June and I hope this finds you well. As for us, we are all doing well while continuing to adapt to our new normal.
This pandemic has really caused us all to re-evaluate our lives and what is important.
With this in mind, we are very excited to share with you what we’ve been up to and what we have planned for our next leg of the journey.
Kodiak View
As many of you know we bought a piece of land in Brian Head, UT, we fell in love with the town and the general area.
This was in large part, due to Dave and Nancy’s generosity, and their willingness to share their beautiful condo with us and all the wonderful experiences we have had there.
One summer day in 2019, Dave joined us (on a quick last-minute trip) to look at land in Utah, after many hours of back roads and mediocre results, we came across a place that took our breath away.
The place we found has been appropriately named Kodiak View (the street name is Kodiak drive and the view, well that is why we fell in love with it).
We purchased it in October of 2019. Our plan is to build a home on it over the next 3-5 years. We intend to live and work from there during the summer months to escape the Vegas heat. We also plan to use it during select times over the winter e.g. holidays or family trips to enjoy the snow.
We want this place to be something that will be enjoyed for generations to come. We have visions of Joey, Nicky, Paige, and Hannah and their families gathering there to spend time together and escape the daily grind.
This will be a family journey and we will all contribute to its formation in different ways.
Travel
We love to travel, both domestically and internationally, seeing new places, and meeting new people (and go to local grocery stores, lol).
There is so much to see right in our own backyard. We have been so fortunate to see so much internationally, that we figured why not take this opportunity to see more of our country.
With all that is going on related to COVID-19 in regards to how it has reshaped all of our worlds, travel is not something to take lightly.
Where there is a will, there is a way. Right?
We bought an RV. Our travel rig consists of Lily (our truck) and Blossom (our 5th wheel). This combination is going to be the foundation of our domestic travel.
Winter property
The third and final core component of our journey consists of a property TBD in the southwest (Southern Arizona, or Californa), where we can spend winters (Snowbird if you will).
While Vegas is great for the Spring and Fall, it’s still a bit cold in the winter.
We are currently on the hunt for a piece of land to build a small winter place on, this will be more utilitarian in nature (e.g. shop and storage), with the purpose of building and working on items to support our other goals.
The year ahead
Our kids are all doing really well. Joey and Alica are building their life. They have a nice apartment, Joe has stable work, and Alica is working on a career change. Nicky is the proud owner of a new business venture making leather goods. He is very talented and we know he is going to be very successful at it. Paige has built an amazing career and is working on buying a house. Unfortunately, she has been laid off from Caesars. She is actively applying for other jobs, and we know she will be a quick placement. Hannah is working two jobs, nearly full-time, and going to school full-time as well. She has also begun making jewelry and creating some beautiful pieces.
We are proud of all of our kids and we are so thankful they have been so supportive of us in regards to this next chapter of our lives.
As for us, we have begun to downsize. Beginning in December, we are going to embark on RV’ing full-time. We will leave behind traditional housing for the next year or so, and go on the road with Lily and Blossom; living among the locals in various locations and experiencing other parts of the country both new and old. Initially, we will find some warmer weather for the winter months and begin planning other explorations.
Vegas is our home and we intend to still spend the majority of the Spring and Fall here in addition to other visits sprinkled in here and there. Paige and Hannah will be living together for the next year and sharing expenses. They are going to keep a room made up for us when we are in town.
Our work
After a very rewarding career at the school district, June retired this year and has begun to help run our business.
It’s been a real joy working alongside her and we are both really excited about what the future holds.
While COVID-19 has certainly hindered our growth and presented us with many challenges, we are grateful to have several stable clients. Our business is doing good considering the current environment.
We intend to keep running and building the business while traveling (e.g. working during the day and exploring the local sites in the evenings/weekends). This certainly opens up more opportunities for us to work with clients in Arizona and California as well.
Thankfully, the technology exists to allow us to be fully functional and serve our clients from practically anywhere.
We intend to remain as a boutique technology consulting firm and keep our client base small following a “Take only what you need” philosophy. We found that that this approach allows for professional relationships to flourish, while eliminating most of the implications many of our clients face when dealing with larger mass-produced technology consulting firms.
We really appreciate all of you and look forward to a time soon where we can share great food, great wine, and unforgettable laughs.
In the meantime, we created this website and blog as a place to record our journey and share with our friends and family our progress and current whereabouts. Have a look around, and be sure to check back often. As always, we are only a phone call or facetime away.
We are so grateful to have each and every one of you in our lives.
All our love,
Dan & June
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain