Preparing for the adventure!

Hello everyone, thanks for stopping by my new blog. As this is my first blog, there's no telling what you might see within these pages so be alert :-)

About six months ago, I made the decision to fulfill a lifelong dream - acquire a really nice RV and hit the road (full time) to see this great country.  At 67, I hope these old bones will hold up long enough to see all the places I have always been "too busy" to stop and explore. Places like the Grand Canyon, CA Mother Lode Country and Civil War battlefields are calling for me to come visit.

I was anticipating that my best buddy Eli would accompany me in my new RV but sadly, my best friend passed away about 2 months ago. He lived a good long life - he was 18 - Poodle/Terrier mix. He was feisty up to the day he passed away - fastest old dog in town - guaranteed.  When I went walking with him, people would stop with their purebred this and registered that - poor Eli was just a mixed breed fellow. Anyway, to improve his lot in life, I would tell everyone that he was "Chien Noire" - which sounded mighty impressive and usually elicited a WOOOOOOO from others.  I never met one single person who spoke French I guess because it means Black Dog in French.  Sounded might damned impressive though :-)  I'm actively looking for a Cockapoo to be my traveling buddy - stay tuned.

One of my main passions in life is the sport of TRAPSHOOTING .  You know - "PULL - BANG". If any of you ever get the opportunity to go watch a trapshooting tournament - GO!  I bet that 90% of all trapshooting clubs in the USA have RV hookups. Plus, the people you will meet there are the finest people you'd ever want to meet. Hundreds of snowbirders from here in the Pacific Norwet (Like Jeana says, "not misspelled") leave just after Thanksgiving and head for the Tucson area for the Winter tour in AZ.  Tucson has just completed construction of a world-class trapshooting club with full hookups for something like 100 RVs. I look forward to smashing lots of those clay targets as they try to fly away from me at 40mph. I'll try not to bore everyone with my trapshooting exploits even though I could talk forever about the sport.

My first order of business is to find a suitable RV. Quite a number of nice used ones are starting to show up on Craigslist now that the summer camping season is over.  I really like the Chinooks made around 2005 or so.  I've had several Class A's and trailers over the years, but I want something that's easier to drive and park.  Seems like a nice Class C around 22 to 25 feet is in order.  I also really like the Winnie Views but not many nice ones available around here right now.  I'll post my searches here as I find some worthy candidates.

Just a couple of quick answers for "who's is this guy?" questions - - - -

I was born and raised in Oklahoma and earned my MBA from OK State Univ.  I moved to Seattle in 1976 and have been here since.  I retired from Microsoft at 55 (pardon - I'll rescind that and say  "I didn't retire, I QUIT" - thus, the name of my blog). Those 18 hour days - six days a week for 15 years were killing me.  However, I will say that Microsoft is the finest company anyone could ever work for. While he's definitely a driven man, Bill Gates is totally a very normal guy and quite easy to talk with (excuse me for ending a sentence with a preposition).  He has created a wonderful company for about 50,000 lucky employees.  I was a group manager for MSN Marketing back in the beginning of the Internet as we know it today.

My son and daughter are grown and both have their own homes and lives. We are a very close family in every conceivable way.  Fortunately, they are both conservatives (coughs) - hahahah - so we have few politically oriented arguments. I'm not a grandpa yet - I think I'll take my son to a cattle ranch and let him watch the bulls a while :-)  I'm a very active person as I walk everyplace here in Edmonds, WA and jog several times a week.  I dearly love the rain! Our rainy season here in WA runs from September 1st thru August 31st.  I do NOT care for cold winter weather any more even though I use to be an avid snow skier - could have easily become a ski-bum.  Age has convinced me that those double-diamond ski runs just aren't for me any longer. I absolutely do not like snow any more.

This is about all I need to write for my first blog post. I'll endeavour to avoid rambling posts to the best of my ability.  Thanks again for dropping by - I totally enjoy reading all the blogs from you full timers - you give me incentive to get out on the road and visit this great country we have.  Later - - -

Just call me "T"