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View of the day-Great Salt Plains Spillway NE of Cherokee, OK
Another cloudy and humid day, but we kept our fingers crossed that it would clear off. We moved the grain cart and tractor out to the field and then went into Carmen to hook up the combine trailer to the General grain truck to move it back to Cherokee. We stopped for lunch in Carmen, and then moved back to Cherokee, where we did a few repairs on the trailer and truck. The rest of the afternoon was a waiting game.
We talked to one of our customers, who had gone out and checked one of the fields we were to combine and they will be zeroing it out, since they figured it would only yield 1 or 2 bushels per acre. Not good news for any of us. We also received a call from northern Kansas, and they are already harvesting in that area. It seems the crop is ripening everywhere at the same time, and there have been a lot of crews heading north. At the restaurant at lunch, one of the local farmers was talking about how his neighbor's harvesters had pulled out and left him high and dry(well...not really dry...), so if we can't make it north, we might have to double back to pick up our lost acres.
We did go out and do a test, but it was still borderline, so we wait some more. It's tough to do when we are camped along the street the grain trucks use to get to the elevator, which is a half a block away. There's cutting somewhere, they keep rolling past.
Soon that will be us...
View of the day-the Cherokee elevator waits...
The day started out looking good with the sun shining and wind blowing, but once again it sprinkled again in the afternoon. We were invited out to fathers day lunch with our farmer's family, so we got a real great home cooked meal. Marilyn left the awning out on the camper, so when the rain and wind started, we had to leave early so the camper wouldn't blow away.
We moved the combine north to another field that did not have as much rain, there had been 4 inches at Carmen over the past few days, and this field had less than an inch. When we got out there, the neighboring field had four red combines making dust, so maybe tomorrow...
View of the day-Gloss Mountains near Orienta, OK where the tornados visited on June 13.
Still too wet to do anything, so we unloaded the tractor and grain cart, then went down to Carmen to do a bit of work on the combine. It looks like there was more rain in the Carmen area, the side roads were carved up in places, but drying out. Of course with the grain lying down, the fields will take a bit longer to dry.
And we wait...
View of the day-Storm clouds brewing over Walmart.
Nothing much today, rain during the night and rain off and on during the day. We went on a road trip to Enid, and the rain hit there too. A lot of the fields are lying flat, with water in the terraces and low spots, so it should be interesting once we get rolling.
View of the day-Checking the loads along the highway heading north
Well, we finally made it to Cherokee, OK.
We did miss a lot of the bad rains on the way back to Davidson, but the effects of what they had done during the night were evident as we made our way north.
A lot of rain had fallen during the night and the forecast is for more rain the next couple of days as the weather system is stalled over Oklahoma. One of the places we pass through had gotten eight inches overnight! They were working on getting the highway repaired in one spot, as the water rushing over the bridge had peeled off the top layer of pavement. You could see the fence lines with grass tangled on the top wire from the water running so high. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures, since we were on the move. With more rains expected, we will get some put up.
We got into Cherokee and got the camper nestled into it's new home. Al took a drive out with our farmer, while Marilyn did the important stuff...setting the dish up. After we cruised around town to see what crews were around, we headed over to Miss Dotties restaurant, our regular eating spot when we are in Cherokee.
We were out of bottled water for our dispenser, and since the grocery store in town had removed it's refill station, well, we had to go to Alva, 20 miles west, to the Walmart Supercenter to get refills. We checked out the campgrounds for familiar faces, and then got out of town just as the rains hit. It absolutely poured off and on all the way back to Cherokee, and continued through the wee hours.
Same old, same old...
View of the day-Storm clouds brewing over Orienta, OK around 2:30pm. A tornado was on the ground later on in the evening in the same area.
Well, we're half-way there. We left Davidson with the combine and header, and got to Carmen, OK around 3pm. We were fortunate enough on the way up with the load to have missed most of the weather, but it was slightly different on the way back to Davidson.
A lot of the fields had been combined on the way north, and many had combines cutting to beat the weather. Wheat prices today were $5.34, so the more they can get off before the hail, the better.
We had a couple of different crews pass us heading north, and on the way back we must have met at least 10 crews, so everyone is on the move.
Once we got to Carmen, we unloaded the combine and headed back to Davidson. We hit a couple of heavy downpours, but by the time we got back to the camper, the sun was shining. It was back into Frederick to do laundry again, and tomorrow we pack everything else up and move to Cherokee.
View of the day-Loaded up and ready to make the move north.
With only 25 acres left to finish, it was a short day of combining. After moving the equipment back to Davidson, and cleaning them off, it was time to load. We managed to get everything loaded and almost chained down, when the rain hit. A couple of different showers went through, but we forged on.
Later we went into Frederick for Al's Pizza Hut fix, and noticed the fields all cut and the campgrounds empty. It's kind of weird - the "circus" comes to town for a couple of weeks, then moves on, and it's like you were never there. But, no matter where you are, for the time you are there, it's home. Some days, after a month or so and after several stops, when you get up in the morning, you really have to stop and think about where you are camped. It's actually kind of neat, you could be anywhere.
The crop yielded all over the place averaging from 20 to 50 bushels an acre. The price of wheat at the elevator today was $5.24, and it has been going up regularly over the last week, so there is a bright spot on the horizon.
Now, if only the fuel prices would go down...
View of the day-Great Salt Plains Spillway NE of Cherokee, OK
