“The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark”
John Muir “Father of the National Parks”
John Muir was a pioneer in preserving our lands. He was instrumental in the designation of Yosemite Valley and Sequoia as National Parks and was a co-founder of the Sierra Club. His writings are inspirational and motivational.
Hi. We are Janet and Ken and we would like to invite you to join us on our journey. After thirty-eight years of back country camping, fishing, canoeing and sailing in sunny Florida, we had two major events happen that placed us on our new path.
The “C” word
In early 2017 Janet was diagnosed with stage IV throat cancer and we braced for the worst. Treatment was a long and grueling process of radiation and chemotherapy that left Janet weak and debilitated, and Ken an exhausted care giver. So, our slow road to recovery began. However, one more event was going to set us back again.
Hurrican Irma
On September 10, Hurricane Irma barreled across the upper Florida Keys where our beloved sailboat, Ekanalakihatchee was moored at Upper Keys Sailing Club. We relocated our boat into the mangroves and went home to ride out the storm, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, Ekana sustained damage. Since it would be a long time before Janet would be well enough to manage the blistering Florida heat as well as regain the strength necessary to handle her, we made the difficult decision to let her go to a new home. (The boat. Not Janet.). Her new home is at the Key Lime Sailing Club.
Do you remember that old 70’s HeeHaw show? There was a song they used to sing……
🎵 If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair and agony on me.🎵
HeeHaw
Time for a change?
Tired, overwhelmed, stressed, unhappy with our situation, a change was in order. We aren’t really sure when this RV living idea started tickling our brains but it did and it grew. Since the doctors had informed us that Janet would need a recheck in a year to be certain that she was cancer free, we decided to make an uncertain 2018 one of the most memorable years of our lives. Maybe see as many National Parks as we could, as John Muir wrote “before it gets dark”.
Funny enough, we bought our tow vehicle before we purchased the RV. We bought a Jeep Wrangler soft top and named him Armadillo.
And our story began.
Armadillo Tails
💌 In December of 2018, Janet’s PET scan confirmed that she is clear of cancer. Thankful to the team at Cleveland Clinic we are always grateful.👫