May 9 Back to Seattle

We flew back to Seattle from Hawaii and stayed in our son’s condo. Whenever we are in Seattle we stay in one of his condos. They live in Issaquah, east of Seattle off I-90, and the condos are in Renton, south of Seattle, off I-405, but very close to Joan’s mother, so it is very convenient to be able to stay there in order to visit her. They have both been remodeled beautifully by our son Andy (Philip) and his wife Winnie; they do a 100% remodel, from floors to walls, to ceilings! Ron had assisted at both also. In the 2 bedroom condo, he made the mantle from scratch from a picture Winnie had; he is very proud of it!

In the 3 bedroom view condo, it was a more extensive remodel which included, again, removing the popcorn from the ceiling, but this time there was a vaulted ceiling to deal with.

April 17-May 9 The Big Island of Hawaii

We had made a week’s RCI exchange into the Royal Sea Cliff in Kona for the week of April 19th and 2 weeks in the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort with SFX bonus weeks. But to get Delta frequent flyer tickets, we had to go two days early. We booked a bed and breakfast, the Country Goose, in the town of Volcano in order to spend some time visiting the volcano. Little did we know that that weekend was the Hula Competition in Hilo also, so everyone else at the B&B was going there, but we were just happy to be able to have gotten a room.

We really enjoyed walking around the steaming areas and seeing the lava. The volcano was not erupting very much then, but it was enough so that the third week we were there, we could not see the ocean for the VOG.

We were pretty disappointed in the Royal Sea Cliff since we had a view of the parking lot as we had been told there were no ocean view rooms; but then we met people who were complaining about the Kona Hawaiian Resort across the street and had keys to look at 3 ocean view rooms with a possibility of moving to one of them. The indoor walkways were beautifully landscaped, the saltwater pool was under construction. We were only there one week and we will not choose to go there again.


We had been to the Kona Hawaiian Resort before and were really looking forward to moving to there; as usual, it was gorgeous. We got unit 3 which had a nice view of the ocean too. As everyone who has been there knows, the dining table is out on the lanai. Our friend Quinn from Xenia, Ohio, joined us for a week, too.

See photos at

https://www.snapfish.com/library/photos/pgvw/siav/aid/4484792009/isShared/true/oid/22435551/dc/AUS

Cancun, Mexico for February

February 2009
4 weeks in Mexico, Cancun area!
We were able to book 2 weeks at the Grand Mayan at the Maya Riviera through SFX (San Francisco Exchange) and 2 weeks at the WIVC Coral Mar with Donita’s Dial an Exchange. The first week of February we were at the Grand Mayan, and saw that many changes had been made since we were here; everything was gorgeous! We then moved to Coral Mar, up on the peninsula in the lagoon off the Cancun Hotel Zone. We made the airport transfer through Brandt’s. We felt very much at home there; it is a smaller resort but with water views from every room! Some people do not like not being on the lagoon rather than the ocean, but we found it very satisfactory and homey. We’d love to return. See photos at http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=474428009/a=22435551_22435551/

The last week of February we returned to the Grand Mayan. See photos at
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=474426009/a=22435551_22435551/

We then returned to Daytona Beach where we have left our car with our great friend there!

St Augustine

January 2009
St Augustine, Florida
In the midst of our week at Oceanique, we had to return to Seattle for my stepmother’s 90th birthday party. We hated to leave early, but….family doesn’t plan as far ahead as we do...and we hadn't known there would be a party! So we left on Friday, and then returned on Tuesday to our unit at St Augustine, the Townhouses at St Augustine Beach and Tennis Club, (Interval’s TAS), one of our favorite places, where we own 3 fixed weeks in January and 2 floating weeks. We have good friends next door to our January fixed unit #609 and also ones in the 900’s which we met during a past float week visit. These are all 2 BD unit townhouses, no high rise, so there is no one above or below us. About half of the units are full time owners and many people rent winter months every year. There are 3 swimming pools in the complex, 2 outdoor, and one indoor, with a sauna, fitness room and clubhouse. The beach is about an 8-10 minute walk, passing by the Beach Club and across the boardwalk. Of course, we like the beach and pools the best!
Photo album at

https://www.snapfish.com/library/photos/pgvw/siav/aid/3293669009/isShared/true/oid/22435551/dc/AUS

When we are there, we attend Anastasia Baptist Church.

Although we usually eat in, we always have a special night out with our Daytona friend Buzz (from whom we bought our first St Augustine (TAS) timeshare on eBay at his and our favorite restaurant the Saltwater Cowboy. We love to get the corner table for the sunset.