About Us
Nice to Meet You
We’re Mick and Karla and along with our two Braque Francais pups, aka French pointers, Dakota and Zeke, we spend 8 to 9 months a year in a 40’ 5th wheel we named the Dawg Haus. In 2019, we both quit working and hit the road to see if we would enjoy a nomadic lifestyle. We found that we absolutely love being on the road! We’ve even been able to embrace the frustration RVing throws our way. If you don’t like adversity, RVing may not be your thing.
We are both retired Air Force Veterans. Part of the Dawg Haus name comes from Mick’s Air Force career field as an aerial porter (think commercial airport passenger and cargo operations) or “Port Dawgs.” The Haus part of the name spelled the German way is because we met and got married in Ramstein Germany. Karla was a personnelist, sort of a corporate equivalent to human relations. After the Air Force, Mick worked in government contracting and was an adjunct college professor. Karla also worked in government contracting and was an editor for a local newspaper. Mick holds a Doctor of Management and Karla an MBA degree.
As Air Force members, we traveled overseas but had not seen much of what North America offers. Mick bought one of those U.S. maps that you place the state sticker on at the start of our journey. To date, we have camped in the Dawg Haus for at least one night in all of the lower 48 states. Since we’ve been on the road, Karla has been posting a photo journal on Facebook and was often asked “why don’t you start a blog?” So here we are sharing our stories and experiences with anyone who wants to follow our travels. Hope you enjoy the ride!
Traveling with the Boys
Our kids have four legs and have been a blast to travel with. Dakota, aka Dekes, is Mom’s baby and runs the Haus. Our rescue, Zeke, aka Z-Man, (to the right of Karla in the pic), gets us up “early” every morning to get his treats. So much so, that Karla has a t-shirt to that effect.
Dekes and Z-Man ride very well together in our F-450. We converted the rear area into a dog-friendly area complete with doggie seatbelts. We often pick campgrounds based on dog amenities. The boys love the smell and freedom of an off-leash dog park or a good hiking trail through the woods.
