Lest you think our lack of a travel trailer is keeping us homebound, fear not! We are back on the road, in the trusty Ram 2500, making our way to Sedona Arizona.

No moss grows under our feet

We were home for four whole days, and now we are off again. We are not RVing, we are not tent camping, and we are not hoteling. What else is there? Timeshare with my family!

Long explanation

Many years ago my mom joined the Worldmark timeshare racket. Haha. As time went on, more and more of my family members joined. I don’t know many details because we first had a bed and breakfast that we couldn’t leave, then we were RVers. Sometimes we could find a campground close to where they were staying, and join the party.

What I do know is that, unlike some timeshares, this one is a point system. You pay x amount and get points that you use to reserve time in any of their locations. I know some timeshare programs are for one location only, and people wind up really regretting their purchase. My family, however, takes advantage of locations all over the country.

I think I know where I get my gene for planning trips - my mom plans three or four family trips every year. She chooses different Worldmark locations and each family member makes their reservations with their own accounts. We have big extended family gatherings. Usually, you’ll find us gathering where there are casinos nearby.

I think Sedona is an exception to the casino rule - I don’t know of any casinos near here and nobody has said they plan to find one. —- OK I looked. The nearest casino is 24 miles. Once I looked it up I recalled going to that place before. I still don’t know if anyone plans to go there.

A couple years ago, we realized the advantage of letting my mom or my sister make a reservation that included giving us a room. When we stayed at a nearby campground, we couldn’t agree on what time to leave the timeshare and go back to camp. Whereas I like to join my family playing cards or dominoes in the evenings, Tony is ready to shut down much earlier. He would get bored and want to leave; I would want to finish the game we were playing.

Now, we accept a room reservation. When Tony is ready for bedtime, he can go back to our room while I stay up partying to all hours of the night (like, 10:00-10:30). I like this system better because we can all do what we want.

So, about our travels

All that was to say, that we caravanned with my sister Kathy yesterday from home to the Worldmark timeshare in Sedona Arizona where we will spend a few days with the family. We did not need to start driving really early because the check-in time isn’t until 4:00, plus we were gaining an hour by changing time zones going into Arizona. So we cooked and ate breakfast. We finished packing up without a real rush. We got on the road around 10:00. We each carried a walkie-talkie in case we needed to communicate.

What, I am driving?

After the first pit stop, I took over driving so Tony could eat a snack. My mom had called Kathy to let her know that they had just driven through a terrible storm with torrential rain and really strong winds. Just before we got to the state line into Arizona, we reached the storm. Or it reached us. It was moving eastward so it was inevitable we would get to it eventually. I was driving, and at least I had Tony there for moral support. Poor Kathy had to weather the storm on her own. We slowed way down, put on our emergency flashers, and kept moving. The big trucks were pulling over. As we passed each one I could really feel the lack of the wind that was approaching from the north right into our passenger side. As Kathy said, stopping didn’t make sense because we weren’t visible enough to be certain of not being hit.

Luckily, we got through the worst of it in a mile or two. We knew we wanted to stop as soon as possible to let our nerves settle and use the bathroom. We pulled into the Arizona welcome rest area, and the buildings were closed because the power was off. So we started driving again, and found the next place that we could stop. At that stop, we moved some luggage around and I rode with Kathy. Just in case another storm caught up, you know.

Kathy got a Chicago Dog at Colonal Mustards in Holbrook AZ

Ready for food

By the time we got near Holbrook we were over our nerves and finally hungry. I found Colonel Mustard’s Hot Dogs on the map, so we went there and had some lunch. Tony and I got only mustard, and Kathy got a Chicago Dog. They were very satisfying.

Around Flagstaff, we made one more stop before we made the interchange from I-40 to I-17. Aunt Margie had texted me to ask if we were stuck in the construction traffic on highway 89A. That’s all the incentive I needed to go the longer way around. It was 10 minutes longer, but we didn’t have to sit in traffic.

A matter of a piñon

At the final pit stop, we found a locally-brewed soda company called Navajo Fizz. Tony bought a piñon root beer. He said it was fantastic! I had already poured my coffee refill so I’ll have to wait until next time to try a soda.

As we were going back to the vehicles, we saw a trailer with a carnival ride on it. Apparently you ride in a big ol’ bear hug on the ride. It was fun to see.

Tony calls up the past on an old-fashioned payphone

We saw a bear hug carnival ride in Arizona

Tony enjoyed his pinon root beer from Navajo Fizz soda company

Sedona Worldmark

We made it to the timeshare and got checked in. Although the staff had called me last week to ask who else was in my party so they could try to get us in room close together, they didn’t seem to follow up on that. We have a bit of a walk to get to the room where everyone gathers. The first time, we made a couple wrong turns and it took us a while to figure it out. Now we know the short way and it’s not so bad.

We found our way to “The Elders’ Room” and gave hugs all around. Uncle Russ had bought pizza and salad for dinner so we all filled up our tummies.

Eat, drink, and be merry

Uncle Russ offered us a Fireball cocktail. Kathy and I accepted; Tony drank a beer. I call this cocktail “Grandma” because it was a favorite drink of my grandma’s. My friend Grace calls it a “Peggy” after I taught her the recipe. Here is is: put a few ice cubes and a shot of Fireball in a glass. Add about half a can of cream soda (diet works). Top the drink with some canned whipped cream, and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. That’s it! So yummy!

We sipped our drinks while we set up for a game of Hand & Foot. Six people were playing so we drew for partners and got settled. Tony didn’t want to play so he headed back to our “condo” for the evening.

We played two games of Hand & Foot. I was partners with Uncle Russ. The first game we got beat badly. On the second game, it looked bad but I got my first red three, my first time gettin into my foot, and my first time going out. And we pulled ahead and won the second game!

It was a long day with scary driving, many miles, and a fun and comfortable evening. We look forward to the rest of this visit.