Bob Orlando

This picture of me and my daughters Anna and Christi was taken on a Mexican Riviera cruise in 2005 to celebrate my dad's 92nd birthday.

After Alemany, I went two years to Antelope Valley College, then a year and a half to old San Fernando Valley State College (CSUN), when in my senior year the draft ended (1970) and the lottery began. I was #77, was called up in March, but joined the Coast Guard for four years+ so that I would not have to go to Viet Nam.

Ended up in Southeast Asia anyway; was stationed in Thailand for a year during the WWIII; made it back, was discharged in San Francisco where I finished my degree in Geology at San Francisco State Univ. Went to work for the US Geological Survey as a marine geologist conducting environmental studies offshore Alaska for five years; actually working out of Menlo Park but lived in SF and Fremont.

I complete my masters in Geology at San Jose State Univ and went to work for ARCO Oil & Gas Company in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, New Mexico, London, and Texas; then I was transferred back to CA, to Bakersfield, in 1987. When I got back to CA, tested for and received my state license as a registered-professional geologist, and left ARCO in 1989 after nine years to move into the environmental industry that made better use of my registration..

I live in work in Santa Paula (2 mile commute). The company is PW Environmental, been around for 27 years, I'm a VP, probably because I'm one of the elders, and by state law, a registered professional must be an officer of the company to do what we do. I was married for 20 years and have two wonderful daughters by my first wife. My oldest, Anna, 28, is married, lives in San Diego, a UCSB grad, working for the Irvine Company. My youngest, Christi, 24, is a realtor in Bakersfield, and almost engaged (I'm not a grandpa!).

Becci and I have been married for 10 years and we live in a 1882 Italianate-Victorian that we have been slowly restoring since 1998. Becci has three kids; we still support the youngest, Clint, 23, who graduates this December from Cal Poly SLO with a masters in mechanical engineering. I'll probably work for five more years mainly because of Clint and because I like it. For fun, we sail to the Channel Islands; we have CJ5 Jeep that we use to abuse off road.

We try to visit Puerto Vallarta at least once a year; we like camping and cruising. In 2003, my brothers, sisters, and our spouses, when with my dad (nine of us) for a 16-day trip of Europe for my dad's 90th birthday. Part of this trip was a 10-day Med cruise that ported in, among other cities, Palermo, Sicily - my dad's home country, and Dubrovnik, Croatia, my mom's home country (my mom died in 1995); we visited family that we had never met at both stops. Fabulous time.

Dad now wants to take an eastern Caribbean cruise for this 94th bd; 11 of us depart next March for 8 days. As long as my dad wants to travel, we travel.

I really look forward to seeing all of you again and thank you for your emails and pictures.

Bob Orlando
Santa Paula, CA
9/24/2006