Member Spotlight

Paul and Phyllis McGhee
Twinsburg, Ohio (in summer)
Palm City, Fla. (in winter)

FMCA membership number:  F11595 (we joined FMCA in 1973)

FMCA chapter memberships:  Swinging Golfers International

Our current motorhome:  a 2004 Newmar Essex

Other motorhomes we've owned:
A 1970 Champion, a 1973 Georgie Boy Cruise Air, a 1975 Superior, a 1992 Pace Arrow (for six months before deciding to get a diesel), a 1992 Overland Discovery, a 1999 Safari Sahara and a 2001 Safari Serengeti

We decided to buy a motorhome because:
For years we camped in tents, delivery vans and in the back of a station wagon. After 10 years of marriage we went to buy our first new car and found a new 20-foot Champion motorhome for $6,700. That was our great beginning.

Three words that best describe our current motorhome:
Classy, convenient, roomy. It feels like a condo unit.

Our career/occupation:
We spent 40 years in the printing/publishing business, which we started with a weekly newspaper in 1959. We sold the newspaper to our children in 1988, and we retired in 1999.

Children:
We have three children, 10 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and a granddaughter-in-law.

The best thing about motorhoming is:
Having all the comforts of home always with you and the ability to see the country at our own pace

We travel in the motorhome:
Approximately six months per year. When we're not motorhome we're celebrating family or relaxing in Florida sunshine.

Our all-time favorite motorhome trip was:
To California with our three small children and experiencing the wonder of Disneyland, the beaches and all the views, especially mountains.

Other fond motorhoming memories:
Traveling with Paul's parents and our three children in 1972 and fishing in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Haddock were biting so fast Grandma and our oldest, Pam, couldn't keep the lines clean fast enough. Also, we took our grandson Steve to Alaska in 1992 for almost two months of spectacular views and stops.

Our "dream" motorhome trip:
To travel through Nova Scotia, travel by boat to Newfoundland, and fly to Iceland. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are quaint and fun to visit.

Our worst motorhoming experience:
Having picked up a new motorhome in Oklahoma and stopping four or more times on the way home to Florida for MAJOR repairs.

The best addition we've made to our current motorhome:
A water macerator

Some of our favorite features of our motorhome:
Widescreen plasma TV, king-size bed, full washer and dryer, 500-horsepower engine

If we could change one thing about our motorhome it would be:
Provide easier access to the bottom doors as the new 2005 Newmar Essex does.

Something about motorhoming that we know now but didn't know when we started:
That one day we would be calling a M.H. "Home."

When driving the motorhome the most important thing to remember is:
Be sure to use mirrors and keep all surroundings in sight.

Our favorite things about FMCA:
Friends, member benefits, great national and local rallies at which we learn and get good repairs and ideas.

A motorhoming tip we'd like to share with other motorhome owners:
Take advantage of the service techs at prerallies and national rallies.

Our hobbies:
Phyllis: golf, fishing, crossword puzzles, grandkids. Paul: golf, fishing, maintenance projects.

Our favorite way to exercise:  walking on the golf course, bicycling

Favorite movie:  Pretty Woman

Favorite book:  Bible

Favorite song:
Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," "Oklahoma" from the show Oklahoma!

Favorite food: Mexican

Favorite stores:  Wal-Mart Supercenters

Favorite campgrounds:
Brickyard Plantation Golf Club and RV Park in Americus, Ga.
Spokane RV Resort in Deer Park, Wash., north of Spokane

When motorhomers visit our hometown they should be sure to see:
Piqua, Ohio: mule-drawn boat rides on the General Harrison canal boat; Piqua Historical Area on the old Miami and Erie Canal. Close by is the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum.

Items that are always in our motorhome's refrigerator while traveling:
Cheeses, pickles, diet soda, shrimp cocktail

Our advice to new motorhomers:
Enjoy other motorhomers and learn from their experiences. Limit travel to 200 to 300 miles a day.

Behind our motorhome, we tow:
A 2003 Dodge Dakota pickup truck using a tow bar

Our favorite activity to do inside the motorhome:
Watch TV, read books and magazines

Other FMCA members may contact us via e-mail at: phyllismcghee@yahoo.com