July 6, 2011

View of the day-A unique custom combine, almost ready for the Demo DerbyWe woke up to clouds and a lot cooler temperatures...a perfect day to do some machinery cleaning. We had lunch, then went to Rush Center to get the General from the Coop.

Earlier, we had tried to get fuel at the card lock where we had the rigs parked, but it wouldn't take credit cards and since we had an old account there from several years ago, they suggested we get some cards made up. We went to the main office and had our new cards within 15 minutes...what a difference from at home. There they want everything but your first born, a new application every year and a limit based on a percentage of your fuel usage. Two fills of the grain trucks and the combine and you are way over what they figure you need...and that's a Coop as well. At least somebody wants our business.

By the time we got out to the card lock, the sun had chased away the clouds and the east wind was blowing hard...which was going to help with the cleaning. Marilyn started blowing off the combine and header, which took the better part of the afternoon, while Al got the oil changed on the pickup, then we loaded the header onto the trailer and strapped it down. Marilyn wanted to get everything else loaded and hooked up so we would be done with it and be able to relax, but the clouds had disappeared so the heat was taking it's toll and it didn't take much to change her mind.

While we had been doing the cleaning, Marilyn noticed a farm yard just across the way from where we had parked and notices what looked like a purple combine...kind of a Massey-looking purple combine. A sprayer pulled out of the yard and came over to the card lock to fuel up so Marilyn went over to talk to him about what it could possibly be. He told her it was a Massey combine painted with the Kansas State colors and remade into a demo derby combine...so we just had to take a look at it before we went back to town.

When we got over there, we were able to talk to the driver of the combine, Kyle Zimmerman, and he proceeded to tell us all about the changes he had made to it. He also told us he has other combines that he runs in the demo derby's...one which is coming up in Hayes on July 22. Now we are trying to figure out how far along the South Dakota crops are and how we can work out coming back to check the derby out. It sounds like it would be a blast.

Back at the camper we got cleaned up and went out for supper to a local sub joint, then came back to the camper to wait out the storm...if it ever gets this far.

But we know better than to underestimate the power of mother nature...