Judy and Ed:

Ed and I live in Spokane, which is in eastern Washington, not far from the Idaho border. On February 16, we will celebrate our 32nd anniversary. I grew up in the Spokane area, and Ed grew up in Central Washington not too far from Lake Chelan. We met in Omak, WA, where I taught for 3 years. We moved to the Spokane area in 1975.

We both teach at the same school, which is about 25 miles south of Spokane. This is Ed’s 29th year of teaching there. He has taught K-8 P.E., 3rd grade, 5th grade, junior high language arts, 1 high school math class and currently 6th grade. I am in my 34th year of teaching this year. I have taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade in the classroom. I am now in my 2nd year of being a Title I Reading teacher for grades 1-3. Together, we will have 63 years of teaching completed at the end of this year.

We have two daughters. Our oldest, Andria, is 27 and married. She and Jason live in Seattle. Our youngest, Katie, is 23 and finishing her degree at the University of Washington. She is also attending the Reserve Police Academy near Tacoma. We feel very fortunate that they live only 300 miles away.

We are empty nesters except for the 2 cats, Civette and Bandi, who are now 15 years old and the dog, Honey, who is 7 years old this month. It’s funny how the kids leave, but their pets stay. We do enjoy the animals when they are healthy, and the vet bills are paid off.

FEATURED OWNERS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

How long have you been a member of WorldMark? Where have you visited?
We bought our WM membership in March of 2002 from a relative of our good friends who are WM owners. We admired our friends’ photos and stories about their trips. We learned a lot about how WM worked from them before buying.
We have visited the following resorts:
Eagle Ridge, Mariner Village (Ocean Shores), Seaside 2X, Las Vegas, Surfside, Arrow Point 3X( Coeur d’Alene), Depoe Bay, Coral Baja, Park Village (Leavenworth), Oceanside Harbor 2X, Victoria 2X, The Canadian (Vancouver), Camlin (Seattle) and Birch Bay (for me).

What is your favorite WorldMark resort? What do you like about it?
This one is hard, but Depoe Bay is our favorite so far with the Penthouse in Victoria as a close second.
I pulled off a surprise 30th anniversary trip for Ed and myself in February 2004 to Depoe Bay. Each day at school I had put up signs in our staff room with hints about the long weekend ahead. Ed thought it was a joke. Staff members finally convinced him that he had better pack his suitcase. No one let it “slip” where we were going. He was quite surprised and delighted. Our oldest daughter and son-in-law also joined us for a couple of days there.
What we liked about Depoe Bay was: location, location, location!! We enjoyed watching the waves crash on the rocks and the sound of the surf. The photo opportunities, seafood, and relaxed atmosphere were the things we loved about this resort.

What things do you like to do when visiting this resort?
Driving south to Newport with stops along the way is a favorite. We enjoy walking along beaches, exploring tide pools and taking lots of pictures. We also enjoy driving north to Lincoln City for shopping at the outlet mall.

Would you share some of your favorite vacation web links and/or photos from this resort and the surrounding area?
Depoe Bay photos here

Tell us about the people you travel with - are they family? friends? co-workers? If you have children, what are their travel preferences?
We always traveled with our children as they were growing up. We now love to get away together to do what we want, when we want. However about half of our WM trips have been with either our children or friends. We love sharing the WM experience with them.
Our children’s travel preferences are the ones paid for by Mom and Dad! Seriously, they also have really enjoyed WM experiences with and without us. We’ve arranged trips to Whistler, Victoria, and Oceanside for Katie and her friends. We gave Andria and Jason a week in Kihei for their honeymoon in September of 2002. They stayed at Seaside for their 1st anniversary. They have joined us for several other trips, too. Katie and her friends stayed with us at Oceanside while attending college last year near San Diego.
Link to San Diego/Oceanside picture: Here

What is your most exciting vacation memory?
Perhaps because it happened recently, but the first thing that comes to mind is the October 2005 Seattle GOO. This was our first GOO and what a GOO it was in Seattle!!!! The opportunity to meet so many wonderful WM owners was phenomenal. The highlights were Nena’s excellent planning and organizing, Barb’s scavenger hunt which took us to Pike Street Market and the Waterfront, hot tubbing with many other WM members (I won’t say anymore about that), the potluck dinner at the Camlin, and the fantastic Penthouse parties even though security showed up several times the first night. It was the heavy door, not us, right? Right?
There were others who helped make this a memorable trip. Thank you to all of you.

Have you ever had some kind of "vacation disaster" threaten to ruin your trip? Tell us your story!
We have not had a vacation disaster and hope to never encounter one.

What activities do you and your family enjoy besides vacationing? (i.e. camping, walking, painting, etc)
Ed loves to fish. He and his friends go to Idaho about 3 times every summer to fly fish. They also enjoy fishing at the local lakes. An Alaskan fishing trip is on the agenda this summer for the guys.
I enjoy taking photographs. It is even more fun now with digital because I don’t run out of film. Now if I could just get them into online albums and scrapbooks!

Do you have a hobby? What is it and what makes it special to you?
Besides photography, I like scrapbooking. I guess many would say my hobby is reading the WMOwners site and participating on Sunday night chats. (I’ve been told that I’m addicted.) If I spent as much time scrapbooking as being online, I’d have many more scrapbooks finished.
Ed enjoys cooking and is very good at it. He is quite creative. (Lucky me!!) He also plays guitar and sings with guys from his fishing group. Their group is called “Live Bait.”

Other than a WorldMark destination, what is your favorite place to visit for rest and relaxation?
Before we were WM owners, we went to Hawaii twice with our daughters. Both girls had their senior pictures taken on Kauai which was our favorite island of the 3 we visited. We loved the rugged beauty and serene atmosphere. Oahu was great for shopping but too crowded. Our kids had us on the go constantly in Maui. The warm clear Pacific waters surrounding the islands were great for snorkeling and scuba diving. Ed and I look forward to returning someday to relax and enjoy the ocean.

If you could choose to live anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
We have lived in Washington forever. We have been in the Spokane area (eastern Washington) since 1975. We have no desire to leave the beautiful and diverse Pacific Northwest area. Winters in the San Diego area would be nice especially since I hate having to drive on the snowy and icy roads every winter.
Link to San Diego/Anza Borrego Desert/La Jolla from February 2005
Here

How did you choose to become a WorldMark owner? Or, why did you choose WorldMark over other timeshare companies?
Our friends who live near Olympia were WorldMark owners. They would share their experiences and pictures with us. They explained so many of the wonderful opportunities available with WM. We went to a presentation, but we were not ready to buy. Our friend had done such a good job of educating me that our presenter kept giving me strange looks when I questioned him, especially on bonus time and housekeeping fees.
Our friends called us in February of 2002 and told us her brother and sister-in-law were selling their 12,000 credit membership. We decided that this was the time, and we’ve never looked back. Since then we’ve added 3000 more credits with a goal of 20,000 (or more) before we retire.
We almost bought a timeshare in Maui years ago, but are so glad we waited for WorldMark.

What do you enjoy most about being a WorldMark owner?
The flexibility of WorldMark is such a wonderful thing. We have taken vacations and gone places that we would have never traveled to without WorldMark. Overall, the quality has been great. Being able to cook meals in a full kitchen is very important to us and saves us money which leads to more trips. I also love having a washer and dryer in the units. Meeting WM members this past year from WMOwners has made it even more enjoyable.

What do you like best about this WMO website community you have helped create?
The opportunity to honestly express opinions and share ideas has to be what I like best about this site. I also love the Sunday night chats. They are usually quite interesting. Meeting many WMO members at the Seattle GOO and Victoria Galz GOO has enhanced my enjoyment of using this site.

What suggestions do you have to enhance it?
Finding an easier way to display photos in a larger size would be nice. Other than that, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have ideas for contests and giveaways that we could possibly incorporate in the future?
I don’t have any contest ideas, but prizes or giveaways that have the WMO logo on it would be great.

Family Christmas 2005 Lake Coeur d'Alene Arrowpoint, Idaho Elvis! Las Vegas Ed flyfishing in Idaho Seattle

click on thumbnail for a large picture

Judy and Ed