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 50 years of
age and I am 51, 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.
More recently we
sold our remaining businesses, a fishing guide service and Web site design
service, in November 2008. So we are now totally free to travel and
volunteer where ever the wind blows us.
Kim and I have
been together for over 35 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 dearly. We
are not materialists and don't need a lot to enjoy life. 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, heated westcoast mirrors, 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), onboard battery
maintainer/charger, 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 4,500 pounds empty 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 for 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.
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
|
