Posts Tagged ‘WorldMark’

Sonoma Barrel Tasting Week End 3

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

I thought I’d end this series of posts on the timeshare exchange I did to WorldMark Wine Country Sonoma with a description and pictures of the drive on Coast Highway 1 north of the wine country.

I’ve travelled the world and done many beautiful drives but this one rates as one of my favorites.  I only got as far as the town of Gualala but if you want to make a full day of it, go all the way to the charming town of Mendocino.

Going west of Guerneville, a popular summer vacation spot on the Guerneville River, you’ll go through the little town of Monte Rio.

There you’ll find Northwood Golf Club an excellent, and challeging 9 hole golf course built by Allister MacKenzie. He’s the same architech that built Spy Glass in Pebble Beach and Augusta National where the Master’s Golf tournament is played.  Don’t miss playing this great course.  The course record is 63 for 18 holes set by Ken Venturi many years ago.

Northwood Golf Course

Here are a couple of pictures.

You’ll follow the river through Duncan’s Mills to where it empties into the ocean at Jenner.  Find you way down to the state park where you’re likely to find many seals and sea lions lounging on the beach with Sea Otters playing in the lagoon.  You can easily spend hours here.

Above the beach sits a great restaurant with really fine food and spectacular views call River’s End.

River's End Sign

Here are some views from the restaurant.

River's End Views

They rent cabins as well.

River's End Cabins

If you want to pack a picnic lunch there are many places like Fisk Mill Cove to stop and enjoy it.

Fisk Mill Cove

FiskMillCove

There are very few timeshare resorts in RCI or Interval International to exchange to in Napa and Sonoma and they’re hard to get.  So make sure you plan in advance and supercharge your exchange power in RCI and II before you put in your request.

Click Here Now to supercharge your exchange power in RCI.

Click Here Now to supercharge your exchange power in Interval International.

Sonoma Barrel Tasting Weekend Part 2

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

We started our wine tasting weekend at the beautiful Korbel Winery, just outside of Guerneville, CA.  Many people think Korbel only produces cheap champagne, but their Premier Champagne, for about $25, is really excellent.  They also produce a very drinkable Chardonnay for about $15 as well.

This is a good place to start at 11:00 am.  Champagne at that hour is far preferable to red wine.

The Family

The Family

Our next stop was Iron Horse Vineyards for more champagne.  I had remembered it being better than what we tasted that day but the real reason I wanted to go there was for the view.

Our next stop was the Dutton Family Vineyards.  There we tasted the best wines of the day.  Their Chardonnay and Pinot’s were some of the best I’ve ever tasted.

After a couple of more stops we picked up some supplies from the grocery store and went back to the timeshare and bar-b-qued up some steaks and chicken and drink some of the fine wine we had purchased.

The WorldMark Wine Country Sonoma is perfectly situated in the heart of  wine country.  The resort is very well taken care of, the staff very helpful and friendly and the timeshare condos well appointed.  I highly recommend it as an RCI exchange.  Below are more pictures of the 3 bedroom unit I got with my 1 bedroom.

Kitchen

We had our own bar-b-que on the patio and the fireplace and entertainment center were great.

Bar-b-que

Fireplace & entertainment center

And finally pictures of the master bedroom.

Master BedroomMaster Bedroom

In the next post I’ll share with you some pictures of one of the most beautiful drives you can do anywhere.  If you ever want to exchange your timeshare to this area, you don’t want to miss this drive.