“We’d had enough,” said McKague.
“So we bought an RV and we drove it around for a couple of years. I’d never done anything like that before.” As McKague clocked kilometre aſter
kilometre, through the Western U.S. and then down to Mexico, he started to think back on his life and the careers he’d had – logger, even a paramedic. In between, he found himself happily
tinkering away with the variety of challenges that crop up whenever an RV gets a good workout. Slowly, as the joy of RVing oiled
his imagination, McKague started to realize he wasn’t quite done yet. Tere was another career he wanted to get his hands on. “I started looking for a way to figure
out how I could basically be in this lifestyle all the time, and that’s when I started researching and found out about Okanagan College,” he said. What he discovered was the RV
Service Technician program, one of the longest running RV training programs on the continent. McKague convinced his wife that
Kelowna would be a good spot to park for a while and set about familiarizing himself with RVs at a much deeper level. Before he knew it he was back in
school, learning every aspect of the trade from piping to joinery, plumbing to electricity. Te first year was the toughest,
Rick McKague services an RV stove. RV Experience drives New Career By Karin Wilson
When Rick McKague was laid off from his job six years ago, he and his wife agreed there was only one logical thing to do – hit the road. It was the second lay-off in a decade for McKague, who had spent 20 years in the
forest industry before becoming a warehouse supervisor. Now with the economy slumping, getting away from it all seemed like the sensible thing to do.
30 RVT 148 • JULY/AUGUST 2012
cramming in as much knowledge as he could over the course of eight intensive months on more than half a dozen trades. Aſter all, RVs are essentially small houses, so if the microwave goes that’s a job to be done. Ten there’s the plumbing, the carpentry, the electrical wiring, even the air conditioning. Te list goes on. No matter for McKague. It was just
what he liked. With that initial in-school training
under his belt, it wasn’t long before McKague was in the money – working on his apprenticeship with a full-time job at Kelowna RV. Since then he’s returned to the College
to complete his apprenticeship training, and got himself certified as a tech in the U.S. Now all he needs is a few more
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