Sue:

I was born to travel? Maybe that's because I was born an Air Force brat. I was born in England and moved on average every 3 years until I ended up in St. Louis 36 years ago. While attending the University of Mo., St. Louis, I met and married my husband, Ken, 31 years ago. Having gotten my MRS degree, I spent most of the next 15, or so, years raising our 2 kids. Our son is now 27 and works as a computer LAN administrator for a large local housing developer and married a wonderful young lady 3 years ago. Our 25 year old daughter is a Kansas State graduate and working as an architect in downtown St. Louis. Ken has spent the last 33 years working for our major utility. Wonder where your NW trees are going?----He buys millions of dollars worth of poles for the Midwest, especially after disasters such as Katrina and our many tornado's. About 9 years ago I started working as a permanent part time photographer for a huge national studio. I take the cute little pictures of your kids holding a soccer ball, etc., as well as candids of high school activities: sports; dances; graduations; plays; assemblies. On the side, I do some aerial photography for a construction company and have started doing some weddings.

FEATURED OWNERS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

How long have you been a member of WorldMark?
"I" have been an owner of WorldMark since Aug. of 2003. On our annual summer vacation, my dad had arranged for us all to go to Eagle Crest for 2 nights on a promotional trip. I suggested he ask about the WM program at the presentation. He did and shocked us by offering to go in as co-owners with us. Therefore, my dad and I are the actual owners. My husband gets to tag along---sometimes. So far I have been to Eagle Crest, Depoe Bay, Gleneden, Victoria, Dolphin's Cove, and Lake of the Ozarks. We have reservations for Discovery Bay and Mariners Village this July. We also exchanged into Pahio Kauai Beach VIllas once.

What is your favorite WorldMark resort? What do you like about it?
That's a tough questions! I'll narrow it down to 2 here---- one for the actual unit and one for the location. For the unit, I love the 4 bedroom penthouses at LOTO----their beautiful decor and furnishings, big screen TV, private hot tub overlooking the lake, game table, and roominess. For location, so far I'd pick Depoe Bay. The views of the rugged Oregon coast and the brilliant sunsets from Depoe Bay are fantastic!

What things do you like to do when visiting this resort?
When visiting LOTO, we like to go boating, antiquing, fishing, shopping, eating !, and just plain relaxing from the hustle and bustle of St. Louis. At Depoe Bay, we mainly just chill out and listen to the ocean.

Would you share some of your favorite vacation web links and/or photos from this resort and the surrounding area?
Sure! I have albums of all the WM resorts I've been to so far on Imagestation. Feel free to look at them and the trillion other pictures I have on there!
Depoe Bay
LOTO
Why I love Kauai
Also, I have added several pictures onto this forum's albums site.

Tell us about the people you travel with - are they family? friends? co-workers? If you have children, what are their travel preferences?
I travel with whomever will go with me! My husband goes 3 or 4 weeks a year. My dad goes some of those weeks plus another 2 or 3 weeks. Sometimes we get the kids to join us (or me) for a week or so. My sister will go with me 4 or 5 days. I even take a yearly trip with work for our winter meetings.

What is your most exciting vacation memory?
Another extremely tough question! I think I'll choose the 2 week Eurail trip that my daughter and I took a couple years ago after her semester of school in Prague. It was definitely different from any other trip I've taken. Riding the rails in Europe is amazing! I got 1st class passes off EBay! We went from Prague, to Ronchamp, to Geneva, to Rome, to Cinque Terre, to Barcelona, and finally to Paris. The 1st of hopefully many mother/daughter trips!

Have you ever had some kind of "vacation disaster" threaten to ruin your trip? Tell us your story!
Yes!---2 actually! First one was when my son, daughter and I were travelling around Great Britain (also by train) in 1997. My daughter's knee dislocated while she was descending stairs in a train station. It was rather amazing to see how quickly and efficiently security and paramedics responded to her screams! After relocating her knee, they wrapped it in wool and an ace bandage, got us a wheel chair, and we were on our way to the next train. 2nd disaster was a couple years ago. My dad and I went on a Disney cruise---first cruise for either of us. On a snorkeling excursion, he nearly drowned. He was unconscious and put on a respirator. It took 9 hours to get him from ship to hospital---by way of tug boat and Lear jet air ambulance. After 5 nights in the hospital (3 in ICU), he was released. Fortunately he suffers no ill effects!

What activities do you and your family enjoy besides vacationing? (i.e. camping, walking, painting, etc)
Volleyball is a big part of my life. Actually met my husband on the court. Played varsity in college; coached select; reffed; still play in advanced leagues; and this May I'll play in my 1st "seniors" tournament. It'll be interesting being one of the young players for a change instead of the old one! We also enjoy watching the "kids" softball games and cheering on our Cardinals baseball team. On vacations, we love to go snorkeling (with a tight leash on my dad now!).

Do you have a hobby? What is it and what makes it special to you?
My hobby is photography----taking and manipulating pictures. I was able to turn my hobby into a job that I like. Work even thinks I'm a genius with photoshop---boy do I have them fooled!

Other than a WorldMark destination, what is your favorite place to visit for rest and relaxation?
Hands down Kauai! We've been going there for 2 weeks every winter for about 5 years now.

If you could choose to live anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
Kauai---so we could be on vacation all the time. Actually, I'm sure it would be different if we lived there, but I love the scenery, weather (usually), and laid back atmosphere of Kauai. But for now, I'm happy living here close to my kids.

How did you choose to become a WorldMark owner? Or, why did you choose WorldMark over other timeshare companies?
Being an owner in another timeshare company (Pahio at Kauai Beach Villas), I like that WM has so many options---great resorts and bonus time. Our other timeshare is on Kauai and we love it, so that one is great, too. But for our 2 and 3 night vacations, WM has made it possible to affordably stay in some great places.

What do you enjoy most about being a WorldMark owner?
I love knowing that I will be going on vacations to places I hadn't thought about before. I want to see why WM put resorts in all these locations.

What do you like best about this WMO website community you have helped create?
Everyone is so genuinely anxious to help each other. It's a great place to go to for useful information and to just joke around with each other.

What suggestions do you have to enhance it?
Bring back the health forum.

Do you have ideas for contests and giveaways that we could possibly incorporate in the future?
I like the idea of giving away a winning lottery ticket. I'll be happy to take one! Seriously, though, I think the site is doing a great job with what it was meant for---helping WM owners get the best out of their ownership.

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Sue