Chapter 1: Might As Well Start At The Beginning…

Hello All!

Our names are Laura and Geoff Murphy. We will be both working on this story- but mostly the writing will be done by myself, Geoff Murphy. First off- this is not our autobiography but I do want to at least briefly explain a little of our path to where we are now. We feel our story is just starting, but- I figured I would tell the tale of how we got to where we are today. Why a Toyota Motorhome? Why plan to leave our small, quaint, “cosmic paradise” and venture out to discover a new home? Well…

We live in Homer, Alaska. It’s many things- but to put it simply, it is a beautiful little coastal town at the bottom of the Kenai Peninsula. I was born here, and have been a “permanent inmate” ever since. Yeah yeah… I know… It’s not all that bad… but my dream has always seriously been to escape. Almost all everyone I grew up with did- where many have come back- I never left. I have always been called by the idea of life on the road, but when life heard my plans it laughed and handed me a different road map- at least so far.

But- to the point- the first time I fell in love with a Toyota Motorhome was when I was 14 years old. I was working at the docks in Homer for a fish processing company. (At this point I was too young to do most work- so my job was simply to sort the fish as they came down sorting table) Our Foreman lived behind the plant, in a Toyota Dolphin. We would have to go back and meet with him sometimes in his home, and I was amazed about how cool and complete it all was in such a small vehicle. The memories of that Dolphin forever lodged a soft spot in my heart; in fact, until a few years ago that’s what I thought all Toyota Motorhomes were called.

Over the next 5 years I owned a bus and a Dodge Supervan that I worked on in attempts to get ready to drive around the country after I graduated. Unfortunately, due to the partying lifestyle choices of one of my parents (whom I love dearly)- these were sold off for drug money or just destroyed due to improper use. Those tales though are not the point of this story- I just wanted to point out that the focus of my life was the road.

So- my latest escape van had a blown engine- and I was stuck in Homer trying to save up enough money to buy another one when life did what it does best- and handed me that new road map.

So I changed my course! A year after our beautiful baby girl was born I ended up separating from her Mother. Even to this day my ex follows her families path and carries an anger streak a mile wide. (I hope she finds the courage to grow out of it someday) I stayed in Homer to be there for my daughter- I wanted to give her a choice on the type of person she could be.

A few years later Laura and I met, and she became my best friend in the whole world! It is an awesome situation to have the love of your life also be your best friend. We have had our rough patches (teenagers)- but we have survived them and continue to tackle the world head on and make progress. Our youngest is now 15- and is giving us a bit of hell, but we still want to teach her to be the best person possible. Plus- we’ve made it this far- two and half more years is nothing! (I hope it ends up feeling that way too… he he he….)

During our years together we fell in love with Hawaii- and we want to go live there eventually. Laura keeps me reined in though- and brings up an excellent point; there are lots of awesome places in the world. There are lots of awesome places in the U.S. alone- and I have never been to 99% of them. Also over the course of time I had owned many vehicles- and had learned the lessons with such; and had become a Toyota fan through and through. So we started playing with the idea of maybe traveling after the kids had all graduated. When I started looking for a way to to that; one of my first thoughts was; “man did I love that Toyota Dolphin…”

1-6-2020 Geoff Murphy