This is who we are and the beginning of our BLOG

     Welcome to our blog. Who are Mike and Pat Montgomery and why do they live the way that they do? The story is simple and makes all the sense in the world to us.   Mike was raised in GA and didn't catch the camping fever until he met Pat.  Pat was raised in MA and went camping all of the time. First in the back of a station wagon and later various travel trailers. We met in Virginia Beach, VA and have been married for over 23 years and are currently still living here.  Mike served in the Navy for 23 years and currently works for Geico and is getting ready to retire on April 1, 2015.  Pat has worked for various oil companies and just retired in October 2013. We have a blended family of 3 daughters, Christina who lives in Jacksonville, FL married to Greg and they have a son, Brandon, Michelle is in Virginia Beach, VA married to Scott and they have 2 daughters, Haven and Aubrey,  Dana is in Mt, Dora, FL married to Keith and they have a son, Austin. We also have a niece Jennifer who came to us at the age of 14 who lives in Round Rock, TX married to Dave and they have 3 children, Matthew, Rachel and Madelynn.

    We also have an assortment of pets.  The Tonkinese cats are Socrates, Kiira who are 13 years old and Tiberius who is 7.  We have a minature schnauzer, Maximus who is 7 and the oldest pet is Fred who is a cockatiel and he is 22 years old.

     After the girls were gone we decided to go on a vacation and wanted to rent a pop-up but before we actually left we stopped into a RV dealership and fell for a Starcraft PopUp with all the amenities and that was the beginning.  After this unit served us well we traded her in for a 24' Coachman travel trailer and had this one for a couple of years.  We were really getting into camping and in 2004 we traded again this time for a 2002 35' Winnebago Adventurer motorhome. WE loved taking the RV out on trips on the weekends and on our summer vacations but that wasn't enough we wanted more.  Plus it was a real pain to load and unload the motorhome with food and clothes when we got ready to go.  So we agreed to try living in the RV fulltime when we went to GA to visit Mike's family for Thanksgiving 2004.  We returned from GA and stayed in the RV.  We loved it even though the first winter in the RV was a new challenge.  By February the next year we sold our house and had given away all of our furniture and large items.  Most went to our kids and some was donated but it was a done deal.  We were now members of a select group of pioneers that have made the move to a fulltime RV lifestyle.  People thought we were nuts but we knew we had found what we really needed, the freedom to go RVing (camping) when we wanted and still maintain jobs until we are old enough to retire. After 2 years of  living in the Adventurer we knew we loved the lifestyle and wanted to continue so we decided to upgrade from the 35' gas adventurer with 2 slides to a 2004  Itasca Meridian which is a 40' diesel motorhome with 3 slideouts. Over the last 8 years we have remodeled the inside and made it more like a home and with the upgrades we wanted without buying another new motorhome. 

     We are now on our last leg of our working journey with Mike only having 7 months to go and then we are off for a 2 year adventure to see this wonderful continent.  We decided to try our hands at blogging before our big trip as we have 2 small trips scheduled.  The first one is to the Finger Lakes in NY in October  2014 and the 2^nd one is to Key West in December 2014.

     This blog will help us keep in touch with family and friends.  Showing everyone where we are and what we have seen in this wonderful land of ours.  At this moment we would like to post something every day but we are going to see how things go as we get into a routine and whether we can get internet.



SO until the next time remember:
        "LIFE IS SHORT SO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO NOW NOT TOMORROW"