June 21, 2016

View of the day-Had to open up the field and cut a patch to park the camper.

We folded up the camper and left Jamestown before noon...for a change. After a short stop out at Mikes farm, we were homeward bound.

We stopped in Carrington for lunch, then stopped in Carpio to pick up one last toy tractor. After fueling up, we headed for the border. The crossing went well...it always does when you have to pay...and we were back in Canada just after 4:30pm.

Marg met us at the Coop fuel stop in Carlyle to get the smokes we had brought back for her. Purchasing them was quite the ordeal at Walmart. Neither one of us has bought cigarettes, especially in the USA where we don't know the brands and such.

Marilyn asks for a carton of Marlboro Reds and gets the reply "Regular, 100's or 72's?" What?? She figures to get her money's worth and says "100's". "ohhh, we're out of those". "OK, then, the 72's". ohhh, sorry, we're out of them, too, but we do have the silver marlboros". Marilyn asks what the difference is...they appear to look like half cigarettes, maybe for those cutting back. She passes on them and seeks out a gas station where, by the smell of things, it appears there isn't a "no smoking" law in effect. They have the Reds, though...mission accomplished. It was a lot less confusing when all Marg used to order was Jelly Belly jelly beans.

We had a rain from Carlyle to just north of the Qu'Appelle valley. This was a good thing since we knew the grass would be tall in the front yard and would need to be cut before we could park the camper on it. It didn't take long to get that done and haul some necessities back into the house.

Speaking of houses, it looks like someone has moved in since we have been gone. Some swallows have built a nest under the gazebo on the deck. They weren't home when we got there, or they could have been hunkered down.

We'll see what transpires tomorrow...

June 20, 2016

View of the day-The harvesters "bag clip", the only thing in the pickup...a cotter pin.

Yesterday we went out to Mikes to get the truck full of stuff that had been collecting over the past few months. We got the truck loaded, then had a good visit with him and Todd before heading back to Jamestown.

We had a nice visit in the evening with their mom, Donna and by the time we got back to the camper, we had decided to stay an extra day, just to unwind. And Marilyn hadn't been shopping yet.

Today we went out for lunch, then Al came back to the camper while Marilyn did a few laps around Walmart...and a few other places. We had a late supper, then came back to the campground to get the new rv water softener hooked up, then called it a night.

Tomorrow, we return home...

June 18, 2016

View of the day-Thursday, dust was flying everywhere. This was taken a mile from our “campground” at Cherokee.

We wanted to beat the heat, so we got everything hooked up and ready to go before noon. We were quite pleased that flushing the radiator did the trick for keeping the heat gauge where it belonged, especially when climbing those hills in northern Kansas and Nebraska in the 100º heat again.

There were a lot of combines running on our way out of Kansas, most of them looked to be more local farmers than the custom type. We made it through the rest of the state, then started through Nebraska, this time going up US281 instead of our old standby on US183. There is quite the difference between those two, with the 183 being a straight shot and the 281 full of curves and corners…productivity goes down with that one. We did have a strong wind pushing us, which made a big difference on those hills.

Our destination was O’Neill, NE, which meant we would have logged almost 500 miles today. We found the campground as soon as we hit town, got the camper parked and the air conditioners cranked to cool the joint off.

We had noticed, while the heat gauge was behaving, the air conditioner had cut back to the point we had to run with the windows open. When we got to the campground, we could hear an odd sound from under the hood, but couldn’t pinpoint it. On our “cool down” drive we searched for a local mechanic shop where we could take the pickup in the morning. We found one, now we have to wait to hear the verdict.

No internet or phone data, so the blog has to wait for the morning…

Friday, Al was up early and went down to the mechanic, he was going to take a look at the truck and see what he could do. Might not be able to get to it right away, but we should call back at 11am to find out. The worst part of that was that Al had to walk back about 15 blocks to the camper and it wasn’t nice out. Even though it was early, the humidity was brutal and it felt like 100º.

We could do nothing but wait and since it was cool in the camper, we just watched local TV until it was time to call. We didn’t find out much, other than it looked like the easy way was not going to work, so we waited until 12:30, then braced ourselves for the walk back downtown. We were able to find slivers of shade on the way along with the occasional park bench to cool down. Once we got to the shop, we found out it was going to need a new a/c compressor and they could probably get it done as soon as possible…Al asked if they could get it done by 4pm. They would try. Al also asked if they could come to the campground to pick him up when it was done and, thankfully, they said they would.  We stopped for a quick lunch, then started the walk back to the camper…this time the conditions were even worse, especially trying to find a bit of shade. The rest break back at the camper was much needed this time.

We paid the tab and at the stroke of 5:00 PM we left O’Neill Nebraska for… depending on how far Al wanted to drive.  As we headed north we heard on the radio we were in a thunderstorm watch as we got deep into South Dakota the skies got a bit dark but the only thing that happened is we got a strong north wind to drive against and the temperature dropped from 95 to about 75…that was a nice change. 

We could sure see where the wind had wreaked havoc in a lot of the fields along the way from Kansas to North Dakota. This picture does not do justice to the flattened crop.

We made it just into North Dakota at about 10:30 PM got lost looking for the town park (It was not our fault the signage was terrible) got the camper unhooked, cooled down and hope to be sleeping by midnight.  Still no internet at the campground or on the phone.

Tomorrow the important stuff a toy show and later a toy auction…

Saturday, we were woken up by the sound of thunder and heavy rain, which continued for a couple of hours. We decided to hook the camper up...in the rain...and make our way to LaMoure for the toy show. We would decide once we were there if we were going to park overnight or wait until after the auction in the evening to move the camper.

The sun was just starting to burn the clouds off by the time we got there to see what treasures we couldn't live without. We made the rounds, stopping to visit with several of the vendors and Al found five or six "must haves" on their tables.

We had finished spending the allotment for the show by 1pm. We decided to take the camper the 60 miles into Jamestown, get it set up, then come back in time for the auction at 6pm. We had a strong south wind pushing us and it didn't take long to get registered at the campground, get parked and set up. We had to dry camp last night, and the night before it was water hydrant sharing with two other campers, so pressure wasn't that great. Here we have it all for the next couple of days...nice that we don't have to drive during those days.

They had about 300 toys at the auction sale and we sat through until the end. Al managed to come in under budget while still getting about 15-20 toys for the upcoming shows at Killarney, MB and Yorkton. Here the stack is just getting started.

It was a tough couple of days with no internet on the phones or in any of the areas we stayed at, but now we are back on track.

Tomorrow we pick up the stockpile of toys Mike has been storing for us in Pingree...

June 15, 2016

View of the day-How the hell did we do this?! This afternoon was a killer with the "RealFeel" temperature topping out at 112ºF.

As usual, we waited until the heat of the day to start doing anything...it was so nice and cool in the camper. Marilyn had gotten up for a drink around 6:30am and took a look out the window...or tried to...they were coated with dew, but after checking the temps at that time...83º already...it was no surprise.

We took a drive over to Alva to have lunch at Pizza Hut and do a bit of shopping...we also stopped at the car wash to clean the radiator and see if that would help with the temperature gauge. It did help a lot, but the test will come when we start pulling the camper again.

We stopped at Sonic, then drove to visit with Jay Leeper who was out combining wheat, north of Dacoma. 

Jay was good enough to drive over to the trucks and pick Al up for a ride in the combine. My how things have changed.

It was the heat of the day and shade was not to be found with the sun directly overhead, but Marilyn was able to catch the odd breeze sitting in the pickup waiting to take a few pictures of some actual harvesting. Unfortunately, they were cutting on the far side of the field.

After Al had finished his ride, we said our goodbyes and Jay went back to cutting while we headed back to Cherokee. We cruised town to see what had changed, even took a drive out in the country to see how the "old fields" looked. The ones we had combined so many times over our harvesting career. 

We did see a green one cutting out a terrace on one of the fields that went back to the time when Al was working for Roy Johnston from Arcola...likely his first year on any run.

We stopped in at the elevator to visit a bit with Shane, the manager. They are starting to pile wheat on the ground since they can't truck it out fast enough. They were really pleased with the wheat this year, he said they didn't have any wheat that was less than 60lb test weight and it was averaging in the 64lb range. Yields were also up from previous years, running in the 60 bu/ac range...of course that would be offset by the poor price of $3.79/bu.

After that we met John and his son-in-law, Darren, for a cold drink at the new JiffyTrip at the south end of town. How convenient for us there was also a Subway and a Sonic with inside seating. We need one of these in Yorkton...the Sonic, at least.

After tea, we went back to the camper to get cleaned up to go out for supper with John and another couple, Ron and Leoti from Enid. We had cut for Ron and his brother down at Carmen, but like us, he had retired from the active farming business and was now just renting the land out.  John picked us up from the camper and we went out to the SmokShak again, but this time it was KC Strip steak special night and it was delicious.

After getting filled up and caught up with all things that had happened in the last few years, we came back to town and stopped at John's for more conversation, before coming back to the camper.

All during the day, we kept wondering how we managed to get through the hot harvest days like today. This likely would have been the day that we would have had to load up and move north...not missing that at all.

Now, just to remember this heat when it is -40º this winter...

June 14, 2016

View of the day-Look who we found on our journey today...ProHarvest!

We had another day of driving, but we did make a couple of stops along the way. As usual we got rolling at the crack of noon...we are on vacation, after all...and there's no sense in driving in the morning when it's cool. There are hotter days to come.

We called ahead to see if our Timken area farmers were going to be around for a visit. They were. We decided to go to the bin site and leave the camper there, rather than haul it down the gravel road to the farm. We had a great visit with the Wiltse family, got to see the kids...and have they grown! It's been a few years since we have seen them...other than on FaceBook, and we know kids grow, but they are all so tall. Must be that Kansas air.

We went into Great Bend and had "lupper"...what we call it when it's to late for lunch, but early for supper. Can't pass up the Great Wall China Buffet when we are in town. After that, we started back south again.

We finally got into the area where we were starting to see the odd combine doing a test, although with the high heat of the day, we figured we would see a lot more before we hit Cherokee, OK. And we did, along with several crews heading north to their next jobs.

Even though we looked with longing at the combines in the fields making dust, the grain carts and trucks getting dumped, the reality that you just can't have the enjoyable part of the job without all the crap that goes along with it. Cleaning and loading in the heat, the drive along the narrow roads to the next stop, only to unload and start all over again. We miss the people and the combining, but not all the rest of it.

We got to Pratt, KS and were pleasantly surprised that they had finally paved over their rough cobblestone main street...well, most of it at least. 

While we were there, we found the ProHarvest truck parked at the CaseIH dealership. We had to stop in to pickup the latest version of the ProHarvest hat and commemorative belt buckle. It was great to see Ray and Robert again...we usually make a point of seeing them in North Dakota at the end of their run to pick up our goods. After getting a few questions answered about our "new to us" combine operation, we took off for the last stop on our journey...Cherokee, OK.

We saw a lot more combines in the field which turned into a lot of fields already combined...but surprisingly, a lot dotting the landscape that were not combined. We had to make a detour near Burlington, which took us over to Alva, OK before we could double back to Cherokee. We know a lot of the back roads to get out to the farm, but even the best of them would have required us to get across the bridge that wasn't there anymore, so...shut up and drive.

We got out to the farm at Cherokee and John was waiting there to help us get parked. Once the camper was flanged in, we all went out to the SmokShak for a late supper and to get caught up. John's wife, Peggy, had passed away at the end of April this year and because we couldn't make the funeral, this trip had been planned to come and spend some time with him.

Tomorrow we see what has changed in the area...

June 13, 2016

View of the day-Settled in for the night in Phillipsburg, KS.

It's time for our road trip! We started out with the camper, heading west to Moose Jaw for a visit and to attend the Meatloaf concert, which had been sold out, but we had managed to get tickets for. The morning we left, we were fighting a strong SW wind, which made the going pretty slow...just the start to the jinxy day.

We made it to Moose Jaw, went to the campground that we had booked a spot in, only to find out there was no sewer hookup for our spot and the campground was full. No problem, they told us, they have a dump spot that we can use. We decided to dump all the tanks before we got parked and after looping around a couple of times to get the camper facing the right direction through the narrow aisles...the dump station was locked and there was a sign stating we needed to get a key from the office. We would do without dumping.

We get to the camp site, get backed in to the spot and start hooking up the water. The valve must have frozen during the winter because the water was spraying from several locations which cut the main pressure down quite a bit. No problem, we just snagged water from the neighbors.

Saturday we got a bit of visiting in with Marilyn's mom and dad, Anne and John...they even made it out to the camper and up the steps, which was no easy task for John, who will be celebrating his 90th birthday in August and has a bad knee.

We took a tour out to the Sukanen Pioneer Museum, south of Moose Jaw, to check the lay of the land for the upcoming Pioneer Days and Red Power Roundup in July. We will be setting up some tables of toys, along with Roger and Linda Miller, July 16 & 17. They have primitive camping and we thought we would see if it would work to just stay out there during the show, but opted to stay in town.


The museum looks like it will be quite interesting to nose around in while we are there and we were surprised to see the field across from it in heads already!

We were all ready to see Meatloaf. Al had secured parking that was not too far from the stadium, so we proceeded to walk over. Marilyn got a text from her friend who was already there which said "the show is cancelled, Meatloaf is sick". We didn't believe her until we started walking a bit further and the foot traffic coming back from the stadium was heavier that those head to it.

We asked a few people and it had been confirmed. We sat on the parkbench on the corner of Main St., watching everyone go by for a while, then went back to the camper. It had not been a good day.

Sunday, we packed up the camper, got the key and cleaned the tanks before heading south. We could have taken a shorter route, but opted to add about 15 miles to the jaunt so we could cross the USA border at our old familiar spot. We kind of know what to expect there.

Once we were through the gates and waved on, we made Minot our first stop. Pizza Ranch and supplies at Walmart. We left there at 7pm and started driving, thinking we would at least get into South Dakota and stay at the campground in Herried. Nope. It was full, so we kept driving til midnight when we pulled into the town park at Gettysburg.

Today we were hoping to make it to Lacrosse, KS and even though we started out a lot earlier, it seemed Nebraska would never end. It was hot, but at least the traffic was light and we made good time. The sun was just starting to hit the horizon when we made it to Phillipsburg where we decided to pull the pin for the night. At least here we have enough juice to use both airconditioners, water pressure to paste you to the shower wall and an unlocked dump.

And we finally got our Sonic milkshake...

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...