The Right Thing

So yesterday and today I finally came to my senses about the floors.  I did the right thing, put down the wrecker bar, and stained the floors.  Minwax Special Walnut, one coat.  Debating about a second coat.  Opinions?

The dining room.

I'm not sure what that white thing in the middle of the floor is...it might be a piece of cracker that Louis Cat was playing with. 

The front parlor.

I even finished staining the entryway too, but I forgot to take a picture of that.  I did, however, get photographic evidence of a security breach that occurred last night.

Gracie is apparently small enough to squeeze into the gap between the baby gate and the kitchen door and then somehow wiggle her way down to the cat door and out into the rest of the house.  At least that's my theory.  I didn't know she'd escaped until she scampered into the front parlor and announced with a loud meow that she was there.  Of course she ran through the wet stain.  And of course I stepped in it, too, trying to catch her.  (If you follow me on Twitter the pic I posted is of the first time she escaped.)

So what do y'all think?  Is one coat of stain enough?  The directions on the can advise two coats, but I'm not sure if that's marketing strategy to sell more stain or if two coats are really necessary.