Exchanging For A Honeymoon

No, I am not going on a honeymoon . . . . mine was 36 years ago!  But my son Van, and his future wife, Megan, who are getting married in two months were talking about honeymoon locations last year when I thought about the possibilities of finding a home exchange for them.  They jumped at the idea and proceeded to go online and check out all of the amazing locations available to them around the world on Homeexchange.com.  Over 40,000 listing in 147 countries.  Now that's a lot to choose from!

Van and Megan decided they would like to visit San Sebastian in the Basque country of Spain where they could enjoy the new gourmet cuisine it has become famous for, as well as the traditional tapas in the old quarter, the beach, art museums, and the spanish countryside.  Unfortunately there were not a lot of properties to choose from, but I  was able to send out ten exchange offers eight months before their wedding to homes in San Sebastian and the surrounding countryside of Spain and waited to see what would come back.  I only received one potential exchange response.

Apartment In San Sebastian Spain

However, the one response I received was Van's favorite property.  Chema owned two apartments in this lovely historic apartment building in the middle of San Sebastian, within walking distance to the beach, and was interested in a possible exchange for our Costa Rica condo.  We all thought this would be perfect, but it proved to be too good to be true, as Chema decided a month later that he was no longer interested in an exchange.  Now I was sent back to the drawing board to start broadening my search.

In the meantime, one day I received the following exchange offer:

Hello,

We are a french family and we are very interested to know Costa Rica (we love the tropical climate and often preserved nature and human beings met in these countries). Wonderful land , we are sure !

Your ad draws our\'s attention and seems very interesting.

We live in south west of France (in \"les Landes\" , a preserved region) near the atlantic ocean (3 min by car / 10 min by bike.  We have done 4 exchanges for three years and all of them were wonderful.

We are searching an exchange (simultaneous or not) during this year 2012 : between 17/18 of april to 01 of May.

Thank you very much to have payed attention to this mail and we are waiting for the answer . See you soon.

Best regards

GILLES AND VIRGINIE

I immediately located where Gilles and Virginie's home was on a map  and realized that it was about an hour from San Sebastian, Spain,  where Van wished to stay.  I asked Van and Megan if they would be interested in Southern France instead of Northern Spain and they said of course!  Another exchange was now set into motion!

The Proposed French Cottage

I explained to Gilles and Virginie that this exchange would be for my son and his new bride and asked if that would be acceptable to them.  They were very happy to hear from me, agreed to the exchange, and asked to Skype with me in order to get to know each other better.  After a 45 minute conversation via Skype I felt like Gilles and Virginie were now my new friends.  They were very excited to have Van and Megan stay at their home, wanted to meet them upon their arrival to show them around, and give them tourist information about the area.  They were also excited to be able to return to Costa Rica where they had been several years before, and this time to bring their children with them.  

Sunset At Messanges, France

In eight weeks Van and Megan will be traveling to the little village of Messanges, France to enjoy this sunset, some Bordeaux wine, lots of wonderful French food, explore the Basque region of Spain and France, and have a honeymoon of a life time, all thanks to a home exchange offer from across the other side of the world.  Stay tuned for pictures of their trip when they return. I'm sure there will be lots!

More Southern Delicacies In South Carolina

Grits and collards anyone?  Yes, we traveled back to South Carolina last fall for another wonderful exchange, and of course some good old fashioned southern cuisine was at the top of the list!  We came to visit our daughter Whitney again who was living in Mount Pleasant, just outside of Charleston and we were able to make a delightful seven night exchange for a waterfront home in Isle Of Palms, a beautiful beach town located between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, twelve miles from downtown Charleston.  Homeexchange.com came through for us again, and we were able to make this wonderful exchange with Paula and her family, who decided that they would love to go to Costa Rica for a week during their daughter's spring break from school.

Certainly Not A California Menu!

Our home this time in South Carolina was located directly on the Intracoastal Waterway and also included a boat dock, which proved to be an excellent place to enjoy evening cocktails while watching the numerous boats and yachts cruise by.   

   

   

  

 It is also where we learned how to catch crab!

And cook it too!!  Paula had left the crab cage on the dock with directions to bait it with raw chicken, so we gave it a try. Just wish we had caught more, as it was delicious once we figured the process out!

Our island home had four bedrooms and plenty of room for not only Whitney to stay with us for most of the week, but for our friends from Florida who drove up to see us in South Carolina and spent two nights with us.  That is my very favorite part of home exchanges - the opportunity to share our home with friends and family and enjoy them in such relaxing environments.  I would never had invited my friends for a visit if we had been in a hotel room.   

Whitney gave us all a tour of historic downtown Charleston and we enjoyed a lovely time with old friends.

The owners of our home left us their small boat to use while we were there, which was a wonderful addition to the home exchange, and which enabled us to cruise down the waterways and view the multiple homes and docks dotting the shoreline. The Intracoastal Waterway runs for most of the length of the Eastern Seaboard, from New Jersey, where it connects with the Atlantic Ocean, then all the way south around the Gulf of Mexico to Texas.  We only went a couple of miles, but some of the large yachts we saw had come from as far as Massachusetts, and looked to be headed south to Florida for the winter.    

                                                                                      

Our home exchange in our island home in South Carolina was once again a success!  A gracious southern home, a boat with a dock, wonderful food, and of course the very best part, spending time with my daughter!  If you haven't yet tried a home exchange vacation you don't know what you are missing.  After fourteen exchanges under our belt in the United States we are now looking for exchanges in Europe for next year, and are looking forward to some fabulous new experiences! 

An Exchange To Sunriver, Oregon

One Of The Four Sunriver Golf Courses With Amazing Views

Last summer we decided a trip up north to the resort community of Sunriver, Oregon would be a nice way to spend a week. With the beauty of the mountains, rivers and golf courses this central Oregon community has to offer, as well as a private air strip for Mark to fly our airplane into, it would be perfect!  Of course the first thing to do was to get on Homeexchange.com and see if I could find an exchange, as we never stay in hotel rooms anymore if we can help it at all.  There were several homes offered for exchange but only one seemed like somewhere we would enjoy staying.  We were fortunate that Hailey and Terry decided that they would enjoy staying at our home in Costa Rica too and another exchange was made!

Not Our Plane, But A Great Little Airport To Fly Into

Part of this exchange included the use of Haley and Terry's Jeep Cherokee to use while we were staying in their home.  After flying into the Sunriver Airport we found the Jeep parked right outside the gate with a full tank of gas and directions to our new home away from home.  What a great extra perk to this exchange, which we certainly appreciated. I know that people who exchange in other countries have difficulty trading cars, as their insurance does not cover others driving their vehicles, but in the U.S. this doesn't seem to be the case and many people offer to include a car in the exchange.  We have never been able to offer this as we do not have a car at either of our vacation homes, but certainly enjoy the opportunity to use one at other homes when offered! Be sure to ask about this option when requesting an exchange and check out the car exchange contract which Homeexchange.com has on their site if needed.

Our Home Away From Home

A Warm Cozy Living Room

Our Master Bedroom Which Opened Onto The Private Hot Tub

Sunriver is a wonderful vacation spot which can include mountain biking in the surrounding mountains and forests, or leisurely biking on the miles of bike paths throughout the community, horseback riding, kayaking on the Deschutes River or Cascade Lakes, rafting, paddle-boarding, hiking and golf in the summer, while skiing and snowshoeing are fun activities in the winter.  It is a wonderful family destination where we use to vacation with our children when they were young, but now were able to enjoy it in a different manner on our own. Of course this meant a lot of time golfing on the four different golf courses Sunriver has to offer, and which we never had time to do when we were vacationing with three young children.

Our Golfing Buddies

After a week in Sunriver in our own home, we had become very comfortable, and of course it was difficult to leave such a lovely area. Before leaving we washed Haily's Jeep she had left us to use, filled it with gas, and returned it to the airport parking location where we had found it seven days earlier. This exchange proved to be another success, with us enjoying our week in Sunriver, and Haily and Terry enjoying their ten night stay in tropical Costa Rica.  We have now done  fourteen exchanges over the last four years and only one was not as expected, so we of course are looking forward to the next exciting location!  Stay tuned to see where that might be.

Waterpolo And Golf In Sunny Arizona

The Beauty of Arizona

Another Waterpolo tournament was on the horizon, and this time it was to be at Arizona State University in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix in April of 2011.  Our daughter Gillian would be playing for the San Francisco Olympic Club  in a two day men and women’s masters tournament and we decided that it would be a great time to fly out to Arizona to cheer on the team and stay a few more days to enjoy some spring time golf in the desert. Once again I went on line to Homeexchange.com to look for a place to stay. Little did we know in October when we decided upon this weekend to travel to Arizona that Sacramento would have experienced the coldest, wettest March in a long time, and that we would be very ready for some Arizona sunshine.

 After sending out several of my standard email requests for exchanges in the Phoenix area I received two replies from homeowners in the area who were both interested in an exchange, one for our Costa Rica condo and one for the Lake Tahoe cabin.  Both homes looked lovely, with one even offering to include the use of his car during the exchange.  It was a difficult decision to make, but we settled on Liz's golf course home because of the location on the highly regarded Troon North Golf Courses.

Troon North Golf Course

Hi Shelley -
We really love your Tahoe place and location for a week for a summer vacation.  My family lives in Sacramento so we could visit them too.I know you have options. Our Scottsdale home is still open for April that week before and after your daughter's waterpolo weekend at ASU. There is also a nice resident golf discount of about 25-35% off the regular high season price.  Troon has 2 golf courses, Pinnacle and Monument and both are two of the best in Scottsdale. All of our guests that come back come for the warmth primarily and for the golf secondarily.


Cheers,
Liz

Liz's Lovely Home In Scottsdale

After several emails back and forth to learn more about Liz’s home and for her to learn more about our location in Tahoe the exchange was finalized. Liz sent us four pages of information about places to shop, eat, and most importantly where to golf in the North Scottsdale area, and I did the same regarding our Tahoe home. Providing this type of information makes for an enjoyable stay and is always helpful when arriving at an unknown destination.

On April 1st after a long, rainy March, Mark and I happily loaded up our Beechcraft Travel Air with our golf clubs and flew out to Arizona. It was a beautiful flight down the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys and over the mountains into the Antelope Valley of southern California where the vivid display of wild flowers could be seen even from 9,000 feet in the air.

Flying Over The Wild Flowers In The Antelope Valley

Flying Past Big Bear Mountain

Flying into the Palm Springs area where we were headed to make a fuel stop and grab some lunch, we flew through the still snow covered mountains of Big Bear and down into the Coachella Valley, where the temperature was now 100 degrees! We quickly shed some clothing, headed for a quick lunch, and then were back in the air for our one and half hour flight to Scottsdale.

Flying Into The Phoenix Metropolis (the airport's out there somewhere!)

Flying into Phoenix after flying for over an hour across the barren California and Arizona deserts is always a surprise. The urban sprawl seems to go on for ever when viewed from the air, but with the use of Marks new navigational equipment he had recently purchased for the plane we were able to locate the Scottsdale Airport quite easily.

After picking up our rental car which was brought out to our plane, we drove ten minutes to the local grocery store Liz had suggested we use, stocked up on our supplies, and within a few miles arrived at Troon North Golf Club where our new home was located. The home was located in a gated community with a gate coded entrance. Liz had provided the code for the gate, and the key to the front door was in a lock box to which we also had the code. We have found that many exchangers who also rent their homes have a lock box on their doors where the renters or exchangers are able to get the key easily without having to mail the keys back and forth. This is something I am considering doing at Tahoe as well.

Our Patio View

The home proved to be lovely and well taken care of, though we wished that the patio and upstairs decks were larger from which to enjoy the beautiful weather and views of the mountains and cactus. We had been spoiled with our stay in Palm Springs several months earlier with the large beautiful patio, pool and spa. Another lesson learned - ask about the size of the patio and try to have a pool at the home if it is in the desert. The community pool located down the street was fine, but sitting around your own pool just can’t be beat!

The following day was the beginning of the waterpolo tournament at ASU, with Saturday hitting a high temperature of 100 degrees on the pool deck. We really didn’t mind the heat though, as we were just so happy to be out of the cold and rain of northern California. It proved to a great tournament for Gillian and the Olympic Club, who finished in first place after two days of play, and the Morgan waterpolo groupies loved every minute of it.

Love These Waterpolo Games!

The Olympic Club Champions!

After spending a few hours with Gillian on Sunday before she flew back to San Francisco we headed back to our golf course home in Scottsdale for the rest of the week.

The Golfers Enjoying Sunny Arizona

Golf was now on the agenda and we were able to receive the homeowner’s golf discount on both courses of Troon North, which is another added benefit of home exchanges. The first day of play we ran into a celebrity charity golf tournament on the Monument Course sponsored by the old rocker, Alice Cooper, who without all of his makeup on now just looks like an old guy with a long black ponytail! A good golfer though. After making our way around the tournament we had a lovely day of golf on Monday, and on Wednesday played the other course, Pinnacle. The desert cactus and boulders made for spectacular scenery, which is one of the reasons I enjoy the game of golf. In between golf games we explored the towns of Cave Creek, the old west town created during the Arizona gold rush, and Carefree, which was a planned community started in the 1960‘s, both of which are built up against the jagged Arizona mountains.

Even though one of the benefits of home exchanges is having a fully equipped kitchen, we find that except for breakfasts, which we always have at the house, for most of the other meals we like finding new restaurants to try out and enjoy. Unfortunately in Scottsdale it took us a few days to find some places we were impressed with.

Cactus Growing Out Of The Roof Of Barbecue Daves

Tonto's Bar and Grill

The little barbecue joint, Barbecue Dave’s, in the cowboy town of Cave Creek had some wonder barbecued pulled pork sandwiches, and along with the baked beans made for an amazing, inexpensive lunch which rivaled the barbecue we had had in South Carolina. Our favorite dinner place had to be the last night we were in Arizona at Tonto’s Bar and Grill, also located in Cave Rock on the beautiful old golf course of Rancho Manana. Now this is what an Arizona western style restaurant should be. Elegant, yet rustic and warm with spectacular food. We just needed Tonto, Trigger, and Roy to help us believe we were back in the old west. If you are ever in the area this is a must place to visit.

After the week in Northern Scottsdale we had planned to fly further north to the beautiful town of Sedona, and then on up to the Grand Canyon. We had scheduled a jeep tour of the famous Sedona red rocks and Indian cave dwellings followed the next day by a helicopter ride inside and around the Grand Canyon. However the weather would not cooperate, with thunderstorms and snow showers predicted for Sedona and The Grand Canyon the days we planned on being there. We decided that we had better head back to California on Friday before the weather became a factor and took off for Palm Springs. Again, the weather decided not to cooperate with us, with fast moving clouds developing after we departed Scottsdale with freezing levels becoming a problem.

Flying Through The Clouds Leaving Arizona

 We dodged and weaved, got bounced around quite a bit, but land safely eventually in Palm Springs, where we were planning on stopping for fuel and a quick lunch before heading back to Sacramento. However the clouds which were supposed to be in Arizona were now instead coming over the mountains towards Palm Springs with the freezing level dropping quickly. Hail and snow was predicted, but the wind was blowing fiercely and we thought the storm clouds would quickly blow through. We were mistaken. After waiting five hours in the very lovely Atlantic Aviation terminal in Palm Springs we decided that we would have to spend the night in the Palm Springs area and hoped that we would be able to leave the following morning.

The Desert Hot Springs Resort - A Trip Back To The 60's!

The Desert Springs Resort and Spa, located about 15 miles from the airport was the only spot around with an available room. Welcome back to the 1960’s! At one time this place must have been quite the place to stay with its’ large swimming pool, several large outdoor spas, massage rooms, and saunas, but it has certainly seen better days. I felt like I had stepped back in time, and it was quite an abrupt change from where we had been staying for the last week. Saturday morning we quickly got back to the airport and were able to take off, happily finally landing in Sacramento three hours later. Home at last!

Lake Tahoe Home For A Golf Home In Beautiful La Quinta

La Quinta Golf Course View

"Hello,
Would you like to exchange for my house in La Quinta ,Ca,(in the Palm Springs area)? The house is on a golf course with pool and Jacuzzi. I would like to go to your Lake Tahoe home the week of Feb 15th. I am flexible with the week on my house as it is a vacation home.
Thanks,
Bill"

In January 2008 we had purchased our second vacation home, which was located in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada, just over the border from California and about two hours from our home in Sacramento. It required major remodeling and we spent all of that next spring and summer creating the vision we had of what we hoped it could become when we first walked in the door and saw that beautiful Lake Tahoe view.

The View We Saw When We Entered Our Future Tahoe Home

Our Tahoe Home Kitchen When We First Saw It
(The rest of the house was just as bad!)

Our Remodeled Kitchen After A Long Year Of Work

After completing the remodel and using it for a while ourselves, we placed it on the Homeexchange.com site in the fall of 2009, along with our condominium in Costa Rica. Bill was the first exchange inquiry we received for our Tahoe home in January, 2010. By now you are aware that we love to travel to places where we can play golf, and you probably already know what our response to this exchange request from Bill was. Yes!

We were able to agree upon the dates, scheduled our stay in the Palm Springs area for January and started looking forward to getting out of the cold foggy Sacramento weather and out onto the sunny golf courses of Palm Springs. Bill was a pilot and asked about flying up to Tahoe from southern California where he lived. Immediately he and my husband, also a pilot, had a bond, with Mark suggesting the best place to fly into and how to rent a hanger for his airplane to protect it from the cold weather while he was at Lake Tahoe. Bill planned to bring his two high school daughters up for some skiing and was happy for us to use his place in the desert, which we started looking forward to.

And then it started to rain in sunny southern California, and it wouldn’t stop. Not only was it raining, but it was almost snowing in parts of the southern part of the state, and we decided that this may not be the best time to go to Palm Springs for a week of golf. I contacted Bill and asked if we could postpone our trip until March when the weather was expected to be better, and he graciously agreed.

No Golf For Me!

 On February 16th Bill and his daughters flew into the Minden, Nevada Airport, about a twenty minute drive from our Tahoe home, and enjoyed a three night stay in the snow, with four days of great skiing. We were looking forward to our delayed trip to the desert, but unfortunately on February 25 I had to send out the note below:

"Hi Bill,
Well it looks like another change of plans for us.  I broke my wrist yesterday while skiing, so no golfing or skiing for quite awhile.  Can we take a rain check for next fall?  Thanks.
Shelley"


 So our trip to the desert was put on hold again, but this time until the following year when hopefully we would have good weather and no broken bones! In December I contacted Bill again and asked if his place would be available in January for a week.  Home exchanging is great in that rain checks and delayed exchanges are frequent and are very seldom a problem, so we were able to set up another week at Bill's home starting January 23, and held our breath that we would actually be able to make it this time. I invited my sister Megan and her husband Randy to spend the week with us, and arranged to have my cousins from Temecula and Los Angeles join us for a day or two while we were there.   Mark got out his flight maps and mapped out the trip, we cleaned up our clubs, and on January 23 we finally headed out to the desert for a week of sunshine and fun.

Leaving our home in Sacramento Sunday morning there was some fog, but when we arrived at Sacramento Executive Airport we found that we were completely fogged in, and not able to depart as planned. All we could do now was wait for the fog to clear enough to allow us to depart. After about an hour of tedious waiting Mark determined that he had the five hundred feet of required visibility and we would be able to take off and pop through the fog, finally getting on our way to the desert.

Flying Over The San Bernardino Mountains

 After flying over the fog along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys it finally cleared around Bakersfield, and we swooped down over the snow capped San Bernardino Mountains, from where Mark aimed the plane towards the Salton Sea, landing after a two and one half hour flight at the desolate Cochran Field in Thermal, California. Because we were going to be there a week Mark chose to rent a hanger for his beloved airplane so that the desert sun and sand would not be a factor. After getting his baby set up in its temporary home and picking up our rental car we drove the short distance to our temporary home in the lovely La Quinta, on the PGA West Golf Course.

Our New Desert Home For The Week

Bill’s home turned out to be lovely with two bedrooms in the main house in addition to the separate casita located across the front court yard where Megan and Randy would be staying, having their own private accommodations. The back of the house was all glass, looking out onto a patio with a small pool, bubbling fountain, and welcoming spa, set up against the golf course with an expansive view of the greens and the majestic mountains surrounding the Coachella Valley.

Sunset From Our Patio

 The sun was setting, casting a warm glow across the mountains and a chill in the air.  We went inside, started a fire, and realized that once again we had made a great exchange. We were going to pick Megan and Randy up from the Palm Springs Airport the next day so we enjoyed our first night in Palm Springs alone, looking forward to a great week.

Monday morning the sun was shining brightly, and Mark couldn’t resist finding the golf course to do some practicing at the PGA West Course while I drove into Palm Springs to pick up our guests. What a treat to see the sun after several long weeks of fog and rain in Sacramento, and I didn’t even mind the forty-five minute drive in traffic through the valley with the San Jacinto Mountain range looking down upon me. After picking up Megan and Randy who quickly shed their warm clothing, we drove over to the club house to meet Mark for lunch on the patio in the sunshine, all relaxing and enjoying the beauty surrounding us. We also began to plan out our week of golf.

Two Beginners At La Quinta Mountain Course

Our first destination was the La Quinta Mountain Course located just down the road from our place which was not supposed to be too difficult, something Megan and I insisted be taken into consideration when choosing from the numerous Palm Springs area courses available to us. It proved to be a good choice for our first day of play, even though Randy was not able to play that day as he was not feeling well. Mark had to put up with the two beginners by himself and even gave us some good tips, but I knew he was looking forward to playing the next day with my cousin’s husband Jim, and hopefully Randy, at Silver Rock, noted for it’s beauty and difficulty.

Who Needs Golf When There Is This?

 Megan and I skipped that day of golf, instead visiting with my two cousins and relaxing in the hot tub, while letting the men play by themselves. The three men seemed to have had a great day of golf and we all enjoyed a barbecue at home while enjoying a lovely evening catching up with each other's busy lives and activities.

A Great Family Get Together

The next day the cousins all left and off the four of us headed for another day of golf, this time at Indian Springs Golf Club, which according to reviews we had read was known for, “making sure that every golfer and guest feels comfortable and welcome in the relaxed environment at Indian Springs, making you feel welcomed and pampered by your favorite hosts.” Sounded good to us, and not too difficult either. After arriving and being ignored, glared at by employees and golf course marshals, and generally receiving the cold shoulder the entire time we were there this course has now become a running joke to all of us as we continually wonder who wrote those glowing reviews we read.

Marriott Desert Springs Resort 

 Our last day of golf at the Marriott Desert Springs Valley Course proved to be a much better experience. It was a lovely resort type of course which we all enjoyed playing and was a great way to wrap up our golfing trip, even though we all struggled with our games. But how can you get too mad about a poor round of golf while playing it in such beautiful surroundings?

On Saturday afternoon we leisurely drove Megan and Randy to the Palm Springs Airport, and after dropping them off we decided to do a little exploring of downtown Palm Springs, walking the main street and doing some window shopping. Driving back to La Quinta we stopped for lunch in the town of Palm Desert at the El Paseo shopping district, which is often called the Rodeo Drive of the desert. Lots of high end shops, art galleries and restaurants make up this shopping mecca, and it was a lovely place to spend our last afternoon.

Sunday morning we awoke to our first day of cloudy, cold weather in the desert. Time to leave! We packed up, Mark filed his flight plan, and we headed back to the Cochran Airport in Thermal.

Not our plane, but a huge private jet taking off while we were leaving.
We could have fit 10 of our planes into this jet!

 The clouds were starting to build up, but since Mark is instrument rated that didn’t bother him, but the freezing level was quickly dropping and we needed to get out and over the mountains before it got too low to leave. We quickly loaded the plane and started our flight back home to Sacramento, which proved to be quite beautiful, flying over the snow covered mountains surrounding the Cochella Valley and flying in and out of large billowy clouds most of the flight, even though we were having to worry about staying below the freezing level, being rained upon, and battling strong head winds most of the way. We arrived safely that afternoon in Sacramento after a long three hour flight, having had another great exchange experience which we were able to share and enjoy with family.  Once again, a much better way to vacation than a hotel!

On Our Way Home Through The Clouds

Are Cats Worth The View of San Franciso?

Another exchange offer I received from a member of homeexchange.com which sounded intriguing:

"We are looking for a weekend in February to ski.  We have a 2 bedroom  high rise condo in San Francisco with a lovely view.  We would be either 4 or 6  mature non smoking adults.  Any interest?
Thank you,
Kathy"

Great View In San Francisco - Looked Like A Wonderful Exchange

Another interesting offer for a San Francisco weekend opportunity. We had just received from our daughter Gillian her schedule of waterpolo club games for the season and there was a weekend in February when they would be playing three games in the city. This exchange offer could fit right into an inviting weekend in San Francisco which could include a visit with Gillian, some always excellent dining, and of course viewing of some good waterpolo games, which we as waterpolo junkies were always up for. So this exchange for our cabin in South Lake Tahoe for Kathy’s high rise apartment in San Francisco was on, except for one final detail.

View From Our Lake Tahoe Cabin For Which
Kathy Wanted To Exchange 

"Hi Shelley,
We have a very shy cat that might have to stay in the condo.  You would not have to feed him or take care of him, he is so shy he would probably spend most of the time underneath the bed.    Would this be a problem?
Let me know.
Thanks,
Kathy"

We had stayed in one other home which had an outside cat which did not bother us, and whom we even enjoyed, so I told Kathy that the cat would not be a problem. Before we arrived in San Francisco though, Kathy told us that she would be taking the cat with her, so we would not need to worry about it. Little did we know that the actual cat itself would not be the problem!

View Over San Francisco and Coit Tower From Our Apartment

In February, 2011 we set off for a weekend in the city and some waterpolo games. Kathy had told me to pick up the key to her apartment from the 24 hour doorman, which we did upon our arrival, and after finding our parking space in the underground garage and taking the elevator up to our weekend apartment we walked into a room with an amazing view of San Francisco and the entire bay, including Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, the city of Oakland, and directly across from our apartment, the infamous island of Alcatraz.  Floor to ceiling glass on two full sides of the living room, along with a small balcony on the 19th floor made us feel like we were on top of the world.  With sun shining brightly over the city by the bay we opened the sliding glass doors and immediately felt the breeze off of the San Francisco Bay engulf us. Viewing the multitude of sailboats racing through the water before us provided us entertainment while just sitting on the patio.

But lunch beckoned us, so off we went down the steep hills of SF to the Italian area of North Beach for a delightful portabello paninni and a cold glass of Pinot Gregio while sitting outside basking in the sunshine, pretending to be native San Franciscans.

Outside Dining at Cafe DeLucchi

After lunch and a steep walk back up the hill to our new apartment we took a closer look at the place, and realized that though this apartment had a spectacular view, it really was not up to the standards we had been use to when making other exchanges. The large glass doors were filthy, which really distracted from the gorgeous view, even though Mark tried to clean them with some glass cleaner, the outside patio and table were very dirty and actually uninviting, and even with the cat gone, we certainly were made aware that it had been living there! The apartment had not been vacuumed and there was cat hair everywhere, including on the furniture and the beds. There were numerous cat toys left around the apartment, a litter box in the bathroom and scratch boxes in the living room and bedroom, as well as a cat feeder and water bowl in the bathroom. By the end of the weekend Mark and I were both having allergic reactions to the missing cat and realized that from that point on we would make a point of only staying at homes which were cat free! I think that this must have been Kathy’s first exchange as she had not only not had the apartment cleaned before we arrived, but there was no room left in any of the closets or drawers for our belongings and the refrigerator was so packed that there was not even room for the bottle of wine we had brought with us. Needless to say, we did not feel comfortable spending much time there which was a shame, as it could have been such a wonderful place. However, we had other things to do and enjoy while being in the city.

Crab Cannelloni From Seven Hills - Amazing!!

Gillian found a new restaurant in San Francisco for us to try for dinner Friday night; an Italian bistro called Seven Hills, less than a mile from our apartment on Hyde Street in the Russian Hill area of the city. After enjoying the baby clams in polenta and tomato broth as our appetizer, the dungeness crab cannelloni, three meat stuffed tortellini, and the crispy braised osso bucco we ordered for our main courses, as well as the mouth watering Italian doughnuts stuffed with creamy, warm, sweet ricotta cheese we shared for dessert, we forgot all about our very hairy apartment up the street. Good food can make one overlook many unpleasantries!

A Must Try In San Francisco!

Saturday was spent watching several water polo games at the prestigious San Francisco Olympic Club, which was sponsoring the tournament, and for whom Gillian plays. After watching games for over fifteen years we have become addicted to the game and especially enjoy watching our children play, where ever they may be. Because of this addiction we have traveled the world watching them and have visited and explored cities we may never have seen if it had not been for waterpolo. Now, with the ability to exchange homes in various places this has enhanced our waterpolo travels. In between games during this trip we were able to enjoy the exceptional weather while wondering the city eating, drinking, shopping, and even stopping in at an art gallery where we viewed some Picassos and the works of other expressionists. All and all, a wonderful way to spend a Saturday!

Sunday morning we were ready to leave the cat invested apartment and head back to our home in Sacramento, but decided to walk down the hill to a local diner for breakfast, which proved to be another delicious meal. An order of eggs benedict for Sunday morning can’t be beat! Then, it being San Francisco, we headed back up the steep hill, and justified the large breakfasts we had just eaten by the exercise we were getting with the uphill climb.

Even though this exchange was not one we would place on the top of our list of favorites, it was an enjoyable weekend, and it proved to be a learning experience for us as well. From this point on we decided that we would make it clear that we did not wish to exchange with anyone who had cats, and would try especially hard to make exchanges only with those homes which are second homes, so they are not as crowded with personal items and hopefully cleaner. We are also now requesting that they be professionally cleaned before our arrival as well as after we leave, which we have always done with the two properties we own, and always assumed that others did as well. Now we know that this is not always the case.

San Francisco Sunset From Our "Hairy" Apartment