Member Spotlight

Jack and Joy Menne
Surprise, Arizona

Residence: Surprise, Ariz., from November through April. We travel by motorhome the remainder of the year.

FMCA membership number:  F81770

We joined FMCA in…  1986

Current motorhome:  a 2000 Newmar Mountain Aire – 40-foot diesel pusher

Motorhomes owned:  seven. Our first was a Winnebago D22, purchased in January 1969.

We decided to buy a motorhome because…
Our first two were for pleasure and business. The last five have been for travel pleasure only.

Current or former occupations:
Jack’s background is in engineering and business. Mine (Joy) is in business and psychology. Jack was a professor and administrator at Iowa State University. I was primarily in private practice, and we jointly operated a small consulting firm. In 1976 and 1978, we purchased a small citrus groves in Florida. In 1981 Jack retired from Iowa State and we moved to Florida to manage the groves (our manager indicated a desire to retire), start an income tax business and custom build computers.

The best thing about motorhoming is…
Having our own bed and home wherever we decide to roam.

When we’re not motorhoming, we…
Spend most of the winter months living in Happy Trails resort in Arizona, where we square dance, hike, bike, and are involved in various other activities. We are both involved in a number of volunteer programs. For example, Jack is on the board of trustees and on the building committee of a large life care center in Sun City, Ariz. He has also signed up recently to teach 55-Alive driving classes, with Joy’s assistance.

One of our favorite motorhoming destinations is…
Abingdon, Va. There are a number of things we like about that area. First of all, we are avid rails-to-trails bike riders, and the Virginia Creeper Trail our of Abingdon is one of the most beautiful and interesting ones we have ridden. We also thoroughly enjoy the Barter Theaters, the many interesting and attractive old stone homes, sipping tea on the veranda of the old Martha Washington hotel, and the beautiful countryside.

One of our not-so-fond motorhoming experiences was…
Driving back to Iowa from Florida in a terrible blizzard all across Tennessee and Kentucky. Jack was flat on his back in bed (and had been there for three weeks), and I had just gotten word the night before that my mother, in Iowa, had a stroke and was in the hospital. I pulled off into a motel parking lot, but the wind was so strong we could not keep the furnace going. The motel was full, and we were afraid we might freeze if we didn’t get someplace where we could hook up to electricity. I got back onto the highway and drove on to Evanston, Ind. Having driven continuously from central Florida, I could not go any farther and so pulled into a snow-drifted, closed campground, where, fortunately, the electricity was on. We were extremely fortunate to get out of the snowdrift after several hours of sleep.

The best thing about our motorhome is…
The excellent workmanship and reliability. Another super plus for me (Joy) is the slide-out freezer in the basement.

Our favorite thing(s) about FMCA is…
The interesting magazine and the Traveler’s Message Service.

A motorhoming tip we’d like to share with other motorhomers is…
Ladies, learn to drive your motorhome; gentlemen, encourage your wives to drive. This is not really a tip, but out strong recommendation. It’s not very safe for one person to drive many hours in a row. When we got our first motorhome, we set a rule that neither one of us would drive more than two hours continuously, unless absolutely necessary. If one person suddenly becomes ill and the partner has to drive to a hospital or obtain other emergency help, it’s much better to be comfortable with handling your vehicle. The day after we conducted a seminar on driving and caring for an RV (including encouraging the ladies to drive), a friend collapsed and we had to call for an ambulance. After the emergency medical personnel got the man stabilized, they suggested the best thing to do was to put him in bed in his motorhome and drive him home to his own doctor. Jack drove their motorhome, and I followed in ours.

Our hobbies/interests are…
Many! We are square dancers and, until recently, clogged a lot. This past May, I had a spinal fusion with rods and screws installed; thus, we have not yet returned to clogging. One of our very favorite spring-to-fall activities is riding our bicycles on the many wonderful rails-to-trails (abandoned railroad beds made into hiking and biking trails). Motorhoming lends itself so well to that activity. We park the motorhome in a campground; then, with bicycles mounted on the back our towed car, we head for the trail heads. We both enjoy hiking and reading. Jack has immersed himself in electronics from childhood on, and I enjoy the keyboard, stained glass and other crafts.

Our advice to new motorhomers is…
Do not think that just because your motorhome is large, you can load it with everything you can find room for, and do not drive it too hard (fast), lugging the engine. Also, learn to glance at the gauges often. If a warning light or buzzer comes on, pull to the side of the road as soon as possible. When you get a new motorhome, study the operating manual thoroughly; if you do not understand any part of it, call the manufacturer or a friend who is an experienced RVer for help.

Behind our motorhome, we tow…
A 1993 Lincoln Towncar, on a tow bar and with a disconnect drive shaft.

Other FMCA members may contact us…
Via e-mail at jacknjoy@hotmail.com, but we prefer that they call us at (623) 975-9554 from about October until April 1.