Folks,

We finally made it to our new home in northern Idaho in early September. I had to fly back to Nashville to get my pick-up truck, utility trailer, and my workshop "stuff" and drive all the way back across the country a second time. Ended up traveling over 6500 miles in about ten days, counting the flight. My tail-feathers are still dragging from all that travel! We didn't have too much trouble during all that traveling, except for a tire blowout on the U-Haul truck near the Badlands in South Dakota. We were stranded on the side of the road for about 4 hours in some rain and strong wind. The worst part was the 7 cats started coming out of their stupor as the sleeping medication wore off. That made the wife extremely anxious, as the cats were trying to tear out of their containers.

Jack, I'm not certain I will be able to make the next meeting of the North Idaho Fly Caster's, but I will try if possible. I'd sure like to hook up with some folks who know their way around up here to lessen my learning curve for outdoor pursuits.

Larry, I observed with considerable interest the Clark Fork and the St. Regis rivers as I drove through western MT. Those are some fine looking streams! I plan on getting out soon to scout those rivers, as well as several other streams in the Panhandle of Idaho. Right now, getting things unpacked and stored away is our primary objective. It's amazing how much junk, er, stuff, we can accumulate in our lifetime. I am continually reminded of George Carlin's discussion of how we tend to let our "stuff" rule us, instead of us ruling our "stuff". There's a lesson to be learned from that!

Gary