<\/a><\/p>\n Given a choice I enjoy staying at full-service hotels verses vacation rental properties. I enjoy having all the facilities that a good hotel can offer \u2013 pool, restaurant, bar, social areas, spa, and possibly a lounge. If you have elite status it can be even nicer. Susan on the other hand loves a nice vacation rental property. Typically, they\u2019re roomier, have a full kitchen, and it\u2019s much easier to have multiple bedrooms and bathrooms if a family is staying together.<\/p>\n Our youngest daughter is currently attending San Diego State University and for Easter weekend this year Susan rented a HomeAway property in the Ocean Beach area of San Diego. HomeAway is a sister brand to VRBO, another business that does \u201cVacation Rentals By Owner\u201d, and both are owned by travel giant Expedia. San Diego State\u2019s normally scheduled spring break wasn\u2019t the same week as Easter, and with Susan and I staying at a property close to our daughter\u2019s college it would make it easier to enjoy the holiday together as a family. Additionally, our vacation condo was directly on and overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and with our other daughter also joining us the three girls could spend time soaking up the beautiful west coast sunsets and the beach. And then March 2020 came, and all hell broke loose.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n With the Covid19 pandemic and shelter in place orders, all of this was cancelled. San Diego State sent all students home to finish the semester studying remotely. Most airline traveling was cancelled, unless deemed essential. We also had many work issues to deal with, including how to operate a business and our jobs remotely. By the time we got around to the end of March we had almost entirely forgotten about our family trip over Easter together in San Diego. The trip had been planned April 9th through the 13th at the HomeAway condo property in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego.<\/p>\n