July 2

View of the day-Al dumping in the Albert, KS elevator.

Are you sitting down? We actually combined today!

It started out as every other day, and it was just as well, since we had to get the water pump replaced on the pickup. Al went to several shops in town looking for someone with the right tools to fix the Dodge. He finally found one who told him, while he was busy and understaffed, he would try work on it between jobs. Al left it with him, and asked if they had a courtesy car, and they didn't, so he walked back to the camper...about two miles...quite a workout to say the least. We were surprised when, at 12:30, we got a call saying they had finished the job and we could pick it up.

Al refused to walk back, so we took a chance and looked in the phone book to see if there was any transit service in town. Great Bend is about the same size as Yorkton and quite spread out, but we have never seen a cab in all the years we have been here. We found a cab company with one van, which is all they have, and they picked us up at the farm supply store across the street from the campground. The trip cost us $4! Al couldn't believe the garage guys wouldn't have told him there was a cab in town...and cheap at that...he bought a $2 pop on his walk, and for another $2 he would have been home free (well not really free, but close).

Once we got home, we talked to the farmer and he told us it would be later on in the afternoon before anything would go, so while Al rejuvenated himself, horizontally, Marilyn did it her way by checking out the thrift shops in town. We headed out to the field around 5pm and did a test, it was 14.2%, so we cranked up and finally made some dust. We got about 45 acres done before it got too tough, and besides, it was getting dark.

Al talked to one of our farmers in South Dakota, and they started combining in the area on Saturday...it's insane this year! We still have lots to do here, so it would appear that we will be missing another stop up the road. When one door closes another opens, and we are sure we will be able to make up the acres, and maybe find some new customers along the way. This, of course, could just be a one shot thing, but at least we will be making dust, and helping someone else get their crops off.

What surprises will tomorrow hold...