Gong Hey Fat Choy
On the Good Ship Lollipop
The Hollywood legend who stole hearts with her famed ringlets & dimples — & grew up to serve as a U.S. ambassador — died at age 85 on Monday in California.
Rest in Peace Shirley Temple Black
Photo of the week~ 6
The week 6 tallies are in. The Photo of the Week with the most hits, likes, shares and/or comments is Outdoor Gazing with a total of 33 points.
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Sun Valley
If you don’t like Colorado then the next state from my To Be Visited list with a timeshare exchange is Idaho and there’s only one option, Sun Valley.
I always thought of Sun Valley as a ski area but I guess they have year – round activities.
I found a Sun Valley Bucket list on the internet but it revolved around skiing, mountain biking, skiing, golf, white water rafting, skiing, you get the picture. I don’t ski and I don’t like cold.
I turned to my trusty 1000 Places to See Before You Die. The first thing they list is Almo, Idaho, the City of Rocks. According to MapQuest it’s a 3 hour drive from Sun Valley and 159 miles.
The 2nd Idaho must see is Craters of the Moon in Arco, Idaho. That’s a little better. It comes in at an hour and 40 minutes and 85 miles. The pictures remind me of the lava fields in Hawaii.
Hells Canyon sounds interesting but that’s another long distance drive of 5 hours and 265 miles.
If I drive an hour and 45 minutes I should be able to connect with the Salmon River Scenic Byway. Then it’s just another 162 miles to drive that.
Another possible item listed is the Snake River Birds of Prey Conservation area. I could see myself setting up and taking bird pictures. That’s only 2 hours and 40 minutes from Sun Valley and 150 miles.
I’m getting a little tired of these drives and I haven’t even gone there yet. The Sawtooth National Recreation area located in Stanley seems to be a bit closer, only 62 miles and 1 hour away.
There were a few more recommendations but they were all 3 hours + from Sun Valley.
I’m not sure using Sun Valley as a base would be a good choice. Idaho looks like a beautiful state with lots to see but it’s so spread out that I almost think an RV would be a better way to explore. If I were a skier and liked the cold, then Sun Valley would be an American Classic.
Any thoughts? Suggestions?
What to do 2014 Vacation?
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.