When I was 18 years old and not satisfied with going to college I decided to join the U.S. Coast Guard. I knew that I wanted to serve but that I also wanted to help others and I was inspired by the mission of the U.S.C.G.

My first Duty Assignment was on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on a remote island called Ocracoke. There I lived in a beautiful small boat station along with 20 other “Coasties” and conducted lots of SAR (Search and Rescue) and some other Coast Guard duties. After a year and a half I was transferred to the USCGC Ingham (WHEC-35) which at the time was the oldest ship in either the US Navy or the Coast Guard.

So then after getting out of the active duty USCG I went into the reserves and eventually ended up at Port Security Unit 305 where I had the opportunity to get deployed multiple times over, all while I was holding down my civilian career as a detective on a major police department.

Then 2 years after coming back from Ground Zero I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. I decided to hike and mountain bike my way through that all while I was going through radiation treatment. It took a toll on me both physically and mentally.

In 2014 I retired from the police department after a 7 year stint in Homicide, I had already been honorably discharged from the USCG in 2005.

I then applied to a veteran organization at the time called “Warrior Hike” the goal of which is to put veterans on the nations trail systems such as the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) for trail therapy. I was able to complete a little over 1200 miles of the AT from Georgia to Pennsylvania before my knee and back finally said no more.

So I decided to do a bike packing ride from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington D.C. along the Great Allegheny Passage Rail Trail and then onto the C&O Trail. I rode my mountain bike with a small backpack and a hammock with one change of clothes.. Yes I stunk but the trip was beautiful.

I knew that I had to get outdoors to explore in order to keep from spiraling down into a dark hole. I continued to camp and hike as much as I could.

Knowing that I needed something more, I applied for a service dog thru an organization called Hero Dogs in 2018. Link to their website is (https://www.hero-dogs.org) After a two year wait I was able to get Candy certified as my service dog.

We have been inseparable ever since.

My wife and I bought an Airstream in 2020 right around the kick-off of COVID. Camping helped a lot and we travelled around the East Coast. In 2022 after my mom passed away I knew that I needed more than the occasionally going out in the Airstream to a campground. So I flew out to Salt Lake City, UT with Candy and bought a 2005 Sportsmobile E350SD. The rest is history… and mechanical issues… but c’mon it is a 2005 van.

So for now it is exploring the US with Candy in the van. Thus far we have been across the US twice in her and once in my previous vehicle a 2018 Ram 3500.

After the interior refit this summer we are heading toward Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota to check out the sights, National Parks and small town America before heading back to Virginia.

More to come down the trail!