May 29, 2016

View of the day-Getting ready to get the seed saver mounted on to the new pickup head. Almost like the old days...

We had a busy spring, toy shows galore, which spilled into a short holiday in the sunny south.

The Yorkton Toy Show was a busy weekend for us, starting with the setup for the auction on Friday. One year, everything will go smoothly, but for now we have more to add to the "things to change for next year" list. All in all it turned out very well and we were able to raise ? from the Charity Tractor which went to two year old Lincoln Lipinski.

The rest of the weekend was filled with the toy show, which is always a lot of fun, since we don't have the long drive home like we do at the other shows. Prime example, Lloydminster, 750 mile round trip.

Al had decided we wouldn't be going to Lloydminster, since the Morden, Manitoba toy show always falls on the following weekend. Plans changed when we realized the Phoenix trip we had planned was right after the Morden show, so Lloydminster was the March show for us.

We had an exciting 10 days lined up for our trip to Phoenix, Arizona at the end of March. Al's brother, Jeff and his wife Michele have a house in Maricopa that they graciously let us use for our time down there. Jeff also knows "a guy" that was able to get us tickets to four Arizona Coyotes games during the week we were there...pretty much the only way Marilyn was able to get Al to go on the trip.

We drove down to Minot to fly Allegiant, and the flight down was uneventful...except for the hour delay before we left. We got there in good time and were greeted at the airport by Roger and Linda Miller, Al's toy show buddy and his wife. They winter in Arizona and would be our tour guides for part of the visit, they also had tickets with us for the hockey games. It was a busy week and we almost had time to see all the things we wanted to, except to take in a Cactus League spring training baseball game.

Jeff had a vehicle for us to drive, which was a big help, until they came down at the end of the week for the easter break, so we rented a vehicle for the last couple of days. Our driving/navigation skills were put to the test, but by the time we left, we were starting to feel somewhat at ease getting where we needed to be.

Our hockey games fell every other night, so we tried to jam in as much sightseeing as we could. We made it to the Grand Canyon, although it was just at sunset, which was beautiful and a lot less crowded, but it didn't leave much time to look around. 

We took a drive a couple of days later to see the meteor crater and to stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. Both of those items were on Al's "todo" list. We couldn't have asked for better weather and the break from all the hectic days at work, the toy show, the theatre group...and the cold and snow, made this trip one to remember. Al is even trying to figure out when we can bring our camper down to spend a couple of months next winter. Marilyn is not arguing with that...not one bit.

The hockey games were great, too. Being able to come out of the games in shirt sleeves and actually get out of the parking lot in less time than it takes to get out of a local junior hockey game was a pleasant surprise. The tickets prices for the great seats we were in got Al thinking about maybe getting season tickets. Marilyn thought that might be a bit much.

Another "must see" for us was to watch the field at the NFL stadium get rolled out for watering. What a spectacle! The whole field rolls out to get sun and watered, since it is in a domes stadium. We actually got to take a tour of the stadium a couple of days later and plans are in the works to get down there for a Seahawks game in October...providing harvest is done by then.

We ended our trip with the last item on Al's list...a picture beside a real cactus. We had passes so many of them on our various jaunts, but there never seemed to be any place to pull off to get close to them for a decent shot. Jeff took us for a tour on our last day and found a beauty for Al to sidle up to.

We got back to Minot in one piece and headed for the frozen north, getting there just in time to see the switch taking place. Young's Equipment out of Regina was delivering our "new to us" combine and picking up our 7088 that we had traded in. 

While Marilyn had the combine cleaned up from the fall, the 2012 model 8230 that was getting dropped off was not in the same state. Even though it had been shedded, it had seen a lot of mud and had been put away too late in the season to wash. This combine was a trade in from Al's toy buddy Roger, so we knew what shape it was in and how it had been looked after. Marilyn finally has her auto-steer, but had to sacrifice the lateral tilt on the feeder house...perhaps it won't matter as much since terraces are no where to be found in this area.

We made it through the big tax rush in April at H&R Block...taxes do make the public a bit crazy and it didn't let up much after the deadline. As with the harvesting world, we just shut up and drive, to get it done.

We are now looking forward to getting away for a week or so in June. Marilyn was able to get tickets to see Meatloaf in Moose Jaw, so we will take the camper there for a couple of days...see the show and get a good visit in with a lot of Marilyn's family living there. A few weeks earlier, Marilyn and her family had attended the funeral of her uncle Tony in Wadena. 

Just as they were leaving for home, her aunt Mary gave them an old picture that she had found. On the spur of the moment and with everyone in a rush to get home, the group decided to re-enact the picture...and how fortunate, big brother, Tim had a guitar with him.

After our concert, we will be taking a road trip south to visit with our harvest families all the way down to Oklahoma. On the way back we will, of course, hit the summer toy show in Lamoure, ND, to pick up treasures ordered throughout the winter. Some of which we will need to fill the tables at the summer toy shows we will be setting up at...Killarney, Manitoba, Moose Jaw, Yorkton...and we might even get started harvesting...