Judy:

I’m an Iowa gal who left the heat and cold of Iowa a long time ago. When my daughter and son were small, I took a part time job at Christmas with the J. C. Penney Co. selling women’s clothing. Now I’ve been there for 36 years, and plan to retire in February of 2007. Which reminds me of something the speaker at my daughters’ graduation said, “Most people put more planning into a vacation than into their career choice”. That certainly was true of me. After my divorce, I sold carpeting for several years, and then I moved to jewelry sales, which has been my home now for 26 years. I’ve got great customers that I’ve seen through their engagements, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, children, and so many holidays. Along the way I found my husband Howard, who retired from the Air Force as a CMSgt, before working and retiring from J. C. Penney’s. He’s a great husband, partner, father, and grandfather.

FEATURED OWNERS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

How long have you been a member of WorldMark? Where have you visited?
In 1994, my neighbor told me about this timeshare he’d bought into, and asked if I’d like to go to a presentation. Well, I went and I bought my 6,000 credit account from Trendwest. (My neighbor, ended up selling his because he has a big RV, but 12 years later I’m still a happy owner) We’ve been to 18 of the resorts, Discovery Bay (2x), Birch Bay (2x), The Camlin (4x), Ocean Shores, and Long Beach in Washington, Seaside (4x), Depoe Bay, Gleneden, and Newport in Oregon, Cascade Lodge, Victoria (2x), and Vancouver in B.C. (3x), Windsor, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Clear Lake in California, Rancho Vistoso (2x) in Arizona, and Kihei in Hawaii. We did exchanges to Orlando and El Cid in Mazatlan.

What is your favorite WorldMark resort? What do you like about it?
I think I’d have to put Depoe Bay at the top of the list because it’s such a great location overlooking the ocean and the whales that like to feed so close to the resort. A few years ago my husband had the grandkids thinking that the whales would come whenever he whistled for them. Sometimes I think my favorite resort is whichever one I visited last…which at this point would be Seaside.

What things do you like to do when visiting this resort?
We like walks on the beaches or promenade, buying crabs from the fishing boats in tiny Depoe Bay harbor for dinner, exploring little shops in town, or factory stores on our way to the resort. Long visits to the pool and hot tub are important. If we’re with the grandkids, creating sandcastles & sculptures and finding sea creatures at low tide are part of the fun. Sunsets, salt- water taffy, and daydreaming are all part of the fun.

Would you share some of your favorite vacation web links and/or photos from this resort and the surrounding area?
(See below)

Tell us about the people you travel with - are they family? friends? co-workers? If you have children, what are their travel preferences?
We often travel with family, if not with the kids & grandkids, then with my sister Diana. She came to the GalzGoo in Victoria with me. Occasionally, my brother and his wife can get away with us too. Both my daughter and son are married and have two boys, ranging from 4 to 15 years in age. My son Clint and his wife, Sue are new WorldMark owners this year, and are enjoying the Club. They’ve already gone to Coral Baja, Eagle Crest, and Seaside, and have booked Kihei for next spring. We joined them at Seaside and had a great time…only problem was getting the boys to leave the pool. So far my daughter, Teri and her husband, Wade hasn’t joined the Club, but I hope they will too.

What is your most exciting vacation memory?
That’s hard to decide, but climbing the Great Wall was probably the most exciting.

Have you ever had some kind of "vacation disaster" threaten to ruin your trip? Tell us your story!
One vacation (prior to WM) started in Puerto Vallerta with the front desk telling us they had no room for us due to overbooking, and finding out that people were camping out in the ballroom. After Howard talked to the woman in charge, she arranged for us to spend that first night sharing a room in town at another hotel with my sister & her husband, who snored like a jet engine. Luckily, the noise from the rocks rolling in and out with the tide helped mask his snoring, and the next morning we went back to the hotel, had breakfast and checked in…and the rest of the vacation was great.

What activities do you and your family enjoy besides vacationing? (i.e. camping, walking, painting, etc)
Howard enjoys fishing. We like gardening, movies, cooking and wine tasting. My sister and I have season tickets for the Seattle Opera. Skiing used to be one of our activities, but I think we might be “retired” skiers now.

Do you have a hobby? What is it and what makes it special to you?
Is shopping a hobby? I enjoy photography, and have started redoing some of my old photo albums recently. Reading the forum is my new hobby.

Other than a WorldMark destination, what is your favorite place to visit for rest and relaxation?
I don’t know if I’d say that “rest and relaxation” would be of prime importance in vacations spent somewhere other than at a WM resort. My sister and I went on a three week guided tour of China, which was fascinating. Our father was Chinese so we had great curiosity about that country. Howard and I returned to Europe to visit Germany where he was stationed while in the Air Force, and to Paris because it was at the top of my wish list. We have visited Washington, D.C., and plan to go to New York City this October. There is so much to see and do, but probably not much “R&R”. When we did a Caribbean cruise we tried too many shore excursions, so even the cruise wasn’t exactly “restful”, but we certainly enjoyed it.

If you could choose to live anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
I’m happy here in the Pacific Northwest. Much as I like to visit other countries, I have no urge to move.

How did you choose to become a WorldMark owner? Or, why did you choose WorldMark over other timeshare companies?
I attended the TW presentation and thought it sounded great (and we only had about 16 resorts back then). I bought my 6,000 credits from the developer and while I did have some second thoughts, I was totally reassured after the first vacation. In 1994 I knew virtually nothing about timeshares, so I guess I’m lucky that I bought WorldMark! Much later, after we got on-line and started reading the TW4M, I began to make better use of the Club by using bonus time and inventory specials. The owners have always been so willing to share information and answer questions it was like “timeshare #101”. When TW shut down the 4M I was very upset. I’ve been very grateful to those who have worked so hard to give us this new WorldMark Owners site.

What do you enjoy most about being a WorldMark owner?
Having all the great resorts that we’ve already visited and many more that we anticipate going to in the future.

What do you like best about this WMO website community you have helped create?
The people here are great… helpful, friendly, wise, and compassionate, and a few of them are a little ‘wild and crazy’ too. It’s fun to meet other members of the forum, so I’m looking forward to the SEA-GOO to put more faces with forum posts.

What suggestions do you have to enhance it?

Do you have ideas for contests and giveaways that we could possibly incorporate in the future?
I haven’t any great suggestions for improvements, but applaud those with more imagination that have kept the forum growing and improving along the way. I plan to join my husband in retirement next year, and we’ll probably be wishing for more vacation credits.

Casa Grande, AZ	Clint, Sue, Brandon & Cameron	Judy & Howard	Judy & Howard

click on thumbnail for a larger picture

Judy