What a crazy start to the day. We knew that Darren, the forklift man, from Straubs International in Great Bend, wouldn't be out to move the header until after 11am, so we decided to have real eggs for breakfast...Marilyn likes to actually see a yolk in her eggs. Now, we are in a city of 18,000, so you would think this would not be a problem...and why aren't people in church at 9am, or at the very least getting ready for church? We tried five or six different restaurants and there were lineups at every one. Good thing the egg mcmuffin has a real yolk in it.
We finished our 'fine' breakfast, got fuel in the slip tank for the General, so that we wouldn't have to maneuver it, and the trailers, through the pumps at the station. While Al fueled the General, Marilyn worked on getting the backup camera and monitor wiring in place so Al could have a view of the long load he would be pulling later on. With everything in place, we went to Straubs to wait for Darren to show up so he could use the forklift to take the pickup head trailer off the combine trailer.
We got the combine trailer unhooked just as Darren pulled up with the forklift and with a couple of readjustments, managed to get the trailer lifted, moved and set down on the ground. His job was done and now it was time to get the combine loaded on the trailer...the good news was that this combine was the same size as the old one, so we got it right the first time. Will wonders never cease?
After getting the header trailer hooked on behind the combine trailer, we were ready to cover the last 125 miles of our journey. It was nice that the road construction guys had taken the day off, so there was no waiting for the pilot car...it was straight through, no waiting...except for the other harvesters that were on the road slowing things down. We had another day of north wind helping us to make good time and it seemed to take no time at all and we were in Cherokee.
Al parked the General and its load on the street and we went over to get the camper settled in its spot before getting the combine unloaded and the trailer moved. After getting the rest of the stuff parked, we took the combine over to the coop to fuel it up, then brought it back to the camper so Marilyn could get the two-way radio and camera set up in it before the panic sets in and we have to communicate with hand signals...and we all know how well that works.
We called it a day, went over to Pizza hut and this time had to stand in line forever to pay...and we were the only ones paying. Guess they didn't want our money very badly.
Back at the camper, there were issues getting on the internet, so it looks like the blog will be done from in front of the library on main street again. The cell service was a bit sketchy last year, so we are not surprised.
All in all a great day...nothing like the smell of a new combine to get you itching to get in the field...
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