Which is it?

larry merlau

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Delton, Michigan
a disese or a in curable condition? or is it just a itch that needs to be scratched? how do you describe it? or treat it for that matter? what ever it is i have it,, and this what i have tried to do to control it.. see about this time of year sometimes later and sometimes sooner,, i have this uncontroallable urge to travel,, just got get away from the world or the world that i deal with regulary... am i a gypsy or just a hobo that will work for food or good conversation? your my family and i have this urge again and am headed southerly for a couple weeks,, got a couple stops lined up to break up the manotny but if any of you folk have this same afflicktion or can help me out in this or have any opinions of any kind, good or bad feel free to chime in... but i am here to warn you i wont be here after wed for the duration of my adventure:) dont have a horse drawn wagon either just a reliable PU that will serve as my home away from home for awhile.. have fun and its up to you folks to help me out here:))):rofl:
 
a disese or a in curable condition? or is it just a itch that needs to be scratched? how do you describe it? or treat it for that matter? what ever it is i have it,, and this what i have tried to do to control it.. see about this time of year sometimes later and sometimes sooner,, i have this uncontroallable urge to travel,, just got get away from the world or the world that i deal with regulary...
Nahhh... don't think it's a desease, just a human urge like lots of other things we want (need) to do. I share it... and every summer for last 20+ years I've packed up the family and did a week or two of traveling, if only to "get away from it all" and see how other folks live. Alas I've gotten myself a little too busy (self imposed, my fledgling woodshop side business) in the last couple years and havn't. Besides... kids are mostly gone now anyway, so it would be my sweety and I now. At any rate, I hear ya... and plan is to retire from the day job in 4-5 years and then once again take off when the urge hits for a week or so... woodshop or not.
 
Larry, I know just what you mean. I worked for Union Pacific for 7½ years. Throughout that whole time my residency never changed (they paid Maine taxes) but I was on duty for 3 months and got two weeks off. It was brutal, but after that long you just got use to traveling.

Now that I have been at home for 3 years straight, I find I get the itch to travel every few months or so. Just a raw need to travel.

Other aspects of those 7 years have stayed with me. I still eat at restaurants all the time. No matter how expensive the hotel room, I find them to be all the same, and to this day I must look at a product to see where it was made. Most of the time, I have been to that city.

I think its just Spring. Its the season to refresh and I think deep down inside we all want a new start.
 
Oh boy Larry!

Sounds like fun adventure, enjoy your self! I hope your adventure treats you well. Any of your stops have access to a computer with internet access? Sure would be fun for all of us to be able to follow your great adventure via the net with you. Travel safe and enjoy!
Hey, I got those router bits, thanks again :thumb:

Tom
 
Nah, not a disease. A lot of us get cabin fever, and this is the season for it.

I've worked jobs that involved a lot of travel, and I enjoy seeing new and different places. For the past couple of years, I've been pretty much stuck at home due to family issues, but eventually I plan to be able to get out and about more. LOML has not really seen any of the country except Southern California, and I really would like to show her some places to compare it to. Someplace that doesn't have 8+ million people there with you. :rolleyes:

Have a fun trip Larry, and borrow a computer if you get a chance and let us know how the trip is going. :D
 
Well, my travel urges don't come as often OR as strong as they used to, (guess I'm finally slowing down after all those years flying and then 7+ more yrs over the road).:rolleyes: I still get the urge though once in a while and make a run over to northern Ala. delivering trucks and that seems to settle me down for a while.:D I have to agree with Travis that long ago, the motel rooms all started looking alike, regardless of the price OR what country they were in.:huh:

I hope you have as much fun this year as last, (and maybe steal a few more WW tricks in the process).:thumb: Just one thing though, Larry, Watch out for those pesky, UNSTABLE Lawn Chairs that just won't hold up to a few Beers.:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Don't forget to get PICTURES!!!!!!!!!:D
 
LOML has not really seen any of the country except Southern California


She has my sympathies.

If she hasn't seen Glacier National Park.....Yellowstone Nation Park (off season...say winter via a snow coach).......4 corners area (including Mesa Verde CO)............Mount Rushmore........beaches at Destin FL........Cooperstown, NY & the Baseball Hall of Fame.......St. Simon's and Jekyll Islands, GA.........the rolling hills of KY.......the lush green mountains of TN..........Arches National Monument UT............Canyonlands UT..........the Cascade Mountains of OR and WA......The Grand Tetons of WY..............Monument Valley UT.........

All of these places just make you want stand up and shout "MY GOD I LIVE IN A BEAUTIFUL WORLD!"

She has my sympathies.
 
Larry,

If you are just traveling to get away from everyday things....go for it!

Someday, I expect you on my doorstep. I'll take you and show you where I elk hunted. Don't arrive before late June, however. If you do, you'll have to stay until the snow melts out and we can get to the high country.:D But I'm sure we can find something to do and country to see until it does.:wave:
 
well its two edged sword!

there are puters at a couple of my stops now if the paprtzzie are there then perhaps the pic police will be satisfied but as for me takun pictures of myself i think not,, you folks know how well my finners work thes keyboards well those liittle buttons on a camra are worse yet,, steve ash has done mor e picture takun of our excursion than i have ever:thumb:

ken just how long of drive are you from here? and how far is rennie from you,, see rennie didnt offer i will just surprize him one day,, he probally figures i might corrupt him if i were to drop by, you on the other hand are already in the same boat as me just alot older:rofl::thumb:
 
Every winter I want to fly south. Every summer I want to head for the mountains. In July, the only place to be is above timberline. It's just how we're made. Best thing to do is just go for it, if you have the chance... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Larry......Rennie's about 7-8 hour drive south east of me. Not that far by air miles but there are no direct roads from here to there....You either go to Montana and south then west or....go south to Boise (260 miles) and then east.


I had a long time friend....from Atlanta, GA...took his family on vacation to Yellowstone......called me.....Ken...We're in Yellowstone....We'd like to drop by....how far is it......Well Bill.....200-250 air miles....but driving....a long day from there to here......"Ken.....we don't have 3 extra days on this vacation..maybe the next time."

Larry....You know the welcome is always out. I hope to retire next year...I'm willing to show you some elk country that you'll drool over.....elk and the country!:)
 
ken just how long of drive are you from here? and how far is rennie from you,, see rennie didnt offer i will just surprize him one day,, he probally figures i might corrupt him if i were to drop by, you on the other hand are already in the same boat as me just alot older:rofl::thumb:
Larry! I should have thought that an invitation was not necessary! Of course you are welcome! I'm about 8-9 hours from Ken - Idaho is a big state. Although we live under the same governor, you'd never guess it by the scenery.
I live in high desert - mountains to the north, west, and south. 11 inches of rain a year. Usually rains around the end of May, then not again till October. Come in the summer and we can have a couple of cold ones along side the pool! 002Polar Bears resize.jpg
Where Ken lives it is lush in comparison. Lots of farming, more rain, and a lot more trees!
NezPerce3.jpg
Still has some desert and barren land, but still very different. Idaho is a very diverse state and I love to travel around on weekends. By the time we had lived here 5 years we had seen more of the state than most natives.
Feel free to drop by anytime, but do give me warning. I have a good number of volunteer obligations and my free time is often limited.:D
 
gota give warnings see the civilians arent always ready for the likes of me to enter there dwellings or countryside fo rthat matter see i am alittel crude and very impolite and dont look purty either like the this fall wheni had to appear in court the frist thing iwas greeted with by the officer at the door to the court complex was are you here to see your parole officer!!!!:eek: i was vitim but got treated like the crooks i was there to put away:dunno: i thinki lok just fine but hey thats just my opionon:rofl:
 
This sounds like a FWW version of the todays show, only we'll call it

"Where in the world is Larry Merlau"


Don't forget to take pics....and have fun.:thumb:
 
Rennie,

We have a few more trees in Lewiston but only because of an irrigation system. Our total moisture is 12". Lewiston in the late 19th century was the supply headquarters for a lot of the mining camps in northeastern WA, Idaho, northern Utah and Montana. Steam-driven paddle boats could come up the Colombia River and the Snake River as far as Lewiston. They would bring mining supplies to Lewiston where it was transported to pack trains for transportation to the mining camps. I live in the Lewiston Orchards which was established for producing fruit for those areas. An early open canal irrigation system was established from reservoirs on the mountains south of us to provide the water for those orchards. We still use this untreated water today for irrigating our lawns and orchards. The fruit trees are still grown here and if I ever figure out how to keep fruit woods from "cracking" while drying...I'm in the turning wood!
East of us the mountains get considerably more moisture. In fact, up where I used to elk hunt you could find micro-ecosystems....I can't remember the correct scientific term for them..maybe coastal disjunctions..There are little pockets up canyons....where they get considerably more mositure and the temps were such that seeds blown in from coast of OR and WA were able to establish growth. You would find plants that you won't find for a 500 mile radius unless it's in another coastal disjuction and the nearest "normal" locations where these plants are abundant are over on the coasts of OR and WA. Wonderful stuff that unless you were down in the brush and timber, WAY off the beaten paths, you'd never see them.

I have a friend I introduced to turning. He's a non-game wildlife bioligist for the Idaho Fish and Game Department. He and the crew working for him spent from Christmas until just a couple of weeks ago trapping fisher east of Weippe, Idaho in the mountains. The nearest plowed road is a 5 1/2 mile snowmobile ride to the FS cabin where they stayed. Joel said the snow there is about 160% of normal. That's great as we've had drought up here for 8 of the last 9 years. He said he couldn't hardly believe the difference in snow levels between last year and this year.

Lewiston is kind of funny. Located at the bottom of two converging river canyons...the Snake River and the Clearwater River, we are IIRC at the lowest elevation of any city in Idaho approximately 650' above sea level on Main Street. You climb roughly 3000' in elevation any way you leave town. Consequently most of the bad cold winter weather just blows over the canyon here. This week several mornings looking out my livingroom window, I'd see fresh snow at the top of the canyon walls and by noon it would be gone. We'd have mid-60s temps. Today it's supposed to be in the 70s with a possible 80ºF temperature tomorrow. The summers can be tough...often we have a 3 week period at the end of July and early August of 110º temps.....and yet I've seen frost Labor Day week end. It's commonly referred to as the "Banana Belt" and is a retirement community for the farmers who farm on the prairies north and south of here.
 
Ken - apologies to Larry, we seem to be hijacking his thread! - I've been in your neck of the woods several times - nice country. In fact, we're giving careful consideration to coming up this summer to ride our bikes on the Hiawatha trail (a bit inland from you). Have you been there?

Larry - do you bike ride? Any interest in biking across a dozen train trestles and through tunnels thousands of feet long?
 
Larry, why do you think I am biulding two of these that will hold camping gear? :D

tn_WREN_Linesplan.jpg
 
If you end up in NY you can always stop by Ned's and help put his roof up! :rofl:

If you, DO NOT use the Craftsman staple gun - the thing is cursed, it bit me, his wife (within a half hour of each other) and then another buddy of ours within a week, all working on the shop.

In all seriousness, in addition to the nearby Cooperstown Baseball HoF, the Boxing HoF is one or two towns away from each of us and the Remington Arms factory has a museum a short drive away. I'd be happy to take you to my rifle club for some rifle shooting if that urge needs to be scratched.

Happy travels wherever you end up!
 
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