July 14

View of the day-Hamill Buttes watching over the wheat.

A busy day of hauling for Al, starting bright and early. While Al drove the grain truck to Winner, Marilyn followed with the Dodge to get fuel for the combine and meet Al to purchase two new batteries for the Freight. It had been very temperamental about starting, and when it wouldn't even go with a boost, we knew it was time for new ones. After picking them up, we headed back to Hamill to move the combine and tractor over to the new field.

Instead of taking the header off to move, Marilyn got to take the scenic route to avoid the bridge and traffic on the main highway. After getting everything moved, we cranked up, and it was so dry we could have started at 9am. Halfway into the first load, the farmer came across the field in his pickup and flagged Marilyn down to tell her the sample he had gotten from opening up the field was only testing 46 lbs and no one would buy it. This meant he wouldn't want to combine the field, but after taking a second sample from further into the field, it was 58 lbs and the dust was flying again.

We finished the field around 6 pm and moved the combine back to town. Once Al got back, we went out to the field to get the grain truck, tractor and pickup. Now, how to move three vehicles with only two people...? A while back Marilyn had purchased a tow bar for the truck for just such an occasion. We tried using it last year in this very field, and one of the brackets came loose and...well...let's just say the bush guard has a funky curve to it. Over the summer last year, we upgraded at a couple of different welders, beefing it up and changing it to fit the pickup. We finally got it done right in Esterhazy back in Saskatchewan; it weighs a lot more than the original, but it ain't gonna break. We have been hauling it around in the box all season and we figured this was the time to test it out. It worked like a dream.

Al has a policy that "if it doesn't get used during the summer, it doesn't get packed next year". Marilyn has made a point of always using everything packed in the camper, and now the hitch can be added to the list. Now, about the two sewing machines...warning flags, seat covers...there's still a couple of months left.

Tomorrow we load up again...

July 13

View of the day-Full hopper waiting for the truck to return, with the Hamill Buttes in the background.

Another great day, not the bad luck Friday the 13. Al got busy early, taking the grain truck to town to get a new tire. Marilyn serviced and was able to start combining at 10:30am, what a nice change.

With the long haul to Winner, there was some waiting for the combine, as the truck, cart and combine would be full. Marilyn had to leave the combine and drive the full truck to meet Al on the highway and switch out for the empty truck. We managed to finish the field by sunset, but couldn't get moved to the last field.

Wonder of wonders, there is no rain in the forecast for the next while, or at least until we are done. Today was over 90 and tomorrow there is a possibility of hitting the century mark, so everything is plenty dry.

There's nothing like loading up in the heat...

July 12

View of the day- "threading the needle", dumping into the farmers grain wagon...the opening is only two feet across. The lazik eye surgery pays off!

Perfect weather, actually pleasant for Hamill, no 100 degree days...yet. We drove into Winner, about 22 miles SW of town, to get our harvest permits, a new spare tire for the camper, and the "F" word...that's right - fuel. We got back to Hamill, got the combine freshened up and moved out to the first field, which was pretty much right in town, two blocks from the camper.

Once we got rolling, it didn't take very long to get the first load, it was running around 50 bushels/acre. Al was hauling to Winner so his round trip to the elevator, without factoring a line up was about 90 minutes. The field was only 35 acres, but was lying down real bad in places, which slowed everything down. That was a good thing for Al because he never fell behind with hauling.

Well that, and a broken bar on the feeder chain. Marilyn heard a noise coming from the feeder house, and upon investigation found the source. Now this took a bit of doing, since the feeder inspection door is below the cab, and short of hanging off the ladder and flipping the switch with your big toe, it really is a two person job. Trying to get the broken bar to the top meant a lot of up and down the ladder...but who doesn't need exercise? Once found, it was a matter of taking two bolts out and it was back to making dust.

Marilyn finished and moved the combine to the next field, about five miles NW of town and got a ride back from the farmer to bring the tractor and cart. Al moved the truck over and the farmer brought out his own grain buggy to fill with seed wheat from the field, giving us some extra room for the 40+ bushel wheat.

Al was able to make 5 trips before the elevator finally shut down for the night, and by the time he made it back, Marilyn had the truck, both carts and the combine full and was waiting. He found a fuel truck filling up a farmer's grain truck on the side of the highway, and got him to come into Hamill to fill our slip tank for the combine. This saved an extra trip into Winner for fuel, because Lord knows, we don't like to drive too much.

We are 1/3 of the way done here, and if all goes well, we could be done by Sunday.

But let's not jinx things by saying that...

July 11

View of the day-Crossing the Niobrara River in northern Nebraska.

We made it back to Great Bend and it was 2:30am before we managed to get to bed. We were planning on sleeping in a bit to make up for the long day, but around 7am we heard the pitter-patter of rain falling on the roof.

Al was concerned about getting the tractor and cart load out to the highway from the bins over the wet roads, so he couldn't sleep anymore thinking about how much rain had fallen out there. We got everything put away in the camper, pulled the slides in and headed west to the bins. It rained off and on all the way out and some of the showers were pretty heavy, but we managed to get out there with the camper and get the shop trailer hooked on behind it and then try to get around the two bad corners to the highway. Al got out of the yard all right and had to make a right turn onto the main road, but couldn't take it as wide as he would have liked. Marilyn watched as he came around the corner and the wheels of the trailer dipped out of sight into the ditch, but he anticipated that happening and had the momentum to pull right through without any damage. We made it to the highway and breathed a sigh of relief.

It pretty much poured all the way north of Hayes, but as we neared the Nebraska border it let up. Just into the state we had to pull in to a temporary weigh scale to get checked out. We pulled in just as another harvester was leaving and we ran into him at the service station in Alma where he was parked. He asked Al how he had managed to get through the checkpoint so fast, since they went through his unit with a fine tooth comb and he had to park it until he had gotten it repaired. Just lucky there.

The rest of the move was relatively uneventful. We did have to stop once for a wreck on the side of the road. They were loading the scrap and remains of a truck and camper onto a flat deck. It was a harvester that had rolled the rig, and the camper was in pieces, you couldn't really tell what it was until you were right up close to it. The rest of their convoy was parked up the road a way, waiting to get through the hold up. Al says "No matter how bad you have it, there's always someone who has it worse".

As we neared the SD border we had to go through a valley where the Niobrara River flows. The climb up the hill is fairly steep and winding, so you can't really get steam up to make it to the top without shifting gears.

Marilyn was down to third gear and just hoping not to have to shift any lower, when Al came on the radio and asked if the tire shrapnel on the side of the road was there when she went by. Who has time to look at the ditch when you are going 20mph? By the time she made it to the top of the hill, there was a blue haze in her rear view mirror, and it was official...it hadn't been there when she went by. She limped to a flat stretch at the top, thankfully with tandem tires, there was still one tire on that side holding the camper up. With the shop trailer behind the camper, we had the compressor and all the tools to get the tire changed quite quickly. We finally made it to Hamill around 7:30pm, and after getting the camper parked, and unloading the combine and tractor, it was time to call it a day.

It is a bit of a culture shock, normally we go from Great Bend (pop. around 15,000), to Phillipsburg (pop. around 2600) to Hamill, with a population of (according to the Mayor) 13 and that's including us! We do get phone service here (605-842-0710 if you want to call), but we're back to dial-up, so it takes longer for everything, internet-wise that is. Peace and quiet (except for the wild turkeys roaming the streets).

But, we're supposed to be combining anyway...

July 10

View of the day-Where post rocks come from. Along US183 north of Hayes, KS.

We got up early (by our standards) and headed out to the bins where the loads were waiting to roll. After hooking up the header to the Dodge, we started on our way north to Hamill, South Dakota at 8:30am. It was cool and cloudy to start, which always makes driving a pleasure, when you have no air conditioning, but the wind...ah, yes the wind. We were quite lucky when we left in May, singing the praises of the strong north wind pushing us to our destination in Oklahoma. It was supposed to turn around for the trip back but it fought us pretty much all the way, and with the hills in northern Kansas and the rolling sand hills in Nebraska...well, it wasn't pleasant.

The sun broke through in mid Nebraska, and although we thought we had made it through the weather front, the wind just seemed to get gustier the further we went, 25-35mph! We finally made Hamill around 5:30pm, after logging 385 miles. We got the load parked, confirmed our reservation for our usual camping spot, had a chat with one of our farmers and then turned around and headed back to Great Bend.

We have travelled the same stretch of road on our run for the past 13 years, and with having to do the back haul, you get pretty familiar with the sights along the road. Especially in Nebraska, where the sights are few and far between. It seems your mind has time to wander, as you think back through the years, and subconsciously notice the changes. Even though there are mile markers along the way, you mark your progress by a certain field or stretch of road or river or farmyard..."hmmm, they painted this year"..."wasn't that corn last year"..."the river is up more than normal"...and then, all of a sudden..."what? we're here already?!!"

We followed a harvest crew with three John Deere combines for a while in northern Nebraska, one of only two we encountered during the day. The second one came on our trip back as we stopped in Elm Creek, NE at the truck stop. As the sun was finally disappearing, a harvest crew from Saskatchewan pulled in, and as always, pushing the envelope to get just a few miles further before shutting down. Some things never change.

Most of the fields were cut out through KS and NE, although the latter has fewer wheat fields. The corn and soybeans looked fabulous, but almost all the fields we had seen were irrigated, so that is to be expected. In SD, the winter wheat was ripe from the border all the way to Hamill, the spring wheat was still looking pretty green, but that's also to be expected. Barring a rain storm, we will be ready to unload and commence to combining.

But first we must get back...

July 9

View of the day-Everything loaded after the shower.

Got the day started by doing laundry and getting the new tire for the shop trailer. We went out to the field, loaded the header on the trailer, which Al took up to the bins where the trailers were. While he took the grain truck to get fueled, Marilyn drove the combine up to the bins, then got all the chains and straps ready to tie the rigs down.

We got the tractor and cart loaded and hooked up to the Freight, then loaded the combine on the trailer and hooked it to the General. Just as we were hooking hoses up at the back of the truck, a bright flash of lighting hit the ground a quarter of a mile away. Now, we were situated at the top of a hill, looking like a couple of lighting rods (paranoia setting in), but we wanted to finish. We could see the dark clouds moving in with a lot of rain, or so it seemed as we watched as the trees and farm yards were disappearing as it moved closer. Right after the second clap of thunder, the huge drops started hitting and then the deluge hit...we decided to put the rest of the work on hold.

We drove about 6 miles south of the bins to the farmers yard to settle up and the dust was flying behind us for most of the way. Just as we got to the yard, the drops started falling, as the cloud moved south and it was on us again. Hmmm...maybe the rain does follow us.

The rain passed and we went back, finished the loading and headed back to Great Bend. We paid our camping bill, and...gulp...the fuel bill - that's just insane! Oh, well, it's part of the package...shut up and drive. Apparently, they had quite a bit more rain in town, when Al talked to the campground guy, he said they must have had over an inch in half a hour.

After cleaning up and going out for supper, Al came back to the camper to "rest up" for the drive tomorrow, and Marilyn did her farewell tour through Walmart, to get stocked up for the stay in Hamill. Why doesn't she just get groceries there?

You'll find out...

July 8

View of the day-Al cleaning off the combine to move north.

We got out to the field early, serviced the combine and started making dust...what a nice change. It was a perfect day for combining, it didn't hit 100, but made the high 90's and we had a strong wind, which made the last 90 acres almost a pleasure. The terraces on the last part of the field meant a lot of turning around and uneven pieces, so the productivity was down quite a bit. Still can't beat the view.

After the last load was on the truck, Al took it to the elevator while Marilyn started cleaning off the combine. With the wind blowing, it really helped get the dust and chaff off the combine and into the air, instead of into the eyes and other irritating places on one's person.

We were invited in for supper - pizza, Al's favorite - and then it was back to finish cleaning and then moving the tractor, cart and shop trailer up to the bins where the trailers were parked. After taking the tire off the shop trailer to swap it out for a new one, it was home to town and it doesn't seem to matter what time we finish, we never seem to get into town before 10:30pm. Makes for a short night.

Without our stop in northern Kansas, we have to make the trip to South Dakota, 416 miles one way, without a break. We then will drive back to Great Bend to get the other load and do it all again.

But first we finish cleaning and load everything up...