About Heather Martin

We are Heather and Michael Martin. We reside with three dogs - Little B, the most traveled; Mr. Smith, a sometimes traveler; and Uncle Louie, the least traveled dog. Our two small dogs are Tibetan Terriers, both weighing in around 25 pounds each. Well, Little B seems to be going through her mid-life weight gain, so she might be a little bigger! Our other dog is Uncle Louie, weighing in at 130 pounds. He is a Lab, Rhodesian, and Great Dane mix. Not only is he a bit too big for the van, but he also has the most travel anxiety. He prefers to stay home on solid ground. We bought our van on a Saturday in late November of 2018, picked it up on Sunday, and the very next morning, our grown son Oliver and I (Heather) drove to upstate New York from our home in Solana Beach, California. We took a southerly route through Santa Fe, New Mexico, down to Waco, Texas, then Little Rock, Memphis, New Orleans, and then we headed north to pick up Michael at Newark Airport. Our final destination was the Village of Catskill to meet our friends for Thanksgiving. It was quite the first trip! A few more times, we have ventured across the country, driven up the west coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. We’ve hiked in the Redwoods, Big Bear, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Tetons. We love to hike in the morning, take a quick break in the RV at noon, and usually finish our day with an afternoon or evening hike. We do a lot of boondocking when we hike. In fact, I have only stayed in one RV Park with hookups! We usually have a dog with us, and when dogs are restricted on the trails, we leave them snoozing in the van with the Air Conditioner running. This is possible because we have long-lasting lithium batteries. Each hour that the Air Conditioner is on takes up about 10-15% of our power, so we plan accordingly. Of course, the dogs get their own morning hike (where not restricted) before we head out, so they are ready for a nap. We both work full time, only using our van for weekends and vacations. Michael is a home builder, and I work in GIS - Geographical Information Systems. We both ride road bikes and, of course, do a fair amount of hiking with the dogs. We hope to retire soon to take some longer trips - planning to visit Canada and South America. I want to travel through Europe with the van too!