Barb and Barry:

Barry and I live in Surrey, British Columbia in an area known as Ocean Park. The subdivision where we live is quiet and filled with congenial neighbours. Although we are unable to see the ocean from our home we are within walking distance of the beach. Barry and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary in less than a month. I don't know where the time went. We have two sons; the eldest is 26 and lives in Ontario. Our younger son is 22 and I'm happy to say he still lives at home. Barry is retired but thinks he might find a job in the fall to help occupy his time. I am fortunate to have a job I love. I am a school teacher and presently teaching grade one. Retirement would make it easier for me to enjoy WM but I still love teaching too much and don't think I would be very good at retirement.

FEATURED OWNERS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

How long have you been a member of WorldMark?
We joined WM in September 2002.

Where have you visited?
Since we live in Surrey, B.C. we were offered a weekend at the Vancouver resort as a signing bonus. We had so much fun at the Canadian we have stayed there five times! We have also stayed at Cascade Lodge x 3, Birch Bay x 3, Sundance, Victoria, Vegas (new resort), Reno, Windsor, Coral Baja, Seaside and the Camlin. We have a couple more trips planned to Cascade Lodge and The Camlin.

What is your favorite WorldMark resort? What do you like about it?
Who can choose a favourite resort? Each resort offers something worthwhile because of the unique area of it's location. We have enjoyed each of our stays with WM.

• The Canadian and The Camlin offer the downtown experience. There is so much to see, do and enjoy but best of all you can walk to almost everything and if you don't feel like walking there is public transit.
• The new Las Vegas resort is beautiful. We really enjoyed staying there and will stay there again if we ever plan a more relaxed visit to Vegas. However, we prefer to stay on the strip so will usually pick up a weekend package or trade into a timeshare within walking distance of the sites and major hotels.
• Seaside is also lots of fun. The location is spectacular. We really enjoyed the resort, the restaurants, the outlet mall, the endless beach and particularly the company of an amazing couple who also own WM.
• Cascade Lodge and Sundance have allowed us to visit Whistler, an area full of sightseeing opportunities and outdoor activities. Although we have enjoyed numerous trips to Whistler, we always leave with plans to return and ideas of future activities we hope to enjoy. Whistler is a place to go to make memories and we've made our share. (We often stay at a resort other than WM when visiting Whistler).
• We had an awesome time at the Victoria resort. This area is special because it is a mixture of outdoor adventure, city life and history. The resort is extremely well located on a site offering visitors the pleasure of watching the harbour's activity. You really feel like you are on holiday when in Victoria.
• We also loved Coral Baja. It is located in an incredible spot with a spectacular view. We felt so relaxed and content at Coral Baja. CaboBill is definitely onto something good! We enjoyed numerous activities in the area including sightseeing, snorkelling ( I LOVE TO SNORKEL), ATVing, bartering, meeting people (WM owners and local residents) and eating. It is a great place to have the time of your life.

What things do you like to do when visiting this resort?
Okay, since you are making me narrow my favourite resort down to one, I'll choose Coral Baja. I have only been there once and only for a week but during that time I enjoyed absolutely everything. In the mornings I loved relaxing on the balcony of our room while reading a novel and watching the sun rise over the palm trees, the waves crashing on the shore and the diligent grounds keepers working hard to make my vacation memorable. I liked spending time at the pool area meeting and talking to other owners. Riding the buses was fun and economical. The drivers were so helpful letting us know when we had reached our destinations. Snorkelling at Chelano (sp) Beach and Pelican Rock were definitely highlights of the trip. Did I say, 'I love snorkelling'? Walking around San Jose del Cabo and visiting with the local residents was so interesting. It's amazing how many locals are from Canada and the U.S. Everyone we met was very friendly and entirely willing to share information with us. Another delight was the ability to walk to a few very good restaurants where we were able to enjoy a delicious meal while watching activities on and around the beach. Just outside of Cabo San Lucas we spent the best part of a day at a very active beach area meeting people, laughing, playing, partaking in happy hour, eating, and trying to ward off beach vendors. We finally gave into the vendors and enjoyed bartering with them. I'm not sure what the beach area is called but the name of one of the venues on the beach was Billigan's Island. The water taxi ride to and from that beach was also extremely informative. The water taxi crews have a lot of knowledge about the area and are very willing to share it. They also go out of their way to detour and show you things in the general vicinity. Another enjoyable experience is ATVing on the beach and in the dunes around San Jose. Barry and I definitely need to visit Coral Baja again to snorkel, visit Todos Santos, shop at the pottery store, snorkel, go Panga Fishing, meet CaboBill, snorkel and do absolutely everything we did last time all over again. What an incredible experience.

Would you share some of your favorite vacation web links and/or photos from this resort and the surrounding area?
I'm sorry I don't have any web links. The best source of information for Coral Baja is CaboBill and other owners who have visited the resort.
I will gladly share some of my photos. You might also like to see the photos and resort reviews of Coral Baja on this website.

Tell us about the people you travel with - are they family? friends? co-workers? If you have children, what are their travel preferences?
We are fortunate to have three couples we travel with regularly. They are all long time friends. Two of the couples have children and we have enjoyed both family vacations and adult only vacations with them. We are also fortunate to have met some WM owners who have become valued friends. There are two couples in particular whom we have shared vacations with and cherish the memories we have made. Unfortunately, our 26 year old son lives approximately 3000 miles away from us so we don't get to vacation with him often. Also unfortunately, our 22 year old son joins us on very few vacations these days. He has other interests so we appreciate the holidays we get to spend with him. On the positive side, we get to enjoy his company daily since he lives with us! Our boys love most any type of vacation experience (snowboarding, beach, action) especially if dad and mom are footing the bill.......wouldn't you?

What is your most exciting vacation memory?
Another difficult question I can't narrow down to one experience. Some of our most exciting vacation memories include snorkelling at Xel-Ha, white-water rafting on the Thompson River, visiting the Grand Canyon, kayaking down the River of Golden Dreams and parasailing over Okanogan Lake. The list can go on forever but if I must choose just one experience it would have to be hot tubbing in Birch Bay at the Birch Bay GOO in Oct. 2004. Now that was an experience of a lifetime wasn't it Nora, Theresa, Nina, Ron, Barry?........wasn't it?

Have you ever had some kind of "vacation disaster" threaten to ruin your trip? Tell us your story!
Fortunately, we have never had anything that catastrophic happen at vacation time. Almost anything that comes up just adds a different dimension to planned excursions.

What activities do you and your family enjoy besides vacationing? (i.e. camping, walking, painting, etc)
Although we have some interests in common, each of the four of us has interests of our own. The boys like playing team sports, especially hockey. Canadian kids, eh! They both enjoy snowboarding and the youngest golfs. They also like hanging with their buddies and girls; particularly the present girlfriend which changes every once in awhile. Barry enjoys planning and going on vacations most of all. Actually planning home renovations also seems to give him a great deal of pleasure as well. Barry also enjoys visiting with friends, reading, walking, snorkelling, kayaking, camping, watching sports, tagging along on most of my excursions or harebrained ideas and helping me find the humour in the errors I make.............gurrrrrrrrrrr! Another of his favourite things is television. I enjoy my family, visiting with friends, meeting people, playing card and board games, walking, snorkelling, kayaking, holidays, camping, eating and reading. I enjoy playing golf but my skill level is in dire need of improvement. I love adventure and want to go everywhere and try almost everything I am physically capable of. Making memories and sharing them with people I care about is very important to me.

Do you have a hobby? What is it and what makes it special to you?
My hobbies include spending time with my family and friends. I belong to a dinner and game group that gets together four times a year, I also belong to a book club that I love. The book group is comprised of eleven of my colleagues and although we read a book between each meeting we do more socializing than book discussion. Three of my friends and I have our own little movie club as well. We go to movies but we are just as likely to go out for tea, dinner or a walk. I love to read, make things and, I know I said it before but, I love to go places and have adventures. My newest hobby is going to the gym. This was initiated partly by Robert (surf rider) and a very good friend who wanted to start working out. She said it would improve our golf game. It doesn't seem to be doing anything for my swing or distance but I really like working out at the gym. Go figure!

Other than a WorldMark destination, what is your favorite place to visit for rest and relaxation?
In the summer we like Illahie Campground in Summerland, B.C. on the Okanogan Lake. Anytime of year we love going to Whistler, wandering around the village, and playing card and board games with family and friends. Whistler is the perfect place to visit for relaxation or adventure.

If you could choose to live anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
Both Barry and I feel blessed to live in a beautiful area of a free country. Although we want to visit everywhere, we are content to live in the southwest corner of Canada.

How did you choose to become a WorldMark owner? Or, why did you choose WorldMark over other timeshare companies?
Approximately three years ago Barry and I decided we would like to check out some timeshare companies with the possibility of becoming owners. We started by asking everyone we knew, who owned a timeshare, how they felt about the timeshare they owned. We received very positive reviews about two companies; WM and Intrawest, so we went to presentations for both companies. The rest is history.

What do you enjoy most about being a WorldMark owner?
We vacation more and think nothing of just taking off for the weekend. Being able to stay in condos makes vacationing so much easier and more enjoyable. The very best thing, however, is meeting all the awesome WM owners. We value the camaraderie of the owners we have met and hope to make the acquaintance of the rest of you, so watch out.

What do you like best about this WMO website community you have helped create?
This website makes vacationing easier and more satisfying. I love the way everyone willingly shares ideas and knowledge to ensure we all have the best possible holiday. Wmowners.com has become one of my main holiday research tools. However, I must say the good natured humour on this site is what I enjoy the most.

What suggestions do you have to enhance it?
Can it get any better?

Do you have ideas for contests and giveaways that we could possibly incorporate in the future?
How about a contest where owners submit GOO fun activity ideas? We could also submit tested GOO recipes

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Barb and Barry