March 5, 2011

View of the day-Al checks out the view from the new Gleaner at the US Custom Harvesters Convention.

What a couple of days with informational meetings, trade shows and the auction. We were able to catch up with a lot of harvesters that we knew and we met a lot of new friends...there is quite a crowd that attends these conventions.

We had waited all day for the auction and the hundreds of items that were up for bid and we actually got to put our hand up on a couple...without much success. Our Canadian Custom Harvesters association had donated a copy of our harvesting book to go towards their scholarship fund and then there was the big item...the 1/4 scale 7088 combine from CaseIH...both went close to the end of the list.

Al decided what his limit was for the combine so when it came time to bid, he did...and we won! What an awesome job they did of building this combine...13.5hp motor, hydrostatic drive, the unloading auger swings out, the header lifts and lowers and it even comes with a header transport! More stats and pictures later...when we finally get it home...not sure how that will happen, it's too big to put in the back of the pickup.

We left Grand Island around 10am and drove without incident straight through to Bismarck, ND where we are spending the night before making it the rest of the way home tomorrow.

Of course there is a cargo trailer full of toys and tires to pick up on the way...

March, 3 2011

View of the day-CaseIH never ceases to come up with unique auction items...more pictures and info to come.

We were up early on Tuesday and off to Valley City for the toy show. Al managed to find some toys that he couldn't live without and Marilyn found some tools that she couldn't live without, and after a quick lap around the displays, we started the trek south.

It was surprising to see how the snow in the fields disappeared for long stretches, then would be piled up again straight across the ditches. The temperatures seemed to take forever to rise, but we finally broke through the wall and were able to finally see them nearing 0ºC. We forged on and after switching drivers a few times, made Grand Island, NE around 8pm.

We were up early and over at the Event Centre to see if we could get in on one of the CaseIH factory tours that had been set up. We had been booked in for Tuesday, but since we didn't get there early enough, we ended up on the waiting list for the Wednesday tour. We were lucky enough to get in on the 10:30am bus, but that meant missing out on one of the combine sessions. The tour was a lot faster than the last time we were there, but it was still informative and we got to see our tour guides from when we were there watching our combine being built.

We took in several sessions and got to catch up with several harvesters...they have almost 900 registered so we were bound to find a few that we knew. After supper and entertainment by a magician/comedian, we went back to the hotel to call it a day. We had covered a lot of miles at the factory, trade show and sessions, so an early night was in order.

Marilyn is celebrating the fact that she can now get the early senior discount...it's her 55th birthday, she shares the day with her sister, Marg who has a few more years to catch up. Marilyn usually gets a pretty good haul with Valentines Day, then our anniversary Feb 23(20 years this year!) then the birthday on March 3, but the new camper has filled all the gift spots...for a while at least.

No jackets needed today...almost spring...

Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) Part II

March 1, 2011

View of the day-Most of the fleet is looking for warmer weather and now that March has come in like a lion, there is no where to go but up.

We have been trying to get time to update the blog and the longer we wait, the more there is to tell and it just snowballs, so we will just sneak up on it an soon enough we will be caught up.

We are on our way to Grand Island, Nebraska to take in the US Custom Harvesters Annual Convention, so there should be lots to see and stories to tell. After working all day yesterday at our respective jobs, we drove to Carlyle and spent the night there, then got an early start for our next destination of Jamestown, ND.

We had to stop in Kenmare to load the JAKz cargo trailer with toys...and tires...that had been delivered to our 'drop off' point at the John Deere dealership. We dropped the trailer at Carpio to leave it until our return trip...no sense in hauling it all those extra miles...then stopped in Minot for lunch. Marilyn had to do some shoe shopping...Al likes to call her 'Imelda', so if the shoe fits...better buy them.

We continued on, hoping for warmer weather...something warmer than -30ºC, or if it has to be that cold, eliminating the wind would make it tolerable. No luck...just as cold and windy down here and it doesn't look like there will be any relief for a while.

Shut up and drive...

Custom Harvesters Video

In 2007 the Association of Canadian Custom Harvesters celebrated their 25th anniversary. Al and Marilyn wrote and performed a play for the entertainment and it included this tribute to the custom harvester. Since the song was such a hit, Marilyn put a video together including pictures from the members of the association. It is time to share it with the world!

Canadian Wheat Board

November 4, 2010

View of the day-Al and the Big Bud that is on display at Independence, Iowa...he's not so big now.


Well, we managed to catch two mice the very night we set the trap line...and we haven't seen any sign of any more for over a week, so we hope that is the end of them.


Al had a successful toy show in Regina and had help from one of his best customers, Roger, from Lipton. Al came home every night...about 100 miles one way...and picked up/dropped off Roger on the way through, which did add a few more miles. But it was worth it because he really needed the help.

Marilyn was busy at the theatre learning the ropes for Macbeth...literally, because she was on curtain duty for all four performances. It was a hectic week with the play and being back at work...a lot had changed, and what hadn't, needed to be remembered...and that seems to be getting harder all the time.

We had a nasty snow storm on Marilyn's first day back at work...an omen, perhaps? It was a bad couple of days around town because it was just cold enough for the snow to stay, but it was so heavy and wet that first the slush came then it froze making it tough for the low vehicles to get around. And being as it was only November, the Dept. of Highways didn't seem to be prepared and there were a lot of accidents due to the fact that they left so much slush on and only used a teaspoon to spread the sand and salt so it wouldn't be slippery.

It was a good thing Al had the dozer blade on the tractor because he had to push the three and a half miles out to the highway and back...twice...to make it passable. Apparently we are on the wrong end of the Municipality to get road service. The snow was starting to disappear as we got ready for our next big excursion south, and hopefully it is completely gone when we get home.

We left early Monday morning for our week long swing through the USA to pick up our new camper from the factory and take in the National Farm Toy Show. We drove almost 900 miles the first day and made it to Madison, Wisconsin, then got up early to go the last 500 miles to Elkhart, Indiana. It was nice having four lane Interstate highways most of the way, but we were a bit leery about having to drive through Chicago.

We had asked around and were told the best times to go through the city to avoid rush hour traffic. We figured we would kill a couple of hours somewhere north of the city until it had slowed down, but then we thought...even if we have to wait in traffic we still have those two hours to get through town. So we through caution to the wind and started on our way...at 5pm.



Marilyn had her small GPS all programmed, but the last time we had gone to Dyersville through Minneapolis, it had missed a turn on a new highway and took us right through the centre of the city instead of around it. Although she had updated the map, she still brought the GPS for the laptop and had both of them running as Al drove through Chicago. We made it with no wrong turns, but we are both certain that long haul trucking or RV hauling will not be in either of our futures. Neither of us can figure what the draw is to live in such a huge city and spend all your time driving to and from work...amongst such crazy drivers...who knew 45mph limits mean you can drive 65mph?

Unfortunately, Marilyn had to stay focused on the GPS so there was no photo opportunities...very painful for her...and by the time we got through town, it was dark, so we didn't get to see much of anything. We did make it to Elkhart in one piece and had a good nights rest before going to pick up the camper in the morning.

We stopped at the dealership and they took us over to get a tour of the camper that was getting it's final run through to make sure everything was in working order and to show us how to run all the new fangled things that we had ordered. We also toured the factory where they were built...not nearly as thorough as the CaseIH plant, but very interesting, none the less. It was nice to see how they are built from the frame up and it gave us confidence that we had chosen the right brand.

We got hooked up and started back the 340 miles to Dyersville for the toy show, but this time we decided to avoid Chicago all together, even though it meant an extra 30 miles. We did hit rush hour traffic again, but it was no where near as bad as the day before...except for the detour that took some doing to get around so we could get back on the Interstate. It was dark by the time we had to cover the last 50 miles and it was probably a good thing because that road coming into Dubuque, Iowa was full of rolling hills and hair pin curves. Maybe one day we will see it in the daylight...and wonder how the heck we made it pulling a camper. It was good to finally get to the hotel and unwind for a few days.

Today we got over to Dyersville early and were given permission to unhook the camper in the parking lot at the Pamida store. That worked out great because it is right next to the school where the show is being held and the guys can load it up with all their toy purchases. After browsing around the antique store and trying to find some early bargains, we drove 30 miles west to Independence to see the Big Bud that was on display at the museum.

Al's brother Jeff, his neighbor Joey and Roger, Al's toy show helper, had come down for the show and we met them at the restaurant before going over to the museum. After a couple of hours looking around, we started back to Dyersville stopping in Lamont so the guys could pick up a load of toys they had ordered...enough boxes to fill the back seat of the Dodge...AND the box!

We got back to Dyersville in time to unload everything into the camper before the guys took off to the toy auction that was just starting. Marilyn went to give the Pamida store a bit of business for parking in the lot, then headed back to the hotel in Dubuque.

Tomorrow is the big day with some factory tours, LOTS of shopping in the different buildings around town they have set up with vendors, then getting the early bird pass so we can get on the floor at 2pm for an early peek before it is opened to the public at 6pm.

Better tighten up the laces...