The History of it all….

the adventure begins

When you look back on the origins of “Doug and Jan Thompson’s Chronicles”, interestingly enough, we were in the same high school graduating class (the year is a secret, however, we recently celebrated our 50th class reunion)…. and we grew up as next door neighbors….

However, it wasn’t until years after that we realized that we were truly soul mates…. and soon became best friends. That was over 40 truly wonderful years ago.

As life went streaking by, we spent our spare time for the next 25 years or so, plying the waters off the West coast of Florida and the keys… making short work of as many fish, lobster and sunsets as we could find….

We ventured forth in a progressive series of boats, some power, some sail, but all tons of fun….. and all with the same vessel name…. “JALORIN” – The acronym stands for JAnice, LORi and CarIN- Janice and our two beautiful daughters…..

It was a truly wonderful way to spend quality time with your family… the kind of times that we have all remembered throughout the years.  ….. What time did you say high tide was again??? – Damn that oyster bar….. full speed ahead!!!!!

Didn’t I hear you say that diesel fuel was a LOT less expensive than new sails? – How come you didn’t mention bottom jobs and new propellers??? –

At right- our Morgan 41 Out Island at the “Galleon Resort” – Key West- beside the “Sunset Celebration….”  Ok….. So, if you add in the pretzels and beer…. and the diesel fuel we used today…. I’d estimate these tails at just over $50 bucks each….. We had logged so many months at sea by the early ’80’s that I was able to obtain a 100 Ton Coast Guard Master’s License.

Soon thereafter, (as in before you know it….) our two beautiful daughters had “escaped” into adulthood, we had explored just about every “gunk hole” along the coast, and had decided to begin a search for a new way to enjoy our time off.

I guess if you stretch it a bit, boating is a lot like RV’ing- except the campsite doesn’t move up and down 24 hours a day, you can drink the water most of the time, and mosquitoes don’t really bite like those “critters of the sea”.

In this photo, you see two fine specimens of Florida Lobster. Actually, there were a couple of dozen crawling on the floor of the cockpit just beneath my feet, and Thomas- our Siamese cat- was having the time of his life smacking, poking and licking all those “strange” creatures that the “Thompson lobster team” had brought back on board that day……

Also, we were very fortunate to have been able to travel abroad extensively during those 25 years, and we had the privilege of visiting dozens of cities and historical attractions on many continents. Unfortunately, over seas travel has become increasingly more undesirable/dangerous with the passage of time. It is now relatively difficult to justify, especially given recent events abroad.

With these thoughts in mind, and admitting that, thus far, we had missed most of the wonders of our great nation, we decided that a stint at the world of RV’ing would probably be just the ticket.

So in early 1999, we sold our 3 story waterfront home, bought our first “class A” RV, and headed off to discover what we’d missed.  We have been full time in a couple of our RV’s – and have gone back and forth between being full time and attending only rallies…. we purchased three homes during that time as well – trying to find the right mix between being on the road and having a home base…. finally have the answer – we have a Villa in a Gulf Course Community near Tampa, FL and happily shift back and forth- between RV’ing about 5 or 6 months of the year…  enjoying the Villa when we’re back- great lifestyle.

Long ago, we fell in love with RV’ing, and meeting new friends along the way. We’ve now been on the road…. some times full timing- sometimes in another brick and stick home- for over 19 years. It is to this end that this website is dedicated…. all the time keeping in mind that life is not a drill….

Remember…. you pass this way but once…