September 21

View of the day-Al checks out the load in the Tulleymet Park, north of Balcarres, just before it "settles" in.

What a day! Al went to Grayson to pick up the sunflower header to bring it back and get it serviced up for future endeavors. The plan was to switch out header trailers with the straight header, since the sunflower trailer was a smaller one just used for storage.

Marilyn had her appointment at the optometrist and then had lunch with her manager from Staples, getting caught up with the summer's activities at home. Al called as Marilyn was picking up her prescription to tell her we would be pulling up stakes and moving to Balcarres to straight cut some oats.

Once Marilyn returned to the farm, Al had the combine running and the trailer lined up to get loaded and ready to roll. After getting everything flanged in, we went back to the camper to hook up the straight header trailer and start the 85 mile trip to the field of oats.

The trip was uneventful until the last 11 miles of the worst road we have ever encountered...half chewed up pavement, all rolling and pitted...the other half a poor excuse for gravel, the whole stretch lovingly called the "highway to hell" by the locals. We say that is a compliment. That was the start of the problems...

We got the combine and trailer pulled into a small roadside park and started to get it unloaded so we could move everything into the field once we had cut out a spot. We put the metal plate on the ground under the hydraulic cylinder that lifts the trailer up and off of the pintle hitch on the grain truck...but...when we lowered the cylinder to lift the trailer the ground was so soft, all it did was push the plate into the ground. We raised the cylinder back up and tried to use a short railroad tie underneath...then two...every time the cylinder just pushed them into the soft ground.

We then tried to pull the whole rig out onto the road that ran through the park, but the truck wouldn't shift into deep reduction, so we couldn't get a low enough gear to pull the truck and trailer out. Worse yet, was the fact that the tires had sunk into the grass about six inches, making the tug to get out even worse...and the sun was going down...

We finally unhooked it the old way by using a chain and the grain box to lift the trailer enough to use a combination of the cylinder and both railroad ties to support the trailer long enough to get the truck pulled out of the way so we could set it down and at least get the combine unloaded.

Once that was done, we took off the pick-up head and replaced it with the straight head. While Marilyn cut a half a load of oats, Al got the trailer hooked back up and moved...a job that was a lot easier without the load on. After getting everything parked for the night, we headed back along the nightmare road for Esterhazy.

We stopped in Balcarres for a pop, then checked out the "campground" in the farmer's yard. It's not looking like there is high speed in the "overflow" section we will be parked in, so the dial-up dilemma could be back... We stopped in Melville to pick up a pizza for supper, stopped again in the Dubuc cardlock to fuel up the pick-up for tomorrows move, then forged back to the camper.

Back at the camper, Al got his daily "Voyager" episode watched, and Marilyn did her usual thing. This has got to be the shortest time we have ever spent here in Esterhazy, but we will get to see some new scenery...a lot more trees changing colors...blackbirds "mobbing" up, swarming all over...the Canada geese heading south and stopping to feast in the fields where the John Deere combines have pulled out...

And Al brought the sunflower header over to Esterhazy for nothing...