Greetings from sunny Dawson Creek

Hi All
I'm back in Dawson Creek but not for long. For those of you that don't know me I do consulting work for credit unions and I've had a contract to assist a credit union here in BC's north off and on for almost two years. I arrived a week ago Monday and I'm leaving after work tomorrow. I fly home on Thursday and by Friday afternoon we plan on hitting the road South. It'll be a welcome change since here it's -20C!

We bought a townhouse in Gold Canyon AZ  last February but it was late in our stay and we were only able to enjoy it for a week before we had to head home. Since then it seems like ages since we were there. The unit was unfurnished when we bought it so other than a bed it's pretty much empty. We're not much for marathon driving trips so it'll take us at least three days to drive down but we're really looking forward to the trip because we'll finally get to start furnishing and decorating it the way we like. We'll be in AZ for four months and I have to fly back and forth at least five times for work but I should still have lots of time for some great rides on the motorcycle I have down there and at least one road trip to Mexico.

We're driving  to Mazatlan in January to stay for a week to do some shopping. Our plan is to buy as much of the art and decorating pieces for our new place as we can. And here where my absolute cheap side comes out. For anyone that's done it you'll know how unpleasant timeshare presentations are. They can be high-pressure and time consuming, and to the uninitiated or naive, they often result in unwanted poorly thought out purchases. But....... for someone that likes the thrill of the hunt and looks at it as a battle of wits, it can be a lucrative endeavour. Two years ago on a whim I went to a presentation and after 2 1/2 hours of repeated no's I left - but with $400US cash  for my time. What? $400? Sign me up! I was able to go to four more before they caught on and it dried up. $2,000 in total over two weeks - and I was there for two months so it's not like I had anything better to do those mornings :-) So that's the plan for this trip down. It's not a vacation, I'm looking at it as a business trip. Time share presentations in the morning and shopping in the afternoon, and if I'm right, the whole thing will be paid for by someone else.

So only three more sleeps and we'll be on our way south where we'll do our part to support the American economy.

Cheers!
dale