My Lake Tahoe timeshare is an odd-year one. But when I called to make a reservation last November, the reservation agent told me they were already fully booked and she reminded me that it was the way timeshares worked. I was supposed to reserve months in advance, even a year. When I tried to explain that I had been too busy, she started scolding me like a child. I interrupted her and sternly told her that it was not her place to tell me how to live my life and all I wanted to know was what my options were. She was more civil after that.
It turned out that they allowed owners to use their time out-of-year once. So she set that up for me. And that's why I'm here in an even year.
Well, I had an important event that happened to be scheduled this week too and I got behind schedule preparing for it. I was still finishing up by Saturday midnight. So, even though I was supposed to check in on Friday, I didn't get here until today.
I packed on Sunday morning and left at 2pm or so. Actually, after errands and a quick lunch, it was already 3pm by the time I left town. It was a fairly uneventful drive.
I stayed at Sutherlin this time because it was only 6 hours away. With the late start, I didn't think I'd make it to Grants Pass or Medford, which were my usual halfway point stops on my trips to CA. And it turned out to be a nice stop. I stayed at the Microtel and it was a fairly nice hotel for the price. The bed was comfortable and surprisingly square pillows are easier to fluff and squoosh to the right configuration than rectangular pillows.
There was a light rain by the time I checked out in the morning but it wasn't too bad. I needed the rain to wash off the pollen coating my car. But it wasn't enough rain for that. There was cloud covering and lots of wind, but it was a beautiful drive. I turned off of I-5 soon after Weed, CA and drove on two-lane highways (CA-89 to CA-44 to CA-36 to US-395). There were only a few cars and it was a lovely route through state forests. The only difficulty was overtaking slow vehicles. There was snow on the ground, but the roads and the shoulders were clear.
I stopped for groceries and gas at Carson City, which was only a half hour away from the resort. Then as I got closer to the mountains, I started feeling unsettled. By the time I turned into NV-88, I was violently crying. It was the same grief I had during the divorce and almost as strong. Then my GPS told me to turn where there was no street and I was shaken back to the then-and-there.
The only time I felt emotion like that while approaching a place was when I was driving back to Seattle from Minneapolis during the summer break. But this was a much stronger emotion. This was as strong an emotion as when I was giving up my condo. It's strange that I get so emotionally attached to locations.
I also realized that it's almost 25 years ago when I got married here. Maybe I'll visit the chapel again while I'm here.
When I arrived, there were only two or three cars in front of the building so I think this might be a slow time for them. And the temperatures are supposed to drop to the 40s this week. (I missed the temperatures in the 60s during the weekend.) But I think I'll still do the lake cruise and maybe explore some museums. Since I'm only here for three full days, I plan to go sightseeing all three days.
