Well, we knew it had to come to an end.

Those mild days in June and May gave way to some scorching days last week. Just about every day was somewhere in the “one–teens” and the nighttime readings weren’t below the 90s.

So what better week could it have been for my vacation.  This year we decided to stay close to home and save a few dollars. We’ve been members of the Marriott Vacation Club (the name they use for their timeshare operation) for about 2-1/2 years.

I was never a big timeshare fan until we started staying at these Marriotts. We bought ours from a relative who was needing financial assistance and he gave us a “smokin’” deal.

We stayed in one while in Kauai when daughter Holly got married. Last year we spent a week at the J.W. Marriott Resort in Palm Desert, Calif.

Diane had been trying to book us somewhere in the San Diego area in July or August. Apparently, so was every else. After checking availabilities nightly for weeks, she gave up and started looking at other possibilities.

How would you like to stay at Desert Ridge?” she asked me as I was getting ready for bed one evening.

My original split second thought was, “NO!”

But as I began thinking about it, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

It turned out great, except for the extra hot weather. I’ve always enjoyed summers in the Phoenix area. The heat makes me feel good. Contrarily, when I’m shivering, I can feel awful. But the combination of the high temperatures and increasing humidity had even me mentioning how warm it was. I should have said, “hot.”

Daughter Toni and her fiancé, Jason, came in from the San Diego area. Jason stayed until noon Monday and Toni left Wednesday morning. After just experiencing the “June Gloom” period of fog and overcast skies that occur that month in Southern California, they had forgotten how hot it can get here in the Valley.

Daughter Dani and her significant other, Aaron Beseler, used our two-bedroom condo the first weekend. Diane and I spent our first night there on Sunday. Grandson Hunter spent almost the entire week with us. We celebrated Toni and Aaron’s birthdays on Saturday night, July 10.

For Diane it was a solemn moment when she realized her baby had turned 30.

The first couple of days were spent at the pool at the hotel. After that, we used the pool in our timeshare area, which is called Canyon Villas.

The entire complex is done very well. The staff members seemed very well trained and cordial. They made you feel special in a special place. You felt as if we were away from home although it was only 25 minutes away.

To avoid the near record heat, we spent our afternoons at the condo watching DVD’s, reading, playing games and dozing. We would head back to the pool between 4:30 and 5, have a beer or a pina colada with some chips and salsa.  

One afternoon, we took in a movie at the nearby Desert Ridge Mall.

All in all, it was a very relaxing week. Now it is time to get back to work. Don’t worry, Jerry, my reading was editing our Town history book. But I did it leisurely.