Devall Travels

So after a pretty exhaustive search for hotels in Florida for the second week of our stay, five nights in total, I decided to use up another timeshare week. It seems a waste but when you consider the exchange fee for that week is £169 and hotels are looking  more like £400 for the period, then it is worth it.  Plus we get to stay somewhere a little different. I looked at Lauderdale by the Sea, and then slightly further north at Pompano Beach.   In the end choosing the  Wyndham Sea Gardens resort. It is right on the beach off A1A between the Atlantic  and the Intracoastal Waterway . Looking  at the Weatherspark site to see what the average temperatures are, they look pretty good for us British . So another plus point for Florida.  And another thing sorted.

The second week is a little problem as it really is 5 nights only. I have been looking at hotels on the Gulf but the current prices are running at about $90 a night. When you total that we are looking at about $450. It's not a lot better on the Atlantic side either. I had thought about a trip up to Daytona and across to Cape Canaveral and that might still be on the cards. This year in Arizona we did the relax then tour system and it worked pretty well. Another week in the timeshare will be less than half of that. So. What to do? I have one overnight booked before the Orlando stay.  By the time we get there it will be time to eat and then go to bed as we will have had a long day.

Of all the comparison sites I have found that the best, for me at any rate, is Skyscanner. Today I had a quick look, always remembering to change my internet cache before searching and was amazed to see that Virgin had a direct flight from London Gatwick (LGW) on my dates, and cheaper (not much!) that my earlier searches. The times were good and so I thought "I'll have some of that". I clicked on the "offers" page and was taken to TravelUp. An agents we have used before. I filled in all my details, Claire's details and got to "pay now", and a box popped up, "flight details changed". Clicking on it took me back to Skyscanner and it began another search.  This time Virgin was cheapest still BUT the outward aitport was LGW but we'd arrive back at London Heathrow (LHR), some 50 miles away. Not much use with my car in the parking at LGW and an expensive transfer to negotiate.   Instead for £4 more I can fly direct from LGW and...

Checking on RCI ( rci.com ) shows that there are quite a few options for the Orlando area. I have finally booked one that gets good ratings from visitors and also is allegedly "quiet". At all the other places we have stayed over the years, US and Europe, we have never had to pay for the amenities;  pool etc.   There is always a swipe of the credit card to cover "security" and deposits for keys, usually apartment and parking garages, but never to use the pool or a lounger. However, this seems the "norm" for Orlando. I'm sure most of the people going there are headed for Disney and the other parks and spend less time at the resort than they might at other places in other parts of the country and even the state.  So I don't think that $10 a day per apartment is appropriate to use the pool at all. So that ruled a few out.  I found one that was charging $1 a day?  It must cost more to collect it in receptionists time than they bring in. In the ...

So for 2017 we are looking at using the timeshare again for a week and after this year in Arizona we started looking at Florida. One change will be that instead of going in May we are planning to go at the end of September.   Fingers crossed that hurricanes stay away. But where? The quality of resorts in the US are much better than in Europe. In our bracket they are far better and so the only downside is the length of the flight. And possibly the cost but that's to be expected. So far the plan is to fly to Orlando or Tampa. Depending on flight times and which UK airport! Last year our return flight arrived at London Heathrow and six hours later we were finally home.  So I'd prefer Gatwick.  Nearer home and doesn't involve driving through the packed traffic in West London. What I have done so far is a bit of surfing to look at places and flights and booked a car. So...

Dor dog ne. After a couple of successful trips away with Reggie we took the plunge and booked another trip to France. This time in the Dordogne region staying in a mobile home again, like we did in October this year, but in May! Except this time with a company called Eurocamp. Claire has some reservations about going so far with Reggie in the car as it about 500 road miles. I have built in an overnight stop on both legs. I don't think it will be a problem as there will be plenty of stops on the way. Plenty of time to decide.

The last day. We had to be up early as the mobil-home had to be cleaned and the floor washed before we could get one of the staff to come over and check that we hadn't broken or stolen anything.... We had checked the inventory on arrival and they check it when we leave.  Many of the FB and TripAdvisor comments seemed to find this strange. We hadn't used any of their bedding as we had taken sleeping bags and our own pillows, plus throws to stop Reggie leaving hair or mud on the furniture. We brushed round and then I washed the floor with the sachet of hospital cleaning grade cleaner they had left.  We eventually left about 1015.  First stop the recycling bins and then off towards home. A coffee stop again a Baie de Somme.  Reggie had people laughing as he was looking in the water out back when a huge carp swam towards him. He jumped in the air like his legs were springs. After that he wouldn't near the edge, not even to bark or growl at the ducks. And then we w...