A little history. Sue and I were married in Oct. 1974 and while on our honeymoon in Western Canada via car we decided to make it a goal to go to Europe. At the time we both had been working for EPA for two years in Denver. We had camped a lot with fellow young adult EPA friends , mostly by tents but sometimes in a VW camper.

We decided the cheapest way to travel in Europe was via a camper; our home would always be with us. We had no children, mortgage, or other debts and were able to save enough to buy the camper with cash with delivery in Luxembourg and return to the US, round trip airline tickets and about $3,000 in spending money.

Camping expenses were very small. We cooked most of our meals but we ate at least one meal in each country. Several countries gave us gas coupons to encourage us to come to their country. Gas costs were our greatest expense item.

We both resigned our jobs and left for Luxembourg on Mar 31, the last day of cheap airfare. We traveled for about 6 months putting 16,000 miles on the camper. We traveled to all the Western European countries except Portugal (unrest at the time) and the British Isles (we said we would go there after retirement). We also traveled to all the Eastern European (Communist) countries except East Germany and Russia because it was too difficult to get visas. We went as far South as Spain and Greece and As far North as Northern Norway.

While camping in Czechoslovakia, we met a Czech engineer who worked for a sugar beet factory. We became pen pals and have been corresponding to this day. We were able to visit him in 2003 and last year at his home about 60 miles East of Prague. The Czech Republic has improved economically in a dramatic manner since we were there in 1976.

After our trip and enjoying some time off from work, I got an engineering job, via a headhunter, working for the Kansas Power and Light Company (later named Westar) from which I retired.

Bob Fackler