You may want to read Parts 1-4 prior to this edition. You may scroll through older posts or start here at Part 1.
Being rock hounds we have always wanted to visit Tucson in February when the gem and mineral show is going on. It seems the entire city of Tucson transforms into mineral and fine gem shops. Motels, hotels, gas stations, campgrounds and parking lots all become a platform to sell rocks.
Low and behold there is a golf resort in Tucson that is part of the time shares we can avail ourselves of. Besides we now have an accumulation of points leftover from the previous year. It's off to Tucson for a week in February, prime season but what the heck we have a stock pile of points.
Being rock hounds we have always wanted to visit Tucson in February when the gem and mineral show is going on. It seems the entire city of Tucson transforms into mineral and fine gem shops. Motels, hotels, gas stations, campgrounds and parking lots all become a platform to sell rocks.
Low and behold there is a golf resort in Tucson that is part of the time shares we can avail ourselves of. Besides we now have an accumulation of points leftover from the previous year. It's off to Tucson for a week in February, prime season but what the heck we have a stock pile of points.
Leaving the airport in our rental car we follow the GPS up into the mountains on the outskirts of Tucson. Driving past several golf resorts and seeing several national high-end hotels we finally reach our destination. The condos, like in Napa, are managed by a resort hotel after check-in and our welcome by the Concierge we are given directions to our unit. Here the condos are adobe ranch style town houses scattered throughout the hills with the golf course meandering through the grounds. Our condo faced a ravine with a plethora of fauna and flora to appreciate and none of the wild life missed a chance to stop by the patio looking for a handout. Every morning was an adventure as to which species was waiting for us to arise.
The weather in Tucson is interesting in early February, eighty degrees during the day and thirty degrees at night. One almost must go from short sleeve shirt to long johns in the same day. Our rental car had AC and a good heater so we were not inconvenienced.
The weather in Tucson is interesting in early February, eighty degrees during the day and thirty degrees at night. One almost must go from short sleeve shirt to long johns in the same day. Our rental car had AC and a good heater so we were not inconvenienced.
I don't want to finish this without mentioning our primary reason for the trip; we visited many gem and mineral venues with Dana buying 97 karats of blue sapphire briolettes and 104 karats of kyanite briolettes and our seeing some of the most amazing specimens I have ever seen. To make it an even more special vacation we had friends who were selling at one of the outdoor locations in Tucson. They were kind enough to haul our purchases that wouldn't fit on an airplane home for us. All in all it was another great vacation.
On a final note it is only fair to say one thing that was an absolute truth from that now long ago presentation in San Francisco, we do take more vacations now because of that timeshare purchase. Our 5000 points allows us to invite guests to travel with us to enjoy a very nice vacation in a two bedroom condo wherever we want to go. Last year we had enough points to go to Phoenix and several weeks later to Napa with friends for a week each.
This has been a rather verbose dialogue to address that original question of “Are Time Shares worth it?” Yes and No, Yes we have enjoyed our luxury vacations for a few years now and always talk about where we are going to go on our next adventure. Not all our adventures are with the time share company we find we like to cruise and have done walking tours of Italy and river cruises of much of Europe. I am not sure if the time share vacations have pushed us on the path of travel, but I suspect we would not have willingly embraced such an extensive nomadic lifestyle otherwise, nor would we be so free if we were still working full time. Every situation is different, for Dana and I the timeshare was an expense we were willing to live with and have taken advantage of what was offered.
Others don't always feel that way with the large cash outlay up front and the annual fees that are mandatory to keeping your timeshare active. Those not retired have to plan more carefully when they can vacation; having children pose another set of difficulties in vacationing. Many of these planning issues can push the vacation into a prime season making it cost more in points and harder to book reservations. I have read many complaints from those who succumbed to the sales pitch that makes a used car salesman look like an amateur. At the time I wasn't very happy either. Could you take a nice vacation every year for the amount you spent on that vacation package? Sure, but would you?
Since I enjoy vacations perhaps it is time to talk about other forms of vacationing Dana and I have experienced. Stay tuned while I give this some thought.
This has been a rather verbose dialogue to address that original question of “Are Time Shares worth it?” Yes and No, Yes we have enjoyed our luxury vacations for a few years now and always talk about where we are going to go on our next adventure. Not all our adventures are with the time share company we find we like to cruise and have done walking tours of Italy and river cruises of much of Europe. I am not sure if the time share vacations have pushed us on the path of travel, but I suspect we would not have willingly embraced such an extensive nomadic lifestyle otherwise, nor would we be so free if we were still working full time. Every situation is different, for Dana and I the timeshare was an expense we were willing to live with and have taken advantage of what was offered.
Others don't always feel that way with the large cash outlay up front and the annual fees that are mandatory to keeping your timeshare active. Those not retired have to plan more carefully when they can vacation; having children pose another set of difficulties in vacationing. Many of these planning issues can push the vacation into a prime season making it cost more in points and harder to book reservations. I have read many complaints from those who succumbed to the sales pitch that makes a used car salesman look like an amateur. At the time I wasn't very happy either. Could you take a nice vacation every year for the amount you spent on that vacation package? Sure, but would you?
Since I enjoy vacations perhaps it is time to talk about other forms of vacationing Dana and I have experienced. Stay tuned while I give this some thought.
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