Dan Van Watermulen
8567 Happy Camp Road
Moorpark, CA. 93021
 
Home: (805)523-0523
Cell:    (805)432-5409
e-mail: staciesophie@aol.com

My life for the past 20 years:
After High School I took a year and a half hiatus touring the western US on motorcycle with two friends.  It was allot of fun but didn't pay very well. So, I returned home to find something more constructive to do.  Bill Braun talked me into attending college with him in fall of 1987.  At the time I thought it was a great way to party and meet girls.  It was, and I did allot of both.

I graduated from Moorhead State University in 1991 with a BS in Business Administration.  I was dating a girl named Stacie when I graduated and she persuaded me into moving to California with her.  It didn't take a whole lot if persuading, she was/is really cute and I hated the Minnesota winters.  So, I grabbed my BS degree (ink was still a little damp), packed all me worldly possessions into a duffle bag, borrowed $2,500 from my parents and we were off.

I found a job shortly after we got settled into Stacie's sisters 1 bedroom apt. (we were on the hide-a-bed couch).  I started as an entry level manger for FedEx.  I worked for FedEx for about 13 years.

Oh ya, Stacie and I did get our own place after I started working.  We lived in 5 apts. and bought two houses together before we finally got married in Sept. of 2000 in Perham.  I guess I just wanted to make sure she was the right one, and she is.  We had our wedding reception and dance at the Pier 38.  We had the last party there before it became a house.  That kills me that they made the Pier into a house.  Pretty bitch'en house though I bet.

I quit my job with FedEx on May 31st, 2004.  I was running my own 141,000sq ft, $25M/yr facility and I had about 200 employees under me.  I know, your thinking "what an idiot, why would you quit a great job like that."  Well, after 13 years of the FedEx pace I was ready for something new.  I didn't quit without a backup plan, what...do you think I'm an idiot!!! 

With the stress of my FedEx job came a good paycheck.  My wife and I purchased and developed a 13 acre avocado ranch into a horse boarding facility as I was still working for FedEx.  Once we got the horse ranch up and running and making enough money to pay the bills I gave FedEx the pink slip.

We named our ranch the "Rancho Vista del Mar" which means "ranch with a view of the ocean" for those of you that slept through Spanish Class. ha ha  Yes, we do have a view of the ocean on a clear day but its about  25 miles away.  We are completely full of boarders now and making a better living then before with very little stress.  It took some big "wavels" to make the step to self-employment but I am sooooo glad I did.

See you at the Reunion!!!