The bathroom situation

I promise to post later on our fantastic Christmas trip to Reno, but I must first put out there the topic that is foremost on my mind: public restrooms. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

When you spend roughly four days traveling from Vancouver, WA to Reno, NV and back in a vehicle toting a toddler, you figure out quickly which restrooms are truly worthy of your pit stops and which are best left in the dust, despite how badly you have to pee and how badly your child's diaper smells.

The losers include:

Any and all gas stations restrooms (baby changing stations consistently absent, as well as soap and towels) (seriously, you'd be better off peeing in a hole in the ground).

The McDonalds in Red Bluff, CA: who positions a baby changing station OVER a toilet? Zoey was so freaked out she kept crying "Mommy! Hold you! Fall down!". Wrangling a frightened two year old as you try to straddle a dirty toilet, all while whispering in a reassuring voice "it's okay, Mommy won't let you fall" proved to be quite the challenge. And powdered soap? Is nasty.

The Jack In The Box in Susanville, CA: no baby changing stations at all? What's up, Jack? Funny, I missed the commercial where you haul your Big-Ball-Head child out to the back of the truck in 27 degree temperatures to bear his tushy to the world because the "family-friendly" restaurant you stopped at provides no space for you to change him.

And the winners are:

The Outback Restaurant in Medford, OR: baby changing station in a roomy, albeit there-for-the-handicapped-population, restroom stall. Hooks also in the stall for hanging the diaper bag. (Bonus points.) Plenty of soap and paper towels, as well! (Try talking a toddler in to using a loud, scary-looking hand-dryer. I dare you.)

The Applebees in Eugene, OR takes the cake for kid-friendly restroom experiences. Picture this: a large stall, baby-changing station in a convenient location (read: 3 feet from the toilet), a hook ON the station for hanging of the diaper bag, AND a separate car-seat like thing NEXT to the toilet for strapping in your little ones while you use the bathroom. (This proved particularly handy for me, as Zoey finds EVERYTHING touch-worthy in a public restroom. In one of the nastier locations, I actually had to drag her up from a lying-down position ON THE FLOOR, because apparently she wasn't going to attempt lying on the baby-changing station provided. I couldn't get the Purell out fast enough.)

So, kudos to Applebees in Eugene! And now, if you will excuse me, my husband is whipping up a fantastic dinner for me as our daughter is already passed out for the night...and it's only 7:45. On a Saturday! It's practically date-night worthy!

More on our trip later. Really.