Maryland

Posted on February 23, 2014February 23, 2014 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

The next state with an exchange for me is Maryland and oh my, I think I fell in love when I read the description. Here it is word for word…what do you think!

Nestled in the natural wetlands overlooking the beautiful Isle of Wight Bay, you will discover a very unique and distinct hotel that can accommodate endless possibilities for any occasion.

The Coconut Malorie is a five-story, bay-front resort. With its beautiful marble lobby and waterfall, it offers deluxe suites, all newly designed with attention to meeting your vacation needs. From the building’s exterior to the carpet in the bedrooms, no detail has been left out. Professionally decorated rooms showcase all new furniture, artwork, carpet, bedspreads and curtains.

Located on top of the hotel in the tower, you can enjoy magnificent views of the ocean, the bay and the best sunsets on the east coast.

Ocean City has a boardwalk. At just under three miles, the Ocean City, Maryland boardwalk is a perfect family bike ride, an invigorating walk or run, or a relaxing tram ride. At night, the boardwalk comes to life with rides, arcades, performers and so much more.

And this is the perfect location to see the wild ponies of Assateague. The famous ponies are just nine miles from Ocean City, along with nature trails, deer, foxes and thousands of birds. Oh be still my heart! This is a major wish list of mine.

There’s tons of free events too if the travel pages can be believed. Here’s an excerpt from just one of those pages:

Enjoy our nights of free family fun. In the summer there is a free family event every day of the week. Some of the events include:

Sundaes in the Park with free concert, fireworks and ice cream for a small fee at Northside Park.
Concerts on the Beach every Wednesday evening.
Free Movies Under the Stars Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Family Beach Olympics on Tuesday evenings.
Sunset Park Party Nights every Thursday.
Laser Light Shows on Sundays.
Fireworks on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I’m seeing photo ops everywhere! I think Maryland is giving Colorado a run for first choice. Unfortunately it looks like this location is all booked up for 2014. 🙁 Even in the “off Season”.

Any comments or suggestions from the Maryland contingent?

Indiana Wants Me

Posted on February 16, 2014February 16, 2014 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

Back to my vacation decision making. I feel pretty comfortable saying Idaho should be left for another year and another style of vacation. Colorado is still in the running. The next State with a timeshare exchange where I haven’t visited is Indiana. And that gave me a “ear worm” you know when a song gets stuck in your head and you can’t get it out?

The minute I saw Indiana had an exchange I heard the song Indiana Wants Me start running through my head. I can only remember the refrain so that makes it especially annoying. (Indiana wants me, Lord, I can’t go back there
Indiana wants me, Lord, I can’t go back there
I wish I had you to talk to)
Anyway Indiana has 1 exchange in Mishawaka, the Varsity Club of America.

According to the timeshare description this time share is located in the heart of a college town with easy access to the University of Notre Dame. It’s near the Indiana / Illinois line only 100 miles from Chicago.

A more interesting location for me anyway is Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Carl Sandburg once wrote “The dunes are to the Midwest what the Grand Canyon is to Arizona.

Charles Kuralt sang the praises of Madison but that little town is located in the southeastern part of the state. Too far from Mishawaka. Same goes for Nashville and Brown County.

About 4 hours away in west central is Parke County. Parke County is the unofficial covered bridge capital of the World. Ahhh my photographer’s heart is going pit-a- pat! But what a long drive that would be. How much time would I have to explore the bridges if I have to drive 4 hours each way?

Only an hour from Mishawaka is the little town of Topeka. Why do I mention this? Because if popcorn had a world headquarters it would be here. Yoder Popcorn Shoppe sells popcorn “the way you remember it”. That’s tempting!

And that about sums up Indiana. I’m not a Nascar fan so the Indianapolis 500 or anything about the speedway wouldn’t be an attraction for me. I won’t rule it out yet but unless you folks can give me more suggestions I don’t think it will beat out Colorado.

Once again, I look to you, my readers and followers for comments, suggestions and advice about Indiana as a vacation spot. Remember, base camp is in Mishawaka.

Sun Valley

Posted on February 11, 2014February 11, 2014 by Dusty Roads

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?

Posted on February 10, 2014February 10, 2014 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

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.

Alaska behind me What Lies Ahead?

Posted on July 21, 2013July 21, 2013 by Dusty Roads

My traveling days are behind me for awhile I’m afraid. Even though my new job gives me 3 weeks vacation it will take awhile to “earn” the time. Plus all this running around from Alaska to Seattle and back again has taken a bite out of my travel reserve. It needs to be replenished.

The new company did reimburse me for my travel expenses when I went out for the company introduction but they don’t cover Pet Sitting costs any more than they would cover child sitting.

As you probably know the Northeast has been in the grip of a heat wave.

It is actually the 2nd heat wave of the summer. I was doing my practical training when the first one hit and driving home on RT 128 the AC in the car died. Of course it gave up the ghost when I was stopped in a 6 mile traffic jam in 90+ degrees and the sun beating down and not a whisper of a breeze. Needless to say the car went into the shop the next day and came out 3 days later with my wallet $700 lighter.

But, I could keep penguins happy in the car now and believe me, I was very thankful this past week when we had 6 days of 90+ weather and high, high humidity.

I told my Florida friends that we were experiencing the South Florida weather they get in August!

During all this I was studying harder than I’ve ever studied in my life. My new job requires that I have a real estate license. They hired me in good faith counting on me to get the license ASAP. I was hearing horror stories from everyone about the test and most people that had taken the “New, Revised and Tougher” Massachusetts exam had failed the first time. I would just die if I failed! OMG that was the stuff of nightmares for me so in a panic I spent every spare moment studying and taking practice exams.

On July 3rd I sat for the exam and to my great relief, Passed! So I am now a licensed real estate sales person in Massachusetts. YAY ME!

My whole mind and body gave a sigh of relief and I felt like I could look around and take stock of where I was for the first time since we’d left for Alaska in May.

My new duties let me work from home. Nice! I can save on gas and wear and tear on my old jalopy. I am also finding that I have a lot more time since I’m not spending hours commuting each day.

Although I am a “Night and Weekend” worker I am now working 8 hour shifts instead of 10 so I only have 2 days off in a row instead of 3, so mini vacations like I took last year are probably not an option, at least not right now.

So the bottom line is that I’m not sure what topics I’ll be covering until my next vacation. I hope little local jaunts and observations won’t be boring for anyone. As for my next vacation…well it’s just a germ of an idea …but I’m looking into Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

At this point it’s just an idea. I need to work out cost and logistics to see if it’s feasible. I’m still looking for a vacation that will let me get that icon bear or elk photo. So far the best vacation for wildlife has been the South Dakota vacation we took. I’m sure there will be more. I just have to find them. 🙂