» Pagosa Springs

My Timeshare Exchange To Pagosa Springs, Colorado Part 3

Jeff Pierce — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:50:14 +0000

Friday September 11, 2009 3:37 P.M.

I’ve just arrived in Pagosa Springs, Colorado for my Interval International timeshare exchange at the San Juan Mountain and Golf Resort after an 8 hour drive from my home in Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s been a beautiful drive but I’m happy to get checked in and pop open a beer.

I’m immediately impressed with the timeshare villa. I have a gorgeous 2 bedroom attached home complete with a garage. The home is about 1600 square feet, has 16 foot arched ceilings and is very tastefully furnished. In fact, there is a solid leather couch/sofa sleeper in front of the natural stone fireplace and 46 in flat screen TV in the living room. This is when owning a timeshare really pays off.

The whole place is filled with natural light and I have a great view of the San Juan Mountains from the living room and master bedroom. The kitchen boasts stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops with contemporary pendant lighting hanging from the ceiling.

Both bedrooms have king size beds and flat panel TV’s and the master bath has double sinks, a walk in shower and a spa tub big enough to comfortably fit 2 adults. All the furnishings are top quality. This is definitely a timeshare I’d recommend and come back to.

I had chosen to do a last minute timeshare exchange to Pagaosa Springs over one in Glacier, Montana because of a few things: I could drive to Pagosa Springs and there were balloon, wine/ food and beer/music festivals all going on the weekend I arrived. In addition, the golf rates dropped from $89/round to $47. A perfect vacation for me. Get out of the desert heat, see some green mountains, eat, drink and play golf.

I awoke both Saturday and Sunday mornings to a sky filled with colorful balloons. Back dropped against the San Juan Mountains they made a beautiful site. One even landed 50 yards from my timeshare in an open field.

Colorfest Balloon Festival

I hadn’t realized that the wine and food festival was only on the Friday night that I arrived so unfortunately I missed it. On Saturday afternoon I did drive by the venue where the beer and music festival were being held, but it didn’t look interesting enough so I didn’t attend.

I played 2 rounds of golf at the Pagosa Springs Golf Club, a really nice 27 hole course. The course and greens were in excellent shape and for only $47 including cart I found it to be one of the best courses I’ve played for a while at that price. For an added touch, there were wooden carvings of animals along some of the holes of mountain lions and eagles.

Nice touch to Pagosa Springs Golf Course

Wood carving on one of the holes

In my last post I’ll be talking about my day trip to America’s largest archeological park.

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Jeff Pierce, The Timeshare Expert, has taught thousands of timeshare owners the secrets to getting the best exchanges with both RCI and Interval International for over 21 years.

His two books, The Timeshare Exchange Bible – RCI Weeks Edition, and The Timeshare Exchange Bible – Interval International, are the only books of their kind in the timeshare industry and designed to help you master at the very complicated art of getting good exchanges.

I would love to have you share your opinions and personal insights on this blog.

For 10 FREE videos on getting better timeshare exchanges in RCI and II, go to TheTimeshareExpert.com.

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My Timeshare Exchange To Pagosa Springs, Colorado Part 2

Jeff Pierce — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:43:50 +0000

I’ve just gone through the Four Corners area on the way to my timeshare exchange in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I’m only 25 minutes into the southwestern part of Colorado and I’ve already left behind the starkness of the desert for lush green mountains. I love Colorado and have done many timeshare exchange here – mostly to Vail, Beaver Creek and Aspen.

As highway 160 leads me to Cortez, Colorado I’m driving on a valley floor that’s surrounded by a huge towering mesa that is our nation’s largest archeological park – Mesa Verde. It’s really an incredible piece of geology in itself and I look forward to coming back and exploring the ruins.

Mesa Verde

Coming out of Cortez I climb into a sizable thunderstorm. Near the top of the pass I witness a large lightning bolt strike a power line tower not far from me and light it up. It’s pretty cool and something I’ve never seen before although I’m glad to start descending from the summit to a lower elevation.

I reach Durango and the highway turns east to Pagosa Springs. The rest of the drive is pretty but uneventful.

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Jeff Pierce, The Timeshare Expert, has taught thousands of timeshare owners the secrets to getting the best exchanges with both RCI and Interval International for over 21 years.

I would love to have you share your opinions and personal insights on this blog.

For 10 FREE videos on getting better timeshare exchanges in RCI and II, go to TheTimeshareExpert.com.

Join me on:

Twitter: My Space

My Timeshare Exchange To Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Jeff Pierce — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:30:53 +0000

I’ve been confirmed for my timeshare exchange through Interval International to The San Juan Mountain and Golf Resort in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and I’ve decided to drive there. It’s about an 8 hour drive and I’ve been looking forward to it.

As I drive out of the Phoenix metropolitan area on Highway 17 towards Flagstaff, I’m surprised at how green the desert is. That is, green to us locals. I’ve forgotten how pretty and unique the Sonoran desert is here. There are some really exotic looking Saguaro cactus on this stretch.

North of Flagstaff I stopped at the Cameron Trading Post for gas and had a look inside. I’m now getting into Navajo Nation territory. There is some interesting stuff in the trading post but mostly tourist nick nacks. The original hand woven rugs were the best things there but $4900-$7900 for a small rug is ridiculous.

Authentic Navajo Rug

The landscape north of the trading post is really beautiful. I can easily visualize the Native American Indians riding across the desert and imagine their teepees poking up in the distance.

At about 200 miles from home it occurs to me that a person on horseback, making good time, would have taken about 5 days to get to where I’m at in 3 hours; and probably at least 2 weeks in a wagon train.

I’m in awe of the early pioneers like the Spanish Conquistadors in the 1700′s and the Americans that crossed such a huge expanse of unpopulated territory in the 1800′s and what they endured to reach their destinations. What temerity, focus and bravery it must have taken.
I also think it would have been incredible to camp in the virgin desert beneath a sky with no light pollution or people and only mother nature at her rawest.

The desert north of the trading post is really beautiful. It’s exotic and epitomizes the colors and land features of Arizona. There are buttes, mesas and mounds everywhere that are the muted pastel colors of pink, ocher, blue, purple, green and charcoal, back dropped against a blue sky filled with cumulus clouds. Many of the mesas are horizontally striated with these pastel colors. It’s breathtaking, and I imagine Indians everywhere.

On the radio they’re talking about 9/11 and I’m suddenly filled with mixed emotions. Without getting too patriotic on you, I’m reminded what a truly great nation we are and how anyone could think otherwise, regardless of our bumps and warts, is beyond me.

But as I drive across the Navajo Nation I’m reminded of how badly we treated the Native American Indians; how we broke our promises and stole their lands. It’s one of a few, or possibly many, sad chapters in our history. But are there any other countries in the world that haven’t done things they now regret and are ashamed of? I doubt it. It certainly doesn’t make what we did right, but to those with anti-American sentiments, I suggest you take a little closer look at home.

And to any Americans currently whining about how they want their old USA back during these turbulent times, I suggest you remember that the old USA belonged to the Indians, not us.

As I continue east on 160 past the little outpost of Tsegi, AZ, I see some fantastically shaped buttes jutting out of the desert. Trying to describe it in my mind I finally think of Monument Valley and when I get a chance to look at my map, lo and behold, I find I’m skirting the eastern edge of it. I’ll take the 23 mile detour on my way back to go through it since I’ll be gaining an hour.

Hwy 160 now jogs north to head to Pagosa Springs. As I turn north, I leave Arizona. Within 60 seconds I pass a sign that says “Welcome to New Mexico” and then “Welcome to Colorado”. I’ve just traversed 3 states in one minute and I am, of course, at Four Corners. I resist the impulse to stand in line at the marker to be able to say that I’ve straddled 4 states because I straddled 2 hemispheres in Quito, Ecuador in 1977.