Joe & Carole are both native Minnesotan's. Joe was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Japan, having attended the American School In Japan in post-war Tokyo, and graduated from the Tokyo American School Narimasu. Carole was raised in Minneapolis and graduated from St. Louis Park High School. Growing up in Tokyo, Joe learned a lot about the ways of the world, just as this young man did, although Joe's Tokyo experiences were about five years earlier, and of course, not as wild, even though our home was in Shibuya ... the district so much discussed in this man's report.  Carole and Joe are both graduates of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

We met and married after Carole graduated but while Joe was still in college. Our three children, Karen, Dan and Kathy came along in rapid succession. In those days married students with children were a common sight on University campuses. We were no exception. Now Karen, our oldest, lives in Washington state, Dan in Pennsylvania, and Kathy in Ohio. Karen loves animals, the outdoors and her son who is an Aerospace/Mechanical Engineer. Dan is a math whiz and computer programmer. Kathy lives with her family in Ohio.

One of Joe's early jobs was with Remington Rand Corporation as a draftsman working on the design of the UNIVAC computer. He has remained interested in these machines ever since! Joe graduated with a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering (BEE) from the University's Institute of Technology . Carole graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology (BSMedTech) from the Medical School. Carole's early work was with Dr. William Krivit doing pioneer research in bone marrow transplants as a treatment for childhood leukemia. Carole was a member of Chi Omega Sorority and Joe belonged to Theta Delta Chi Fraternity. Upon graduation, cold winters "pushed" and careers "pulled" our family elsewhere.

Joe served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a Radar & Electronics Officer. Assignments took our family to Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi and Shaw AFB in Sumter, South Carolina and Joe to Alaska (at 712th AC&W Squadron's Northeast Cape AFS, near Savoonga on St. Lawrence Is. 30 miles from Siberia!). This Island is 120 miles west of Nome, Alaska in the Bering Sea. Joe was in the Arctic when President Kennedy was assassinated, and during the Great Alaskan Earthquake. We returned to civilian life, an Engineering career with Procter & Gamble and a new home in Cincinnati, Ohio upon discharge, just before the Viet Nam war heated up.

Early in Joe's career, he joined Zonic Technical Labs (renamed ZONIC Corp. and recently purchased by IOtech Inc.) in their formative years, as Chief Engineer. Joe found exciting work in electronics design and test equipment manufacturing for this start-up company. Carole and Joe had a memorable trip to Japan in the early 1970's where he installed a computer controlled vibration analysis system at Toyota Motors' laboratories. Joe even managed to receive one U.S. patent  -  #3,972,031 issued for a circuit they designed. That patent certificate and 25 cents used to get him a cup of coffee at almost any neighborhood eatery!

Settling down with Procter & Gamble , Joe had a career in the Engineering Division involved in designing and later supervising design of process and machine controls for many of the company's major brands worldwide. In later years Joe was involved primarily with Pampers and Luvs disposable diaper production machine design, testing and installation. Travels with P&G took us to Europe and back to Japan several times, and many visits to P&G facilities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

In 1987 we took delivery, in New York City, fresh off the freighter from Taiwan of KADAKA our new KADEY-KROGEN 42 long range  trawler yacht. We kept her berthed on Lake Erie for six years, spending every summer weekend and holiday aboard her. Our favorite cruising area was the North Channel and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. In 1993, upon retirement, we rid ourselves of shoreside possessions and began living aboard for three years of delightful cruising. We have cruised in all five of our U.S. Great Lakes, the canals of Ontario, Canada, the Erie Canals of NY State, the Chesapeake Bay, the Intra Coastal Waterway, the Okeechobee waterway across Florida, the Florida Keys and the Bahama Islands. We made the trip from the Great Lakes to South Florida and the Bahamas several times. We've loved every minute of the cruising, live-aboard life having seen so much beauty and met so many wonderful people. In the  winter of 95/96 we spent four months at anchor in the southern Bahamian paradise of George Town in the Exuma Islands. One must truly experience the beauty of this area to appreciate it.

Ready to own a shoreside base, in April of '96 we returned to Florida's West Coast at Punta Gorda MONEY Magazine's #2 Most Liveable City in the US, where we've bought a house. Our new home is located on a canal having boat access to Charlotte Harbor and from there to the Gulf Coast barrier islands and Florida Keys.  We have sold KADAKA, the Krogen trawler. For several years we had the new KADAKA, an Acadia 25' lobster boat, at our dock behind our house. We enjoyed cruising south Florida, leaving from our dock at our back door and spending weekends or weeks puttering around the many islands of beautiful western and southern Florida. Time marches on, and we sold our last boat in the spring of 2003, and purchased a new 30' motor home. In our land yacht we traveled west to Washington state and back - over 10,000 miles in the summer of 2003.

In the winter of 2000/2001, while visiting our daughter on San Juan Island, Washington, we found and purchased a second home overlooking Haro Strait and Vancouver Is. British Columbia. San Juan is accessible only by ferry boat or plane. Ten miles from Friday Harbor on the west side of the island, it is located mid-way between Lime Kiln Whale Watch Park with the historic lighthouse and the San Juan County Park. The house is 360 ft. above the shore overlooking Victoria, BC and the Olympic Mt. Range. We enjoyed laid back summers here, watching Orca whales, collecting beach glass, and enjoying the sunset behind Vancouver Island. Our daughter and her family now live in the home.

In the last few years we've owned a new motorhome. It is a 36' diesel-pusher Country Coach. We've traveled to the west coast three times and lin 2006 we lived in it for six months, travelling 15,000 miles, while our new condo was being built. We sold our Punta Gorda, FL home and now live in a condo in the Renaissance community in Sun City Center, Florida. We're right off I-75 and have the welcome mat out to any friends who wish to stop by.

Our travels have taken us to many interesting places including Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Brazil, Uruguay, French Guiana, Columbia, Panama, Aruba, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Rumania, Ireland, Austria, Hungary, England, Scotland, Canada, Japan, China, HongKong, the Phillipines, North Borneo, Brunei, Formosa, Germany, Luxemburg, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Monaco, and all 50 of the United States. Please browse these pages and you will find photos and descriptions of our journeys from time to time. Additionally you will encounter some political commentary in which I share some of our conservative views. Please enjoy the reading.