Sunday, October 10 - On To Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

We finished up our visit with Staci and Martin by both making a jack-o-latern and enjoying lunch together before pointing "Nuggle" towards Coeur d'Alene, Idaho -- about 50 miles away.  We stopped enroute for a brief visit with a friend from Noel's work days and then enjoyed the scenic drive around Lake Coeur d'Alene to the Worldmark condos where we had reservations for two nights.

A word about Worldmark because we have planned this trip to take advantage of several Worldmark locations.  Worldmark is a point-based time share organization which some may also know by the name "Trendwest."  Rather than "owning" a particular unit and swapping it for others, one "owns" points that are used to reserve time at any of the many complexes developed by Trendwest or swapped.  As a practical matter, allow me also to offer my opinion that timeshares are generally a tricky, problematic way to spend one's vacation dollars -- deserving of the poor reputation their high-pressure marketing techniques engender.  However, in our case, we had the opportunity to learn the details of the tricks/benefits/shortcomings because a dear friend was an owner (a former husband had been a Worldmark salesman).  Through her membership, I committed myself to studying the ins and outs of Worldmark.  The result of my study has prompted these OPINIONS:  (1) Worldmark is NOT a good deal for anyone who only has only traditional holidays, weekends and summer vacations.  Weekend, holiday and summer availability of units is tricked up with complicated rules and reservation requirements that limit availability to only those willing to learn and play the reservations game some 13 months ahead of time AND desire minimum 7-day vacation; (2) Worldmark can be a good deal for someone who has weekdays available for vacation time AND who is willing to learn their complicated reservation rules AND who is willing to make and change plans on relatively short notice AND who prefers to vacation off-season.  The buy-in can made incredibly affordable IF one is willing to buy in on the secondary market (craigslist, ebay) rather than at a timeshare presentation.  I'll spare you further details in this blog -- but am always delighted to share my opinions if you are interested.  Bottom line is that during this trip we've been able to score many high-end, fully equipped condos at Worldmark locations for less than we would pay for cheap motels.  So, Sunday and Monday nights we have enjoyed a gorgeous 2 bedroom condo overlooking Lake Coeur d'Alene.