While a junior in high school I was invited to participate in a local football game over a Thanksgiving weekend.  It was there that I met a girl, a very special girl.  We became best friends throughout high school but did not date.  After high school we continued our friendship and after a long chase I finally convinced her to become more than friends.  On December 31, 1979 I asked that special friend to become my wife and Dee and I were married. In 1987 a life changing event occurred – the birth of our first son.  No one can prepare you for parenthood.  It takes tremendous time, financial and emotional commitments, but it is the most rewarding experience anyone can have.  We decided to have another child and he was born in 1989 followed by another son in 1992.  Our three sons were a lot of work but they’ve brought us joy and laughter every day of their lives.  We cannot imagine life without them and could not be more proud of them and their accomplishments.

Dee and I have been happily married for 43 years and she is still my very best friend.  I am thrilled to say we are now retired and traveling the country in our class A motorhome.

Update:  We love retirement!  We are spending more time in each place so we decided to make a change in our ride.  We traded in our motorhome  and purchase a new Vanleigh Beacon 5th wheel and a Ram 3500 dually pickup.  The new rig gives us a bit more room and a more open feeling. We recently sold the home we owned in New York.  We are in the process of designing and building a new home in Florida.  Once that is finished we will be slowing our traveling and spending more time in Florida.

We traveled the country and the Provinces of Canada, mostly fulltime, for over five years.   Our new home is finished so we’ve slowed down with the camping lifestyle. It has truly been an unbelievable experience.  We’ve explored over 43 States and have seen countless beautiful areas throughout our great country.  

I am the oldest of 5 brothers and have one older sister.  I was born in Brooklyn and moved to Long Island at age 6.  During my youth I was very active.  I enjoyed playing sports including football and baseball.  Many after school days were spent playing sandlot ball with friends from the neighborhood.  Something you no longer see with today’s youth.  As I got older I worked summers with my uncles learning how to do electrical, plumbing, cabinet making and carpentry work.

I had numerous paper routes when I was young.  I saved and saved and was finally able to buy my first set of drums.  I took lessons and at age 16, after tons of practice, I became proficient enough to audition and become a member of Local 802, American Federation of Musicians. I loved music and played as much as I could.  Every weekend while my friends were hanging out, I was playing in clubs and with bands in catering halls all over NY.  The money was great and I was quickly able to save enough to buy a new car, motorcycle and classic model “T” roadster.  After high school I worked various day jobs while continuing to work weekends playing music.  I eventually decided to go back to school and become an Electronics Technician. I worked in the electronics field for a while but I really liked working with my hands so I went back to work as a carpenter/furniture maker. I eventually took a job with the City of New York.

Computers were becoming much more prevalent and I liked the Information Technology field.  I began learning programming and computer repair.  In my early 50’s I decided to go to college, while still working, to get my degree.  I started creating applications and databases for the city and worked my way up until I was appointed Director of Information Technology for the Dept. of Education, Division of School Facilities .  I worked with the city for almost 28 years and finally retired Feb.2015.

When I was 24 I decided to join the local volunteer fire department.  I love the brotherhood and camaraderie of the fire service.  During my time as a volunteer firefighter I’ve had the honor of being elected Lieutenant and Captain of my Engine Company.  Recently I was awarded the rank of Honorary Chief.  I’m a life member with over 43 active years of service and I still participate whenever I am back in town.

I am the youngest of 5 children with 2 brothers and two sisters.  I grew up in a small town on Long Island.  My father passed when I was young so I was forced to begin full time employment a week after graduating high school.  I worked for an accounting software company that branched out into real estate software.  Through this job I began a new career working for a very large real estate firm. I worked at that firm for over 30 years and I am happy to say that in March of 2015 I retired.

Shortly after my career in real estate began I was blessed by becoming a mother.  I have done many things in my life but none of them can compare to the experience of being a mother.  I had three boys over a period of 5 years.  Being a working mom has its challenges but I was fortunate to have a lot of help from my husband and my family.  I am extremely proud of the three men we brought into this world and the lives they are creating for themselves.

I am a very devout practicing Catholic and until we went on the road I had very active role in the Blessed Sacrament parish.  For many years I taught second and eighth grade religion.  I assisted in the Children’s Liturgy of the Word and was a part of the Family Mass Committee. I was also very honored to be asked to become the parish Youth Minister.  I love working with the youth of our parish.  I consider myself blessed for having the opportunity to be part of the lives of our parish youth.

I truly enjoy visiting the many large and sometimes very small churches we find around the country.  The parishioners are often extremely nice and very welcoming.

Around 2013 we began to talk about the possibility of retirement.  We decided it was a good time to visit a financial analyst.  We spent a long time discussing family, job, finances and the future.  When all was said and done we were delighted to find out that all the years of saving had paid off.  We were financially secure and able to retire.

We then started to talk about what we would do when retired.  We had camped for years when our three sons were younger and we loved it.  We started in a tent then upgraded to a pop-up and then to a travel trailer.  We talked about how we enjoyed camping and that we would love to see the country and the idea of traveling in a motorhome was born.

We sat with our three grown sons and discussed the idea of going on the road.  They were all in their 20’s, single and employed with good jobs in NYC.  We asked if they would like to live in our home and help with expenses while we were on the road.  They had some questions but thought it was a great idea.

Now it was time to pick our ride.

Our ride is a 2015 Tiffin, 40SP, all electric, Allegro Bus motorhome.  It was ordered in February 2014. Construction began August 6, 2014 and it was delivered to the dealer September 4, 2014.

When our boys were young we had a pop-up.  We graduated to a travel trailer.  Then we upgraded to a travel trailer with slides.  We are very familiar with the RV lifestyle.  At first we weren’t sure if we wanted a 5^th wheel or a class A motorhome.  We liked the high ceilings and big windows of a 5^th wheel but we didn’t like the idea of driving around in a big dually or mid-sized truck.  The big plus for the 5^th wheel is price.  We finally decided on the class A because we liked the convenience of one unit and the ability to tow a small dinghy behind it.  Once we decided on the class A we had to decide used or new.  While you can get some great deals on used coaches we liked the idea of a nice new ride.

There are many manufacturers and each with many models.   We definitely wanted a diesel pusher for reliability, power and durability.  We wanted something comfortable that was not to big but not too small.   I did a lot of online research.  I looked at each manufacturer’s website, RV blogs, RV review sites, dealer sites and, RV forums.  As research progressed the Tiffin name continually came up.  They were praised as a good manufacturer with great customer service.  We went to numerous RV shows including the big one in September in Hershey PA.  The more we looked at Tiffin the more we like them.  We were originally looking at the Phaeton but we decided we wanted an all electric coach.  We liked the idea of not dealing with propane and having a large residential refrigerator.  After about a year’s research we decide on an Allegro Bus.

Tiffin is the only manufacturer who lets you go to the factory and watch as your coach is built.  We took advantage of that and my son and I flew to Red Bay Alabama for the build.  The employees were extremely friendly and answered any questions we had.  We were allowed to walk anywhere in the factory and we followed our coach through the entire build.  It is truly amazing how quickly the coach comes together.  We stayed a week and watched construction and the first day of paint prep.  It was a great experience!

You get a real sense of how important build quality is to Tiffin.  There are inspections throughout the build and if something is not right it is fixed immediately.  We were told to let them know if there was something we did not like.  We had a few issues and they were quickly taken care of.

We love our motorhome and the Tiffin company.

During the summer of 2018 Dee and I started to think about our travels.  We discussed slowing down a little and spending more time in each location.  Our Tiffin Motorhome has been great and we love it but the costs to maintain it can get expensive.   Since we now spend six months of the year snowbirding at a campground in Florida and the rest of the year traveling we decided to make a change.  

  I did a lot of research and we decided to trade in the motorhome and purchase a new 5th wheel and pickup truck.  After looking at many manufacturers we decided on a new 2019 Beacon 39FBB from Vanleigh.  They are a division of Tiffin.   It’s a well made RV with many of the features we came to love in our motorhome.  We ordered one to our spec and picked it up in November of 2018.  We also ordered a new 2018 Ram 3500 dually pickup to tow it. We’ve had a few issues with the new RV but they have been addressed.  We really like both the 5th wheel and the truck.