Homeless and Unemployed...sort of

OK, where to begin... Since some of you know exactly what our plans are (and if you do, please fill us in), while others probably do not, I'll tell you a little about us. Laura and I have been in Alaska for 17 years now, married for 15 of them, and we're setting out on this RV journey of 8 months or so (give or take a year) because we really want to test our relationship by placing ourselves in a confined space with very limited opportunities to escape from one another for an extended period... Oh yeah, and add in 185 lbs. or so of canus monkeyous (also known as our two "monkey" dogs, Eugene and Meika), and I figure the fur will be flying.

Most of you know that I've just taken an early, 15 year retirement from the Anchorage Police Department (I'm telling everyone that I'm "between careers" because it's too absurd for me to think of myself as retired). After making it official and receiving my retired badge yesterday, I have to admit that it feels a bit odd- being a police officer is not the same as simply "having a job," and that comes with a certain mindset, so to speak, though Laura has different names for it- but I'm going to try to keep this a family blog, so... I'm not sure how long it'll take to make that adjustment: I guess we'll see. I'll probably have more to say about my career at APD later, but for now, that's enough about that.

For those of you that are wondering where we're ultimately moving to, or whether we're returning to Alaska, we've finally reached the point where we're OK with saying that we just don't know. Over the years, we've changed our minds so many times (I believe the official estimate was 463 at last count) that I think we've given friends and family mental whiplash, so we're finally just saying that as soon as we know, you will too.

The plan is for me to go back to school for at least a Master's in Education somewhere, and this journey will hopefully help us figure out the where. So, this is your opportunity to start schilling the virtues of your respective alma maters, each of which I promise I will give serious consideration before dismissing out of hand for a seemingly trivial reason. If I have my way, Laura will be supporting me while I immerse myself in the educational experience, but I may be a bit overly optimistic there, and will likely have to chip in as a Walmart greeter or something like that...

As many of you know, I'm into photography, so I'll hopefully be including some pics with this blog as we travel. I have to warn you that Laura is afflicted with a serious obsession relating to all things feathered, so I end up taking lots of pictures of birds to placate her. Otherwise, she tends to display withdrawal symptoms similar to those attempting to overcome a heroin addiction, and it's really not a pretty sight... As a matter of fact, she's doing her own blog titled "Birding and Other Chatter" (http://ocdbirder.blogspot.com/) which will probably complement my description of our trip, though hers will no doubt be a bit avian-focused, and, I suspect, will not always portray me in a complementary nor accurate manner.

Anyway, I'm tired of typing for today, so I'll sign off for now. For all of those in the Public Safety arena (and everyone else, for that matter), Stay Safe.