FMCA membership number: F362311 (we joined in 2005)

Our current motorhome:
2008 Holiday Rambler Vacationer XL 38PLT UFO gas pusher

Three words that best describe our motorhome:
Comfy, quiet, attractive

The best thing about our motorhome:
I say the chassis. My wife says the floor plan.

Other motorhomes we’ve owned:
2005 Bounder 36s

We decided to buy a motorhome because:
We tent camped for 30 years and wanted to upgrade.

Our occupations:
We are self-employed in the communications business.

Children, grandchildren:
We have three children and three grandchildren.

We travel in our motorhome:
Approximately two months of the year. When we’re not motorhoming, we’re working.

Our favorite motorhoming destinations:
Walt Disney World, Blue Ridge Mountains

Our all-time favorite motorhome trip:
We motorhomed to Little Switzerland in the mountains of North Carolina for our daughter’s wedding.

Our “dream” motorhome trip:
Three months to the Southwest including Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. And it is still a dream.

Our perfect day of motorhome travel:
Traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway around Grandfather Mountain in the fall

Our worst motorhoming experience:
When we became stuck fast in the mud in my father’s backyard

Our motorhoming pet peeve:
People who cut me off on the road and think I can stop on a dime. Also, small-site campgrounds with rutty roads that say they are big-rig accessible.

The best addition or alteration we’ve made to our motorhome:
Outside window shades

If we could change one thing about our motorhome, it would be:
A bit more room around the bed

When driving a motorhome, the most important thing to remember is:
Never panic, and never be in a rush to go anywhere.

Our advice for other motorhome owners:
Remember it isn’t a house or a car; it’s a house on top of a truck going down the road at 60 miles an hour.

Our hobbies:
Diane: Scrap booking
Derrick: photography (goes well with the wife’s hobby)

Favorite restaurant:
The Moose Café in Asheville, North Carolina.

A celebrity we admire:
Gary Sinise (Lt. Dan from Forrest Gump)

Something others would be surprised to know about us:
We both used to be friends with and worked with Jim and Tammy Bakker.

If we were awarded a shopping spree at the store of our choice, the store we’d choose:
Wal-Mart (no kidding)

Favorite campground:
Fort Wilderness

When motorhomers visit our state or hometown, they should be sure to see:
Williamsburg, Virginia

Items that we always keep in our motorhome’s refrigerator while traveling:
Cottage cheese, milk, deli stuff. And something to drink like Blue Moon or Woodchuck Cider, or Miller Chill, or all the above.

Our advice to new motorhomers:
You need to be able to fix things yourselves, and have lots of patience when things go wrong. And they will go wrong.

Behind our motorhome, we tow:
A 2006 Saturn Vue, 4-cylinder, using a Blue Ox tow bar. We use an Smi supplemental braking system.

Pets that travel with us:
Nickolas, our cocker spaniel

When we’re online, Web sites we like to visit:
Irv2.com, Rvnet.com, Fmca.com, Sundance-Communications.com

A technical or travel tip we’d like to share with other motorhome owners:
Always use a supplemental braking system. Also consider Crossfires for your rear tires. That reminds me, I need to get a pair for our new coach.

We joined FMCA because:
We wanted the magazine and we also wanted to attend the local rallies and national conventions.

Other FMCA members may contact us via e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it