On October 27, 1993, the house where she and her husband lived in California burned down in a wildfire, destroying nearly all their possessions. Instead of rebuilding, they bought a custom motorhome, named it "Phoenix One" and began a road trip that lasted six years. During this time the couple pioneered the (then difficult) art of connecting to the Internet while traveling. One result was "RoadTrip America", a web resource started in 1996 for touring in North America.