About Us
 We
are two unique individuals working together toward a common goal
harmoniously, creatively and joyfully. We are concerned and conscientious
about our own health, the health of our planet, and value family, life,
happiness and relationships.
Kim and I have
always longed for the day we could head
out in search of adventure and bid farewell to our foundation based
fixed existence, noisy neighbors, city traffic, smog and the continuous wale
of police and emergency sirens. In February 2006 our dreams of jumping into
our RV and never looking back became a reality. And so we began our venture
into the exciting lifestyle of fulltime RVing.
Kim is 48 years of
age and I am 49, we are both healthy,
innovative, business minded individuals with strong morals. We believe in
the old adage that if a job is worth
doing its worth doing right. In September of 2005 we sold our
businesses in which we ran and published a popular northwest newspaper
The Local Fisherman
News. View past issue of
our newspaper.
We developed the
publication from scratch in May of 1998, and in the eight years that
followed it grew rather quickly into a must have for Northwest anglers. In
fact it became so large and demanding that we found ourselves lacking the
resources needed to manage and grow it to its full potential. That's when we
decided to sell out and begin our dream of traveling the US by RV. We still run and maintain
A & B Pro Guides
an internet based fishing guide referral service. We also design and
maintain numerous
Web sites for various types of businesses.
Kim and I have
been together for over 33 years and married for 28 years. We have two
wonderful children, both girls, who are now grown, married and have families
of their own. We have also been blessed with five wonderful grandchildren,
Joey, Troy, Eliot, Zander and Jacob. We love them
all to no end.
When it comes down to it -- all
a person really has is their health and their family -- and those are the things we cherish
most.
View our
resumès - Kim /
Rick 
Letters of
Recommendation
Our Rig
Currently we own a
fully customized well maintained F250 Ford Ranger 4x4 Pickup. I purchased
this truck new from the Marv Tonkin lot in NE Portland in December 1999.
This is an
extremely
well maintained, clean, sharp looking rig. The truck received a fresh coat of
quality paint in 2005 and the camper was painted to match in 2000. There is
no rust, dents or damage of any type. There are no oil leaks!
We get a lot of complements on this unit!
I had the original gas engine, a
351M which I meticulously
maintained, professionally rebuilt to above standard performance ratings in 2000, after racking up well over
250,000 miles of faithful service. On the dino
machine the new engine dished out 180 horse power at the rear wheels at
4,000 rpm, and that's with a 354:1 rear end. It does a more than
adequate job of hauling the load. Mileage is 7 to 8 MPG loaded or empty. Total weight with camper
is a little over 4½
tons. Utility trailer is 2½ tons.
Click image to show your support for the Ford 351M engine.
This truck has a 4 speed manual transmission and I have equipped it
with Hewing sway bars front and rear, 3,000 pound over loads, additional
leafs front and rear, Firestone Air Ride with in-cab controls, flexsteel
bucket seats with center console, HD three core radiator, HD 3,000 pound
polished aluminum wheels, 10 ply steel belted Good Year tires, two 6 volt
deep cycle batteries (wired in series), diesel truck air horns and
an onboard 2.4 cfm 12v air compressor with a 2½ gallon reserve tank. I also upgraded
the headlights to extreme bright white H4 HID's. Next upgrade - a GPS unit.
[
Our Photo
Gallery ]
I have always undertaken all of the maintenance and upgrades to the truck
myself, except for the engine rebuild which I had done by a professional
engine rebuilder. I am very mechanically inclined,
having grown up in a machine/small engine shop. My father is a retired diesel mechanic
who also ran a
small engine repair business on the side for many years.
Our camper is a
custom deluxe fully self contained 11½
foot EL Dorado. I have spent extensive hours customizing
this unit inside and out, greatly enhancing its comfort and livability. It
has been
custom built for full-time living. It weighs 4,000 pounds and is very comfortable and well appointed.
View
interior photos. This unit has been retiled as a 2002. It was also painted it to
match the truck which makes it a very sharp looking rig.
Our family has traveled to many
destinations in this unit and experienced many memorable moments, none of
which any of us will ever forget. To read about our trips and some of our most
unusual and exciting moments visit our
Stories and Special Moments page. To read
about what we are currently doing visit our
Current Log page.
 Our
second vehicle is a 1987 Nissan Pathfinder. This vehicle is also very
well maintained and is four wheel drive. We have chains for this vehicle and
are experienced at driving in sever weather and heavy snow. This vehicle is
equipped with all season tires, a 5,000 lb hitch, CB radio and GPS.
Upgrading. Kim and I are working hard so we can someday upgrade to a
30 to 35 foot triple slide 5th wheel. We enter the Visa Arts
drawing each year, as well as a few others, in hopes of possibly wining a
new truck and trailer.
View one of our favorite
new trailers. We are also hoping to eventually upgrade to a
 larger
diesel powered truck, but may have to get by
with our current truck for awhile.
Keep watch for
photos of our new rig and wish us luck in the drawings!
Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy.
If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have
inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will
have had more success than you could possibly have imagined.
-- Johnny Carson
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