard Johnson. Although the hallways reeked of stale grease from the adjoining night club, our room was clean and had a bed that looked safe enough to sit on.

We didn't get a refund from the hour or less we had the Motel 6 room, but we did get a peaceful night's sleep at the HoJo.

We're praying for an easier time this year and have researched reviews before we booked any rooms. I hope those reviews are up-to-date and valid so we can have a comfortable holiday season.

Wishing you a clean hotel and stress-free holiday travel!