Member Spotlight

James and Joyce Haupt
Lakewood, Calif.

FMCA membership number: F184794 (joined in 1994)

Our current motorhome:
A 35-foot 2000 Dutch Star

Three words that best describe our motorhome:
Comfortable, cozy, second home

Other motorhomes we’ve owned:
A Callista type C and a Robinhood

The best thing about motorhoming:
Meeting new friends and seeing our beautiful United States.

We decided to buy a motorhome because:
Now that we are retired, we love to travel. And now that we are members of FMCA, we love to attend rallies with our friends.

The best addition or alteration we’ve made to our motorhome:
A new TV, outside cooler

If we could change one thing about our motorhome:
It would be to have the door in the center of the motorhome instead of at the front.

Former occupations:
Joyce is retired from banking. James is retired from an appraisal business.

Children, grandchildren:
Combined, we have five children and eight grandchildren.

We travel in our motorhome approximately:
Three to four months during the year. When we’re not motorhoming we’re involved with our church, Elks, a hunting and fishing club (Jim is past president), monthly card parties, family outings, the chamber of commerce (Joyce is past president) and Soroptimist International of Los Angeles (Joyce is past president and an honorary member).

Our favorite motorhoming destinations:
Priest Gulch in southwest Colorado. Gardnerville and Minden, Nev. Carson Valley Inn Hotel-Casino-RV Resort in Minden — it’s located ear Lake Tahoe, Reno and Virginia City, a historic mining town. Smokey Mountains. Ozarks. Oceano, San Clemente and Huntington Beach, Calif.

Our all-time favorite motorhome trip:
Canada — it's so very beautiful!

Our “dream” motorhome trip:
To travel through the Midwest to the East Coast.

Our perfect day of motorhome travel:
Safe traveling, ending the day at a nice RV park. Enjoying the evening, weather permitting, sitting outside and enjoying the fresh air and conversation with family and friends.

Our worst motorhoming experience:
When our motorhome broke down in Pocatello, Idaho, coming home from FMCA’s convention in North Dakota in 2005. Also, when we had a breakdown in Tucumcari, New Mexico, on our way to a national rally in Albuquerque.

Something about motorhoming that we know now but did NOT know when we started:
That it would be so relaxing and that we would have so much fun by ourselves or with friends or make so many new friends through FMCA.

When driving a motorhome, the most important thing to remember is:
That the size of the motorhome is not the same as a car, especially when you are making turns.

Our motorhoming pet peeve:
Automobiles that cut in and out of traffic while we are on the freeway.

Advice to other motorhome owners:
Enjoy it as long as you can. Old age comes too soon and you are not able to drive and do the things or travel the places you did when you were younger.

Our hobbies:
Short walks, monthly get-togethers and card games with friends. Small group home dinners, taking turns hosting them each month. Spending time with our children and grandchildren. Church activities, staying involved with our social and service clubs.

Favorite restaurant:
Fish Company

Something others would be surprised to know about us:
Can’t tell you that! You would never believe it if we did tell you.

If we were awarded a shopping spree at the store of our choice, the store we’d choose is:
Costco

A celebrity we admire:
Bob Hope. He was a great entertainer. Plus, he did so much for others, especially our troops overseas.

Our avorite campground:
Priest Gulch Campground in Dolores, Colo.

When motorhomers visit our state or hometown, they should be sure to see:
Disneyland in Anaheim and Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park.

Items that we always keep in our motorhome refrigerator while traveling:
Beer and soft drinks

Our advice to new motorhomers:
Make sure all the cupboards and refrigerator doors are closed and don't forget to take down the antenna before you leave home or the campground.

Behind our motorhome, we tow:
A 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier, using a two bar

When we're online, we like to visit these Web sites:
www.southerncalifornia.com, www.socalsynod.org, www.fmca.com and others that interest at the time.

We joined FMCA because:
One of our friends recommended it to us. It was the best advice we ever received. We've had so many good times with old and new friends.

FMCA chapters that we belong to:
Southwestern Bus Nuts, Beat the Odds, California, Southern California FMCA Elk, We’Come.

Other comments:
We have made so many longtime friends through FMCA and enjoy all the local and national rallies. We also attend other events, such as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta; attractions in Branson, Mo.; family outings; and the yearly crab festival in Lodi, Calif. I (Joyce) am currently president of the Beat the Odds chapter. We have served as trail bosses for several chapters and have been rally managers for Beat the Odds for several years. I am currently volunteer coordinator for the Western Area Rally and Jim serves on the Parking Crew.