A Free Trip for Two

So I am a sucker...

Two weekends we went to the Babies and Kids Expo. We paid $20 to get in and sadly it was pretty much a waste of money and time. We expected there to be a ton of vendors selling everything from baby blankets to backyard swing sets. In fact, I told Jim I didn’t want to go because when it comes to Cade I truly lack any monetary self-restraint. I was afraid that I would see something that he “had to have” that would cost us a small—or large—fortune. In reality there were about 18 vendors. Most of the booths consisted of private photographers, time-share companies, or people selling cosmetics. (Kids Expo????) There was one booth selling toys—and nothing Cade had to have. It was disappointing to say the least. We spent approximately 8.2 minutes walking past the booths (not stopping at any) to find we had covered the entire “expo”. On the way to the exit, I stopped at a booth where they were having a drawing to win a gift card to Home Depot. I figured I would put our name in there. The booth was cleverly disguised—it was for a time-share. They were very anxious to sign us up for a tour so that we could get a free trip for two to several choice destinations. I am not a fan of listening to these presentations, but I decided that if we got nothing else out of this expo, we could get a free trip. So, I signed us up.

We went this past Friday for our time-share presentation. Our representative (used car salesman) was actually very nice and low pressure considering his line of work. He only kept us 25 minutes over our promised “90 minute presentation”. The resort was beautiful. The amenities cool. And since we live close to the resort, we would be able to use those amenities as often as we would want. Things like a beautiful pool with massive water slides and horseback riding and lessons for kids. And then, since we probably wouldn’t vacation 10 minutes from our home, we would be able to trade our week there to any one of the other resorts associated with this time-share company. This trading power would even include the Palm_Tree_Court_&_Spa for only $158 for the week. Sounds great doesn’t it? We were hooked. In their catalog (which they leave you to look at for several minutes so you can plan your dream vacation) we decided that we wanted to go stay in a castle in Ireland. How cool would that be?! We must have looked interested. The “closers” came in to offer us our very own vacation-ownership package. With today-only specials, of course. You too could own a week in a resort for a mere $21,000. I choked. We didn’t have that kind of money! Not even close. Needless to say, even though they got the last offer down to $7,000, we had to pass. (Especially since I calculated it to be actually $19,000 when all was said and done after the 120-month loan.) But, we got a “free” trip to Napa Valley Wine country including two free admissions for a Winery Tour. Doesn’t include airfare, but worth our 114 minutes, I think. I will let you know after we take the trip!