RVtravel.com readers reveal the special times in their lives

This page is updated often

By Chuck Woodbury
Recently I asked you to write me about some of your special life moments or accomplishments of which few others, if any, were aware.

The idea came from a thought I recalled recently from years ago when I was spending a third of each year on the road writing and publishing my “on the road” newspaper Out West. I would often stop in small towns to learn what was interesting. I’d read the local newspapers for ideas.

I’d read the obituaries. And there I would learn details of many of the local citizens’ lives that I suspected few others ever knew about. For example, the well-liked owner of a hardware store might have been a heroic soldier in World War II. Or perhaps a quiet older woman who played Bingo at her church had been a child actress.

And so, now, here are most of the responses from our readers. Previous contributions follow the newest ones which are directly below.

Please use the form far below to tell us about your life’s special moments.

Your latest contributions

From Pamela Forman
I’ve traveled the world as a singer and sung to 30,000 at the Montreal Jazz Festival. I also sang at the Monterey Jazz Festival and at private parties for Clint Eastwood, Martin Short and Doris Day! And my band is in the Western Swing Hall of Fame.

From Melody Thomas
My husband and I met in a tree when we were just 14 years old; got married at 19. He supported me through my 31-year career in the Army reserve. We retired and became full-time RVers. We’ve been on the road for 13 years and have been to every state and across the U.S. five times. During our time on the road, I have written three books and am contemplating a fourth. Interestingly, none are about RVing. It was a remarkably cathartic process.

From Douglas McGraw
I was introduced to camping at age 10 and have been camping every year since, even during two years in the military. I raised two wonderful kids and have had wonderful partners. I have upgraded to ”glamping” now in my mid 70s and into a class B conversion van. I still love the great outdoors surrounded by forest. While with friends, John Muir once said, “Please excuse me, I must go, the forest is calling.” I understand that and am glad I, too, have that calling to this day.

From Paula P.
In 1973, I joined an Army Reserve unit in my hometown; I was the first woman to do so. Three years later I had an opportunity to go to Drill Sergeant training. I jumped at the chance to get a “hard stripe”. Again, this was new-to-the Division — allowing women to attend this training. About two years after I graduated and received my “hat”, I appeared on the front page of Army Times and had a story written about me as I was one of the few women in a “test”; being a female drill sergeant in an all-male company at basic training. I will say all this made me the woman I am today …. 50+ years later and I have never forgotten all the experiences!

From William Jones
As an R.C.M.P. for 33 yrs. (I’m now 90 yrs. old), I will never know how many lives I have saved or crimes prevented, by being at a certain location at a certain time. Also, variously: motorcade, crowd control and security for Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Prince Andrew and Sarah, Prince Charles (now King), Pope John Paul, Mikhail Gorbachev (then USSR Secretary of Agriculture) and President Bush.

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR SPECIAL MOMENTS (use the form near the bottom)

Previous contributions

From Carl Hay
While trying to get to flight training in the Air Force in 1968, I was in a military aircraft that crashed. Hello life in a wheelchair. I took up flying again as soon as possible and in 1995, flew the RV6 that I built from a kit. Went everywhere in it for 23 years, retired from flying and started RVing. My grandson and I built a camper van with a lift on it. Now, we pull a 21-foot trailer with a lift on it, so we have two “bedrooms”. I’m still camping at 80 thanks to my amazing wife, Olivia, and service dog, Maddi. Nothing special, just always tried to be kind and live the way I want. It’s not what you can’t do that counts, it’s what you CAN do. Love it!

From Tom W
A window seat after being dumped, a beautiful brown-eyed girl asked, “Is this seat taken?” Married, seniors in high school.

From Alice R
I have a quilt in the Smithsonian Museum’s permanent collection. As a pretty new quilter, I belonged to a guild that was invited, along with many other guilds, to make miniature quilts to hang on many Christmas trees one holiday season. As a new quilter I worked very hard on mine; it was about 3” x 4”, a nine patch on point. At the end of the exhibition, the quilts were absorbed into the Smithsonian’s collections so, despite being a very average quilter, I get to say I have a quilt in the Smithsonian Museum’s permanent collection.

From Bruce B.
My bride and I have been RVing for 50 years and almost 35 full time. Bought a VW camper at the factory in Germany and had one trip where we drove to the tip of Italy and sailed to North Africa seeing North Africa. We celebrated our 50th anniversary in Mexico in February and will be picking up a new RV in June. It’s been a great ride with hopefully much more ahead.

From Tim Connors
In 2021 our travel trailer broke an axle in Madison, SD. We met Wayne Westerberg, who’s RV Repair Service repaired our trailer. Wayne was a key person in the life and travels of Chris McCandless who lived and died in an abandoned city bus in a remote area of Alaska, which was chronicled in the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer.

From William Usher
I am 82, Brenda 75. Together 9 years. I have Macular Degeneration. Brenda has driven us all over the country. The best part. I love the woods, she does too. She has been my eyes and this has allowed me to be able to walk the trails in the woods again, after many years of not being able to. She is my everything. At our age, a second chance at LOVE!

From William Michell
I went to a 1-room grade school for 6 years (1 teacher, grades 1-6), graduated from high school in a class of 25, got my B.S. in Secondary Education, did 6 years in the Navy as a Naval Aviator and worked 28 years at a nuclear power plant, 19 of them in the control room. As a sidelight, have been married for 46 years, raised 3 wonderful kids and lived in the same house for those 46 years. I think I did pretty well for a Pennsylvania farm boy.

From Beth Holt
I met and fell in love with Lee, an Army soldier, in 1989 while I was working for the Army in Heilbronn, Germany. Little did I know that in 1982-1983 I had been his military occupational specialty (MOS) career assignment manager when I worked at the Army personnel center in Virginia. Although I don’t recall ever making an assignment move for him during this time…it must have been kismet that eventually brought us together. We’ve been married and adventuring now over 30 years. Life is good!

From Rebecca N.
Fifty years ago this coming Saturday, on the first day of spring 1976, a handsome stranger sat next to me on a cross-country train. We talked all night, exchanged addresses, he stole a kiss as I got up to leave, and the rest is history. We’re still in love! EDITOR’S RESPONSE: What a wonderful story, Rebecca. You two are so blessed! We should all be so lucky!

From Robert Deerhake
After we were married our honeymoon was a 30-day RVing trip in a 16-foot camper. We moved up to a 37-foot motorhome and traveled all over the USA including Alaska. We flew to Hawaii and took many cruises for 60 years. I was sad to quit when she passed after 65 years. Great memories!

From David Plummer
After a long career, I have learned that at the end of that career the amount of money you made does not matter, the title on the business card does not matter, what matters is how many people you helped along the way. EDITOR’S RESPONSE: David, you are a wise man! Thanks for sharing!

Vince S.
I worked at the last mine to operate in Death Valley National Park. As a heavy equipment mechanic, I worked 1,120 feet underground for American Borate Company at the Billie Mine. Lacking a quality water source, water was hauled day and night from wells at the Nevada/California border off Highway 127. Before power poles could reach the mine, we relied on 3 Cat D399 diesel generators for electricity. There was a company trailer park (with clubhouse and swimming pool) between the mine and Death Valley Junction on Highway 190 that we called “3000 Foot Level” due to its elevation. It’s called “The Pads” on Google Maps today since the trailer patios are all that remain.

From Dennis G.
I was the editor of Opel Motorsport Club magazine, for 8 years, and the VP sales of Opel GT Sourcer. Through those connections I’ve met the actor Joe Montegna, the late Chuck Jordan of GM, Erhard Schnell who penned the Opel GT, and his then apprentice Morad Nasser. I have even spent a day in a German beer garden with an Opel executive. All because of the love of a car most people under the age of 50, have never even heard of.

From Beth Holt
My first husband and I were told we were the first married Army couple assigned to the Army in Europe (USAREUR) headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, on arrival in 1974. After returning to Fort Sam Houston Texas in San Antonio in 1977, we were then the first Army couple awarded joint Army Commendation Medals for our accomplishments in Germany.

From Craig Phillips
As a child, I read National Geographics cover to cover and dreamt of places to visit. Number one was the Great Wall of China. Years later, I walked on it as an adult.

From Michele Traynor
I just wanted to comment on how awesome all of these stories are from ‘ordinary people’! It’s a shame how society continues to emulate vacuous celebrities and worship professional athletes, when we have such amazing people doing great things right in our midst on a daily basis. We just need to appreciate the opportunities to get to know a stranger’s stories.

From Jack D.
Although I’ve been involved with the promotion side of the motorsports and automotive industries for 64 of my 74 years, my distraction has been with “time,” or with clocks. Odd shapes or sizes, unique mechanical workings, transportation themed or commemorative event are the main qualifications. My first clock was the pendulum “Ball Clock” from the 1939 New York World Fair – I now have 7 in different colors – in my collection of 200+. Once my friends see my rec room, they understand my dislike of Daylight Saving Time changes.

From George B.
As a police officer for over 20 years I’ve saved several lives, raised three wonderful children, been married for 45 years and lived in 15 town and cities. My wife, my children and the lives I saved are the highlights of my life. My health could be better but I’ve always liked the adage, “I complained because I had no shoes until I met the man who had no feet.”

From Bill Byler
My best part time job ever: I was the PA announcer for the New York Mets minor league baseball team The Savannah Sand Gnats in Savannah Georgia. This was before they became The Savannah Bananas.

From Jeff Winkler
I lived in 8 different places in the US before graduating high school, my dad worked for Campbell Soup and was transferred to their different business units. Once I graduated college, I bought a house at 25 years old and have been there for 41 years, and don’t plan to move anytime soon!

From Chuck Kruse
I ran with the Olympic Torch into Calgary for the 1988 Winter Olympics.

From Robert Cordy
I have made the Northwest Passage. Not in an RV but aboard a US Coast Guard Ice Breaker, USCGC Polar Sea, 1985, Thule, Greenland to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. I have RVed in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Austria, Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Hawaii and New Zealand.

From P.J.
I once had to breast feed my son in the Sistine Chapel. The guard kept yelling at me to get him quiet. I thought I had fed him enough to get through the tour and he wouldn’t take a bottle. BUT that got him quiet and I just sat and enjoyed looking at the ceiling and yes he was covered.

From Jamie Caroland
Many folks have viewed but few/no one I know knows that I publish photos on Pexels

From Fred Burns
I am a 4th generation American whose ancestors came here from Ireland in the mid 1800s. Each generation thereafter just happened to marry full-blooded Irish partners, so I am still 100% Irish blood, after 4 generations. To top it off, I was born on St Patrick’s Day.

From Jane Asbury
I grew up climbing trees. As a young girl, my grandmother would sew matching dresses for me and Mom. We were wearing them one year at a Boy Scout Jamboree at the local fairgrounds pavilion. There I saw a climbing pole going high up in the air. Yep, this little ‘Tom Boy’ decided she could easily climb that pole so up I went. Embarrassingly, my mother never heard the end of “So that was your little girl?” I felt quite proud.

From Betty Stuzinski
I have actually toured all 7 continents since I retired and a highlight was in Australia when I got a hug from a Koala bear.

From Douglas Ratcliff
I hike and kayak all over the country and collect lost and abandoned fishing gear which cleans up the trees and protects the wildlife. In 10 years I have accumulated almost 13,000 lures and removed miles of fishing line. I also saw Captain Sullenberger land on the Hudson River from my office.

From Daniel Armstrong
I aspired to be a professional musician. My inspiration was my elementary music teacher who taught and could play every instrument in the orchestra and band. I started on violin, added viola, cello, piano, flute, string bass, mandolin, tuba, bassoon, 3 manual+bass church organ and baritone horn, plus I played professionally in 3 orchestras after I retired from the Navy.

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR SPECIAL MOMENTS (use the form below)

From Denny K
I have traveled to 5 continents except Africa and Australia, traveling through 12 countries by vehicle; have seen the Himalayas; been to the Taj Mahal; visited the Taj Lake Palace in India, a James Bond movie location; traveled through the Khyber Pass in Pakistan; slept on the floor of a tea house in northern Afghanistan. All were with missions team except traveling to Antarctica in the Navy where one leg broke through the ice on edge of frozen ocean.

From Richard Chabrajez
At age 58, I started racing go karts competitively.

From Charles Booth
I was a 17 year old high school dropout who needed my parents’ permission to join the U.S. Coast Guard and my CO’s permission to get married. My career arc ran from officer’s steward to electronics tech to commissioned officer and helicopter pilot. The USCG Museum ran a story about me in their magazine. I have built my own computer and a 19Kw solar system for my house. I currently drive a school bus. My wife and I have been married for 55 years this September.

From K.S.
Before retirement, I was a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, specialized in raptor care. I have held hundreds of bald eagles, hawks, owls and falcons. I set broken bones and gave them medications to save their lives. And I was honored to release them back to the wild after they healed.

From Jim Johnson
There is in our minds NOTHING interesting or special about us. That is not saying we are bored or boring. We married in our 20s, still married after getting closer to 5 decades, have a couple good kids, a few grandchildren. We both worked, went through some tough patches in our careers pinching pennies. Managed to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table and save a little for retirement.

EDITOR’S REPLY: Jim, give us 10 minutes with you and I guarantee we will find plenty of interesting and/or remarkable things. Actually, we think how you have lived your life, and the success of your marriage and children is remarkable all by itself!

From Franklin Forrey
I am a Bronze Medalist in the 2002 Corporate Winter Games which were held in Park City, Utah, at Deer Valley Resort right after the World Olympic Games. I competed in the Giant Slalom and represented AT&T.

From Richard West
I saved a man from bleeding to death and assisted several wreck victims during 20 yrs. RVing. I rescued people from elevator, petted bears in Canada and cheetahs in South Africa, and volunteered on an orphanage build in Mexico. I fixed many RVs for “Campground friends”. I can hit a prairie dog beyond 600 yds w/ a .223. Pronghorn at 925 yds w/ 6.5. Usual stuff.

From Barbara Wilde
I shook hands with President Johnson at an Air Force base. I was the first woman to be “allowed” to join the Army ROTC at my private college. It was sooooo much fun! They called me little Annie Oakley out at the shooting range at Fort Ord.

We will have more stories in future issues. Please share your own story by using the form below.

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