Born in Detroit, folks divorced, long train ride with Mom and sister to Santa Barbara,CA at about 3 or 4 years old, raised in Seattle until 14...meantime, every summer from my 11th year to the 14th I rode the train across America, by myself, to New Jersey as soon as school was out and back west to Seattle just before school began. Those trips set me in motion and I absolutely loved it. <br /><br />At 14 stayed back east and we moved to Vermont. At 16 I left home in anger and hichhiked to Detroit to visit my brother, he bought my Dad an old, used panel truck for my Dad's general store in Weston, VT, which I drove back to Vermont...on a learner's permit, through a portion of Ontario..believe it or not...man the borders were easy then. At 17 I hitched across country to visit mom and stepdad in Seattle, took the bus back VT.<br /><br />I quit highschool the first day of my senior year and joined the Navy that December of my 17th year, Great Lakes boot camp, Key West, Fla Sonar school (during the 1962 Cuban Crisis) Whidbey Island NAS, Ship out of San Diego, WestPac/Vietnam, discharge, across country with a wife and friends, working our way camping out of an 55 chevy 4dr car, Carnying for the rest of the summer...Vermont, NYC, Denver, New Paltz NY, LA, Eugene, OR, Alaska, Orick, CA, Alaska, NM, ID, NM now....<br /><br />Meanwhile divorce, marriage, 2 kidz, divorce, present marriage to Kit. I drank and drugged through the 60's and 70's so all bets were off back then. Sobered and cleaned up in 1982.<br /><br />Our first livable vehicle was a 1949 Caddy hearse in Denver in 1968, next was a 1967 VW van which we drove to Alaska in 1976, then came a 1955 travel trailer we refurbished and a 1966 GMC suburban type raised roof logging crummy to pull it with, drove that back to Alaska in 1978, then came my first bus in 1981 a 1959 GMC 3/4 length military bus, then a series of vans, til we hit on the FourWheel pop-up camper on a Jeep Comanche, when that truck became untrustworthy, a 1994 Mazda B4000 pickup went under the camper. <br /><br />We now own that, a 1963 Dodge shorty bus, and my little 1987 Astro Shorty van/ Chinookie conversion.<br /><br />Since my ol' mom was adopted when she was a baby, and she never knew her ancestry, and she had a beautiful but swarthy complexion, black haired, etc. I get to choose and I say it is of British Romany extract.<img src="/images/boards/smilies/tongue.gif" alt="" align="absmiddle" border="0" /> The rest of my family goes back eons to the Kentish area of England. <br /><br />So, to answer the question...I have never known different....LOL<br />Bri
