The Worldmark Clear Lake at Nice

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For just a few days, I can pretend that I have no worries in the world. We have absolutely no cares in the world, we can't change anything so it's time to sit back and enjoy the beauty of the world around us. Neither of us have to rush back to any kind of job, Erika is just going to have to miss a few days of school, and we're going to spend some good quality time as a family.

José loaded up the Escape while I finished all the last minute details in the house, packed up the food, fed the girls, called and had the newspaper put on hold, etc. The original plan had been to leave around 8am and we finally managed to load everyone up at 9am. The girls were eager to get in the car and get the show on the road but I made everyone unload so I could take the token group picture first.

The drive down went fabulous, no huge issues or temper tantrums or flat tires or those things that try to spring up and ruin a good thing. We stopped at three different rest areas to stretch out legs and get some fresh air. The weather got nicer and warmer the farther south we got. By the time we reached Redding, the girls were running around in t-shirts and complaining about how they were getting in the car. I do have to mention that the gas prices seemed to rise along with the temperatures. Gas is at least .20 cents cheaper per gallon in Oregon and we have people to pump our gas, Californians are getting shafted! They are paying taxes every which way they turn while we enjoy no sales tax and lower prices all around.

We arrived at tonight's lodging around 4:45pm, The Worldmark at Clear Lake in Nice, California. This whole vacation was promptly by the specials being offered by the Worldmark timeshares in order to fill up their rooms. Where you would normally pay around 8 cents per credit, they were offering them for only 5 cents per credit. The rooms differ based on size, day of the week, and what season it happens to be. Clear Lake isn't very busy during the winter months but the weather is very nice for those of us coming from the farther north areas. Our room is absolutely fabulous and cost us half the price of a Best Western or something similar with far more benefits/amenities.

Our one bedroom unit has sleeping for four people (king in the room and murphy bed in the livingroom), gas fireplace inside and gas grill outside, full kitchen and bath, living room and dining room, hot tub and heated children's wading pool in the community area, playground right outside our sliding doors, arcade and pool tables, exercise room, computers, you name it.

We let the girls play for a little while outside on the playground while I unloaded most of the stuff out of the Escape and put the food away in the fridge. Then we drove a couple miles down the road into Nice and did some quick shopping at the Sentry for dinner fixings. I had brought along hot dogs and cheese so we decided to have chili cheese dogs and save the fancy dinner for tomorrow night. There were no hot dog buns to be found in the whole store so we settled on white bread, yippie! I picked up some Pillsbury ready to bake Valentine's cookies as a treat for tonight. José grilled up the hot dogs when we got home and we sat down to a lovely family dinner together.

After dinner, I took the girls over to the community area and we went swimming. I was surprised to find the children's wading pool was heated so that is where we spent most of our time. We all hopped into the bubbling hot tub for a few minutes to heat up before the chilly walk back to the room. The night sky was clear and the stars seemed to be sparking right above our heads. I dumped the girls in the bathroom when we got done and heated up the oven. We finished off the night making sugar cookies and watching movies while the girls bounced off the walls on their sugar high. What a fabulous way to start a family vacation!
Today's Expenses:
Lodging at Worldmark (Inventory Special): $47.50
Gas Fill-up at Fred Meyer last night: $36
Gas Fill-up outside Redding: $40
Dinner Fixings at the Sentry: $12.60
Total Expenses: $136.10

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Photos

In the Beginning
There was a cranky little Mia who didn't want to get out of the car so her Mommy could take the required group photo.
(José, Mia, Erika, Krystal)

My Blue Star Highway
Hey, why not? I'm a veteran so I think I have every right to claim this highway as my own!

One Bedroom at Worldmark Clear Lake
We had an idea what to expect when we checked in and we weren't disappointed. A gas fireplace and TV/DVD/CD player in the living room, playground right outside the glass doors, and the pool/hot tub just down the walk.

The First Dinner
We ran out to buy dinner fixings to go along with the hot dogs and cheese that we'd brought along so it was Chili Cheddar Dogs for dinner.

Comments

[Becki]

Fun!
Looks like a good time...I miss our Worldmark vacations! :( So is it pronounced N-ice, or Neece? Lol.