Here we are well into February and the only decision I’ve made about vacation this year is that I need to use my time share and that I want to be able to cross another state off my To Be Visited list.
Sandy tells me she’s staying home this year so I’ll be flying solo. My time share just launched Club Solo, an additional membership which has been developed to provide a range of benefits for those members of THE Club® who vacation alone on a regular basis. Of course there’s an additional annual fee but it might be worth it. Some of the perks of membership are: For reservations for studio or club suite accommodations at a Diamond Resorts International® resort booked 10 months to 6 months prior to arrival, you will receive a 25% discount on the points values quoted. When booking from 6 months prior to arrival, you will receive a 50% discount.
That kind of discount would open up more resorts. Something to think about for a future add on. I think this year I’ll stick to my regular membership.
I plan to make a return trip to New York in September to try to get more photos of hot air balloons. Now that I’ve done it once and can see how it works, I think I can improve my shots.
So the question now is where do I want to go and what time of year to use the rest of my vacation time. I compared my list of Must Visit States to the states with timeshare exchanges and that only narrowed it down a little.
There were 30 states on that list and of those 30 my timeshare has exchanges in 17 of them. If I were to tackle the list alphabetically then the first state on the list with a time share exchange is Colorado.
Colorado has 2 exchanges, one in Steam Boat Springs and the other in Estes Park. My initial reaction is that the Estes Park location is more to my liking but when I did a search about the best time to visit (for wildlife viewing) the recommended months were June for baby animals or September for the Elk Rut. July and August didn’t even make the list!
I’m interested in wildlife photography first and landscape photography second. Often they kind of go hand in hand anyway.
Do any of you live in the area? Has anyone visited? When time of year did you go? Any suggestions? I would plan to rent a car to get around. I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
I’ve never been to Estes Park but here in KC it’s only a 10-12 hour drive and many I know have visited there. Not sure how well they liked it, but I haven’t heard any negative reviews. I will say that many of them go in July and August to escape the Midwest heat, which translates into KIDS EVERYWHERE. It’s supposed to be very pretty there.
Kids everywhere huh? Maybe that’s why they said it wasn’t good for wildlife viewing. Ha Ha. I think the Stanley Hotel is in or near Estes Park too. That’s the location for the Shining and its supposed to really be haunted. Not that I want to visit a haunted hotel 🙂 Thanks!
Colorado is on my list of places I want to go. Looking forward to seeing your pictures. We are going to Cancun in October on a cruise. I am excited about that. We’ve never been to Cancun.
I’m not sure I’m going to Colorado yet. Still researching. I will get there one of these days. I went to Cozumel and Tulum last year . Just a quick trip on a cruise. I haven’t been to Cancun. I have friends that have been. They loved it. Have a good time. 🙂