8 minute read
Meet Frank and Suzy Whitmore
Parrottrek - Meet Frank and Suzy Whitmore
If you’ve lived in TGO for any amount of time, chances are you already know Frank and Suzy Whitmore. They have been a fi xture in the park for over 15 years, fi rst using their Windsong lot, and now their Coach Club port as a homebase when not traveling. They are originally from the Santa Ynez area in California where, in 1996, they purchased and operated Antonio’s Pizza restaurant in Buellton. It became the “go to” eatery for both locals and tourists alike, and after nine years (to the day they bought it) they sold Antonio’s and started their full time adventure of living in a motorhome. Frank and Suzy were married in 1997 while still managing the restaurant. Along the way they acquired Bradley, an African Gray parrot, Abbey, a Severe Macaw, and then Cody, a Greenwing Macaw, who have become their lifelong traveling companions. There aren’t too many birds who can claim they have been to all 48 of the contiguous states and visited over 500 plus RV parks Their fi rst RV was a Lance camper they purchased in 1998. Then in 2005, when they sold their restaurant, they upgraded to their fi rst Prevost, mainly to help accommodate their fair-feathered parrot family. It wasn’t long before they started working for a merchandising company called Maingate, providing a great opportunity to travel and collect a paycheck. In 2006 they became part of Kenny Bernstein’s NHRA drag racing team, where they handled his corporate hospitality division. It was a gig where they attended 23 races, working for nine months out of the year, all while traveling across the country. It was actually 2004 when they purchased their RV lot on Windsong, but they didn’t start using it until 2006 when, during the racing off -season, they would hang out in Florida. In 2009, Suzy got her Massage Therapy license and provided a great service for many of us while at TGO. 2005
2022
Started dating Buys pizza company 5/31/96 Gets Bradley, an African Gray Parrot Gets married 4/26/97 Gets Abbey, a Green Severe Macaw Buys fi rst motorhome A Lance camper Gets Cody, a Greenwing Macaw Buys Windsong lot in TGO Sells pizza company 5/31/05 Buys fi rst Prevost On the road, works for Maingate selling merchandise Works for Kenny Berstein doing corporate hospitality Suzy gets massage license
1995 1996 1996 1997 1998 1998 2000 2004 2005 2005 2006 2009
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They retired from the Bernstein gig in 2010 and headed back to California to help their dads as both of their mothers had recently passed. Their traveling bug returned and in late 2010 they headed back to Florida, spending some time in the Keys and then returning to TGO. Frank was bored so he got his real estate license and eventually worked for TGO Realty. Suzy worked on her massage business and served as a waitress at The Plantation House, now known as the Blue Heron. They did another stint with Maingate in 2013 and then in 2014 went to work for Good Sam. They were referred to Good Sam by Dan and Flo Kleine, former Good Sam reps who also live in TGO. This new position presented another great opportunity to travel the country and to return to their TGO home for part of the year. Their job with Good Sam is basically meeting with RV park owners to sell advertising for the massive Good Sam travel guide, their rapidly growing website service and travel app. They also evaluate the RV parks they attend, and yes - they are the ones who help determine if you have a 10-10-10 park - which TGO is proud to be one. Each Good Sam rep is assigned a territory and Frank and Suzy’s first territory was the northeastern states of New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine. The following year they were assigned Nevada and Montana. Then central California in 2016. The next three years were basically all west coast states where they repped the Good Sam brand. In 2021 they were assigned the northern and central Florida region. It has, for sure, allowed them to spend more time here at TGO and still helps feed their ferocious traveling appetite. Their Good Sam busy months run usually from March/April through July/August. Then they’re off again for their personal adventures. Frank and Suzy have now been RV warriors for over 17 years. Back in 2005 when they started, the internet was not the valuable tool we all appreciate today. They relied on a trucker atlas, the Next Exit book and Trailer Park Life to help them navigate the highways and back roads. Continued...
Leaves Kenny Bernstein, go back to California Frank gets real estate license Frank works for TGO Realty Works for Maingate again Starts working for Good Sam NJ, MA, CT, MA Good Sam NV, MT Good Sam NV, central CA Good Sam NV, AZ Buys 2nd Prevost Good Sam NV, Northern AZ Good Sam Southern and Central CA Good Sam Northern NV, Southern and Central CA Good Sam Northern and Central FL
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021/22
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Parrottrek - Meet Frank and Suzy Whitmore
You can only imagine, after traveling over 250,000 miles in an RV, you might have a few stories and some advise, especially for those just starting out. Here are a few of their thoughts and a bit of advice. Some memories: The Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico was a spectacular sight. Lucked into sitting at a bar in Nantucket with relatives of the Kennedys who were drinking magnums of champagne, which they were sharing. Attending the National Rodeo Finals in Las Vegas. Standing on a wing of an F15 while at Nellis AFB. Became debt free in 2008 using the Dave Ramsey program and blew up our credit cards with a shotgun. Spoke with Dave on the phone, hollering our debt-free independence while touring his facility in Brentwood, TN Advise on states: California is fun and you can drive there in any season. Every state has its own beauty - see them all. Florida is our favorite. There is so much to do here. About some of the RV parks they have visited: Hard to pick a favorite. We have probably visited over 2,500 parks and stayed in about 500 of those. We enjoy staying at Reunion Lake in Louisiana, Flying Flags in Solvang, CA, Ennis RV Village near Yellowstone. And of course, TGO is the best park. Traveling with parrots: Cody was on national TV. There was a rain delay at a race in Charlotte, NC, and the ESPN guy was fi lming Cody and he puts his claw up and said “gimme four” which became the opening shot of the race. Cody has his own YouTube channel sharing his adventures. We custom built cages for them to live in our motorhome. Remember, they will most likely out live you, so make plans to have them taken care of after you’re gone. Tips for getting into RVing: Don’t be afraid to start. Love who you are traveling with. If possible, have no debt. Map out an idea of where you want to go. Slow down when traveling. Live your life as if you were at home. Visit the small, out of the way places. Learn to not be afraid to stop at the dives and hole-in-the walls. People thought we were nuts, we had just turned 30, quit our jobs and hit the road. We did it backwards. We lived in our fi rst motorhome for a month while parked in our driveway so we would know what we needed to survive on the road. The person who bought our restaurant thought we were crazy, “everyone wants to own a restaurant!” We went back a year later to borrow something and he said, “You can have the whole damn restaurant.”
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