CHRIS – A 3rd generation native Floridian, raised in the
small town of Largo, FL. Largo is just a
few miles from the Gulf of Mexico, so most of the time was spent at the beach
enjoying the sun, sand and water. After
all the beach play, I spread out my college days attending FSU for an AS, UF
for a BS in ‘Computer ‘Science, and FIT for a Masters in ‘Systems Management’. Then over the next 30+ years I would hold 6 IT
jobs, mostly in Florida.
(Go Gators)
(Go Gators)
LESLIE – Grew up in Oregon, 20 miles east of Portland. Joined the U.S. Navy after high school, because I wanted
an “Adventure”, not just a job. After 5 years
in my ‘adventure’
and 7 more years of government service with the FAA, I ended up
on the Space Coast of Florida, loving that sun and warm Atlantic Ocean. I started a very small business which I
built, babied and loved until Chris and I began our new journey as
RVNomads2too.
(Go Ducks)
(Go Ducks)
US - So, how did we end up living and traveling the US in
an RV? Well, it was not something we had
always been thinking about and in fact we only started planning our adventure
three years prior. The catalyst for the
change was Chris worked on a government contract at Cape Canaveral Air Force
Base, and the contract was winding down.
So the natural question was what to do after it ends? After over 30 years in IT business, getting
another IT 9-5 job
was
not in the cards. Also, Leslie wanted to spend more time near
her aging and health- declining parents and other family
members near Portland, Oregon, besides more time with Chris. Eleven hour work days didn’t leave
much ‘us’ time. So we started talking about possibly traveling to Oregon and exploring the US and
West in an RV. Traveling was one
of our shared passions, so why not travel in our own magnificent country and
see some of the places we had only read and dreamed about. We started checking out RVs and reading blogs about others living this life style. The life style appealed to us, so
we put together an incremental plan. First we would sell the house , down size dramatically and move into temporary living until
finding our RV. The house sold quickly, thankfully, and we rented an oceanfront condo to enjoy our last fill of beach life for a while. That year in the condo we researched and researched
everything we could find about RVs and full-timing in an RV, and then we
researched some more. We purchased our first
RV, a class A, gasser and took several local trips in it and learned a lot. We then attended a Workamper Rendezvous in Heber Springs, AR and really learned a lot
about the rig, workamping, RVing and
full-timing. We realized we could live
in this smaller space together, and happily.
We also decided we wanted a diesel engine for our
travels West. Again,
we did a tremendous amount of research on different diesels. We traded in our class A and purchased a 5th
wheel and diesel truck. Next, we moved
into a local RV park and continued working and saving every penny we could,
waiting for our journey to begin.
Chris was laid off from his job in October 2012. We had executed our plan, including set
things in place for the next job reduction on the contract, and only hoped
Chris would be included – Success! Sweet! We spent the next few months enjoying
the holidays with family and friends while we tied up remaining loose ends.
On February 28, 2013 we began our new life as full-time RVers.
It was almost 3 years in the making, but finally that day had arrived
and we were Ready to begin our new journey, and so it began…………………..Westward
Ho, Oregon or Bust!
Our objective with this blog is to share with family and friends who are interested, where we are and what we are doing. Of course, fellow RVers are Welcome as well. Please feel free to come along for the ride and share with whom ever you like.
Some of our passions:
traveling
hiking
kayaking
scuba diving
snow skiing
exploring and adventures
reading
cooking
watching movies
making beer
photography
sailing
wine tasting
swimming
keeping our bodies healthy
bike riding
family
friends
volunteering
nature
music
renovating anything and everything
ping pong
boondocking
astronomy
PEACE
Our objective with this blog is to share with family and friends who are interested, where we are and what we are doing. Of course, fellow RVers are Welcome as well. Please feel free to come along for the ride and share with whom ever you like.
Some of our passions:
traveling
hiking
kayaking
scuba diving
snow skiing
exploring and adventures
reading
cooking
watching movies
making beer
photography
sailing
wine tasting
swimming
keeping our bodies healthy
bike riding
family
friends
volunteering
nature
music
renovating anything and everything
ping pong
boondocking
astronomy
PEACE
