Mike here. I have not resolved the issues with Edie’s laptop yet, so I write today. We were up at 7 am. It has been quite a while since we have gotten up this early. Can’t believe I used to roll out at 5:30 as a matter of routine. Boy are those days gone. We have two presentations today, two travel clubs. We would recommend not to do this (too exhausting mentally), and will never do it again.
The first one was okay. We showed up, had a little buffet, met Charlie, our sales person. Went on a tour, attended a presentation, met again with Charlie and then Edie decided she wanted to buy this one. OMG, we took a blood oath before we went in there. I liked it, but not enough to buy it. Edie and I talked and decided not to buy unless we sell our Worldmark and Wyndham. Whew. (Edie here. I liked it because it had unlimited weeks. When we got back to the room and did some research, their reputation is not so good with the little bit we could see. They don’t seem to have been in business for a long time.)
Got up this morning at 7 am. We figured it would be good practice for leaving early tomorrow for the cruise to Puerto Rico. We had an 8 am appointment for Sky Travel Club.They operate out of Lake Buena Vista Resort.Nice grounds, nicely kept up and decorated for Christmas.Edie’s penchant.Inside it has the grand feeling.Nice resort feel.Pretty woman following me up the stairs.This travel club is affiliated with Interval International.Our free breakfast.Pretty woman following Charlie into the tour unit.Living room flat screen.Nice couch and lamps.Master.Master bath, really nice. The closet is small and has two rods you can see through the open door and then shelves on the opposite side.Edie wanted to take a bath.The shelf side of the closet.Bedroom TV
Patio to the left.Patio to the right.View of the pool from the patio and the pirate ship the kids like to play on.Nice kitchen.Second bedroom.Second bedroom TV.Second bath.Unit has a washer and dryer.We then went across the hall to the reception room. A place to wait until your room gets ready.No beds, no baths, but lots of places to sit and entertain yourself.
With a half bath.This morning’s presenter is Charlie. A good guy. Edie wanted to buy this package, I did not. This one came very close to being something we could work with though.
We left a little late and zipped back over to Westgate for their travel club presentation. (We got roped into it yesterday while we were getting our gift.) Got there, met our sales person, Richard. Went in and attended another group presentation that explains the program and how it works.(Very much like the earlier one today. Must have been same script.) Left and regrouped with Richard. This travel club was not attractive to Edie at all because their weeks were very limited from our perspective and we told Richard that it would not work for us. He shut down, got his boss, who took run number two, we declined to purchase and then we had to wait quite a while for the closer and run number three. Finally got our gift paperwork and Edie went to collect and I went for the car.
We left and went back to Westgate for our second presentation of the day. Westgate Travel Club. Into the breech once more.Always lovely grounds. Not sure why they end up with three star ratings.The waiting area at Westgate.The Westgate breakfast buffet.Today’s presenter, Richard. pronounced: Richauard, from French Morocco.The main room presenter, Pedro, from New York. He did a nice and entertaining job with excellent graphics.Their last, best, and final. We were not close at all.Edie went to get our gift and I went to get the car. I took the opportunity to pop into the store at Westgate. All processed foods. Didn’t see any fresh fruits or vegetables.
We left and drove in search of a restaurant Edie has been wanting to try. Discovered this wonderful gateway to old town Kissimmee.We ended up at a Mexican Restaurant.I asked what the white sauce was and the waitress said it was Mexican Ranch. We liked it a lot, asked what was in it and she said she was not allowed to say.Pretty woman waiting for her food.Grumpy waiting for his food.I got the Macho Burrito with chicken.Edie had a chile relleno, taco and beans.Driving back and Edie got so excited, she thought she spotted a Cheesecake Factory!Not sure what kind of birds these were.We think grey flamingos.We stopped here on the way home and finally found some ginger snaps for the cruise.
We went looking for what is possibly a mythical restaurant Edie has been wanting to try and after about 15 miles she gave up and we ate Mexican. It was excellent with wonderful flavors. It was mild throughout.
We returned to our home and have spent the rest of the day sorting through our luggage and packing for what goes on the cruise and what gets stored in and with the car. We leave early in the morning and if the shipboard internet is ridiculously slow or expensive, we won’t publish until we get back to Florida after a week.
