Member Spotlight

John and Marjorie Grubka
Full-timers from Mesa, Ariz.

FMCA membership number: F283339 (we joined in 2000)

FMCA chapter membership: Rexhall International

Our current motorhome: a 2000 Rexhall Aerbus 3550 BSL

Other motorhomes we’ve owned:
A 1970 Beechwood, a 1976 Winnebago Chieftain and a 1982 Fleetwood Southwind

The best features of our current motorhome:
The inside layout, the rear window, the 35-foot double slideout with living room entertainment center. It’s a great full-timer RV.

We decided to buy a motorhome because:
We wanted to see the USA coast to coast, border to border including back roads, when retiring.

The best thing about motorhoming:
You can set your own pace.

Former occupations:
I (John) am a retired salesperson. Marjorie was a homemaker, and also corrections officer after our children left the nest.

Children:
We have one son, age 42, and one daughter, 43.

Our all-time favorite motorhome trip:
The one we are currently on

One of our fondest motorhoming memories:
The four months we spent volunteering in Alaska via ferry

Other favorite motorhoming destinations: the East Coast

Our “dream” motorhome trip would be:
To cross Canada from coast to coast

Our perfect day of motorhome travel:
Back roads, little traffic, scenery, places to explore, meals watching the outdoors through our large windows

Our worst motorhoming experience:
Loosing our transmission on a mountaintop (Payson, Ariz., to Phoenix) with only 5,000 miles on the motorhome

Our motorhoming pet peeve:
Too big, too luxurious, noisy, smelly diesels. Snobs in big rigs.

Some things motorhoming has taught us about life:
Slow the pace, because there is so much to see and do.

The best additions we’ve made to our motorhome:
Solar power, LED lighting

Other special features or equipment on our motorhome:
We use laptops for GPS travel aid. Also, we have a drop-down 6-foot projector screen to view movies, DVDs, photos, etc.

If we could change anything about our motorhome:
Install dual-pane windows.

Something about motorhoming that we know now but didn’t know when we started:
The difficulties being a full-timer in regard to licensing, registration, voting, etc.

When driving the motorhome the most important things to remember are:
Overall height and weight restrictions and stopping distance

Our favorite thing about FMCA:
The exposure to vendors, other RVers and chapters at rallies and conventions

Advice for other motorhome owners:
Buy the coach to meet your lifestyle, not others’. Purchase the best floor plan for your needs. Choose the chassis and horsepower first, then the bells and whistles.

Our hobbies:  hiking, biking, exploring, taking photos, visiting national parks

Our favorite way to exercise:  walking, biking and hiking

Favorite movie:  Doctor Zhivago

Favorite book:  Wal-Mart map book, books-on-tape

Favorite singer: Elvis

Favorite restaurant: Red Lobster

If we won a free shopping spree at any store, we’d choose:
Camping World, somewhere new to outfit our motorhome

Favorite campgrounds:
National parks: Grand Canyon, Kenai Fords, Greenbelt

Items we always keep in our motorhome’s refrigerator while traveling:
Iced tea, fish, fruit, veggies

Our advice to new motorhomers:
Do your homework. Know your needs.

Behind our motorhome, we tow:
A 2005 Jeep with a Roadmaster tow bar

Our favorite activity to do inside the motorhome:
Watching DVD movies or videos, including photos or slide shows of our travels, on our entertainment center.

Other FMCA members may contact us via e-mail:
cso4269@yahoo.com or jgrubka@earthlink.net