August 31, 2009

View of the day-The combine in the wash bay at the campground.

We were up early to get the truck and cart unloaded at the elevator, then get everything moved back into town to get cleaned and loaded. Al worked at getting the trucks organized by the trailers...a bit of a task since the Freightliner hadn't been started since we got to Gettysburg. He was able to get some help starting it from our Kansas harvester neighbor who was killing time waiting for parts to come in before moving up to Kenmare, his next stop.

While Al worked on that, Marilyn got to wash the combine and what starts out as a quick swish always seems to end up being a thorough cleaning...and it takes longer than Al expected, so he ends up having to help with the wash. Once the cleaning was done, we stopped for a short break before moving the combine over to the trailers to start loading.

We loaded the combine and got it hooked up and tied down, then loaded the tractor and cart and got it ready for tomorrows trip north. After hooking the header trailer to the pickup, we started to the move to Menoken, North Dakota, just east of Bismarck. The trip was uneventful until we got to Herried where they still have the streets torn up and only a cow trail for main street...a detour sure would have been nice and they probably would have gotten their work done quicker without having to stop for traffic all the time...but what do we know?

We had to wait a couple of other place along the road for flag cars, but we still made it in just under 3 hours. When we got to the farmers yard we unloaded the combine then swapped headers so we would be able to start right in when we get there tomorrow. We stopped at the campground to make sure we would have someplace to park, it was pretty full and the 'host' told us we might not get a spot with sewer hookup, but they do have a nice shower house so it might not kill us...well, Marilyn doesn't mind, anyway.

We stopped in Sterling for a snack then Marilyn took the first shift driving back to Gettysburg, we stopped in Herried to fuel up and Al took over driving so Marilyn could get the blog done before getting back to the camper. It will be a late night and early morning...we need to be fresh for the drive. With bills to pay, camper to get ready, settling up to do, it will be a scramble.

And Al wants AIS(A$$ in Seat) by 10am...