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View of the day-A chilly wake up in Wakonda, SD...good thing the furnace is fixed.
Wow...one day missed, leads to one week missed, then almost a month...time to catch up.
We finally got everything put away for the winter, just as the weather warmed up for a while. Al was getting his toy show wares ready for the first show of the season in Regina...Marilyn was working, so he enlisted his farm toy buddy, Roger, to help him out. He stayed in Regina on Friday night, so he could take in another Rams football game, but drove home the 100 miles on Saturday so he could make the Terriers hockey game. On the Sunday of the show, he brought another toy enthusiast from Yorkton...Mike, who seems to always be around at packing up time...a REALLY big help. Al was pleased with how the show turned out...and now has the "Toy Show bug".
We had been happy to get the camper furnace fixed a while back, but when we went to use it...it was still doing the same thing...or not doing what it was supposed to, which was start a second time. Back to D&R Auto, to get it looked at again. This time Dennis, the tech, spent over four hours chasing down the list of possibilities that it wouldn't start running a second time...he finally discovered a small piece of styrofoam had lodged behind the sail switch and that was sending the signal that the unit was overloaded. Once that was removed and everything was reassembled...BINGO...we finally had heat. Consistently.
It was a $500 bill this time, but since we had contacted Heartland RV last year before the warranty ran out, they honored the repair and are sending a cheque out to cover the costs. That was a big relief.
With the camper fixed, it was time to plan our road trip to Dyersville, IA for the National Farm Toy Show. This year, we figured we would make an easy tour down and take the camper, so we could stop where ever we felt like. There were a couple of memorabilia/Farm Toy auctions that were being held in Wakonda, SD, but they were going to be the weekend before Dyersville, so we penciled them in on our tour.
Al had found a tractor that he wanted to check out in Alexandria, Minnesota, so we added another side trip to have a look at it. It was a 1997 CaseIH 8920 with front wheel assist. This is also a Magnum tractor, like the 7220 that Al had originally had his heart set on, but it was the next series newer...a plus for us.
So our trip started on Monday, October 22. Right after Marilyn got off work at 4:30pm we hooked the camper up and headed for Carlyle for the night, so we could hit the border first thing in the morning. We woke up to a skiff of snow on the ground...we were happy to get away from that. We stopped in Kenmare to visit with Pete at Gooseneck Implements, then stopped to pick up our mail from Mike at Jamestown...and to hit the Chinese Buffet with him for supper.
We kept rolling after supper and made it to Alexandria, where we found a campground with all the amenities and parked for the night. This is where we discovered that we had left the remote controls for the TV's at home...and we had 65 over-the-air channels. Marilyn really didn't feel like standing by the TV being the remote, but we were tired anyway, so TV watching was passed on.
In the morning, we drove north of town to Millerville, to take a look at some tractors we had found in a magazine...nothing we liked, so we went back to the camper, got it hooked up, then headed south to Glenwood.
After Al went through the tractor with a fine tooth comb, we finally decided that we had finally found the tractor that we wanted. Now to figure out how to get it home. Jason, from Red Horizon Equipment, was very helpful, saying he could get it as far as Minot, ND for us...but we didn't know of anyplace to unload it, so we opted for Pingree. Our second option was with Glen, from White's Ag in Yorkton, who had sprayers brought up past Alexandria and could pick it up as part of one of the loads. That would be the best, since it would come all the way to Yorkton and we wouldn't have to pull the General out of retirement. No final decision yet.
After leaving Alexandria, we drove back into South Dakota to get to Wakonda and get parked for a few days. Now, here, there is no formal campground, so we are "boondocking". We have power, but no water or sewer, other that what we have onboard, so we have to conserve...there isn't even a hydrant in the town park we are in.
So we made Wakonda on Wednesday and the first auction is Friday at 4pm, so we have some time to relax. Not a chance...we made a road trip today to Chamberlain so Al could pick up a few tractors that he had seen when we were there this past summer. Just a 300 mile round trip to add to the jaunt.
We stopped in Mitchell on the way back for a snack and to check out the new designs on the Corn Palace. This year they were putting the finishing touches on what looked like a school activity theme...band, cheer leading, wrestling, hockey...all in grains and grasses. There had been concerns earlier in the year, that there wouldn't be enough harvested to create a new theme. Thank goodness that didn't happen.
While near a Walmart, Marilyn decided to pick up a couple of 5 gallon water cubes to fill with water for the camper. She figured that we could top off the tank with a couple of jugs rather than hook up the trailer and find a water spigot somewhere. We looked for a tap in every town we went through on the way back, but had no luck...then we remembered seeing a hose on the back of the gas station in Wakonda. It was closed when we got to town, so we decided to help ourselves at the time and beg for forgiveness tomorrow, which was fine...until we got caught. The lady working in the bar part of the gas station wasn't too pleased with us...hopefully we can fix that up tomorrow.
Back at the camper, we filled the tank with the jugs, then hunkered in for the night. Marilyn picked up a $5 universal remote and got it working with the TV, so she wouldn't have to hang around the channel buttons all night. While Al couldn't get the football game, he was able to watch a little baseball, so he got his fix.
Tomorrow, we only travel down to the auction hall...
View of the day- Everything is parked in the "shop" for the winter. It would be nice to have something with at roof.
Al spent most of the day taking the radio and cameras off the grain cart and tractor, then he cleaned out the cab of the tractor. It's now ready for a new home...should someone decide to buy it. He spent the rest of the day getting the shop trailer organized and putting more stuff away in the garage.
Marilyn worked on the usual things...emptying tubs...and managed to get 10 emptied. The biggest task was mounting the TV from the living room in the bedroom and finding something to build a shelf for the receiver, DVD and streaming player to sit on. The TV still had the braces on it from when we used it in the old Golden Falcon camper, so it was just a matter of getting the bracket mounted on the wall and finding a way to hide the cords.
Al finished his work in time to watch the CFL and NFL games...he is pretty impressed with the new TV, so it might be tough to get him to share. After about 5 hours of football, Marilyn commandeered the remote so she could catch up on some of her shows on the DVR and relax after getting most of her work done.
Tomorrow the real work starts...she is back at Staples...
View of the day-Courtesy of the Harvest For Kids...to awesome not to share. Not sure how the swathing was done, or what the back story is, but we're sure to find out and share it when we do.
Another early morning as we were up to get ready for a road trip to visit with Marilyn's family in Moose Jaw for Thanksgiving dinner. Marilyn had originally been told it would be served at 2pm, so there wasn't any rush...then around 9am she re-read the email and discovered it was 12-1pm. Time to drop the hammer.
We drove the 180 miles and were there in plenty of time to line up to the feed bunk...it was the first time Marilyn can remember not being the first in line for one of these functions. No worries, there was plenty of food to go around the 28 people that were there...and it's been a long time since we have seen a "kids table"...a new generation is coming up.
After we had dinner and a great visit with everyone, we stopped at Marilyn's mom and dad's for a visit and a "care package"...best cabbage rolls in the country...and there is always a pan full to take home.
We stopped in Regina to grab a coffee, the drove straight through to Yorkton and on to the farm. Al got right into his recliner and started watching the NFL game. Marilyn figured 7pm was too early to go to sleep, so she vowed to get at least one tub of camper stuff emptied before relaxing at the computer.
She found one with a big bowl and the pizza cooker in it...it was "technically" one tub emptied...
View of the day-Al's collection...or a small part of it...now has a new home.
Al was up early for a road trip to Regina, about two hours SW of Yorkton, for an auction sale that had a CaseIH 7120 Magnum tractor he was interested in.
Marilyn was up early to get started with the rest of the unpacking and to make room in the office for some rearranging of furniture. Brenda was coming out to help with some of the heavy lifting of the big clumsy stuff...like the display case full of Versatile tractors. by the time Brenda showed up, Marilyn had the the room pretty much stripped...what a shame it couldn't have stayed that way.
After taking all the toys out of the show case and getting it moved over, we moved the fancy JD gas pump showcase in. Al hadn't decided what he wanted to put in the cabinet...it really wasn't big enough to put the 4WD tractors in...so Marilyn decided to take his "every tractor he had ever owned and driven on the family farm" collection off the top of the china cabinet and put them in it. They were just the right size.
Al had pretty much wasted his time going to the auction. He found out before he had gone out, that the tractor he was looking at had been on the auction a month or so ago and when he asked the auctioneer, he was told it was tied up with some legal issues, but he "assured" Al it was going to be sold today...so he stuck around. It was in pretty rough shape...one of the PTO shafts was broken off, one of the front wheel seals was leaking...but he thought if he got it cheap enough, he could get those things fixed. But it would have to be real cheap.
When the auction was over and the tractor hadn't come up, he asked what the deal was and they told him they had gotten a call from a lawyer telling them it couldn't be sold. Al got to blow off a "little" steam...he was somewhat upset, to say the least. He came home empty-handed.
Marilyn continued tackling the tubs of stuff left to put away, until it was time to watch her Saturday Night Live. That lasted until Al came home from the Terrier hockey game and decided he needed to watch the NFL game. That's what DVR's are for, so she passed the remote and vacated the recliner.
Today was the day the world record harvest was broken. Two quarter sections (320 acres) of oats combined by 249 combines in seven minutes! Check out Harvest For Kids tomorrow for pictures...must have been quite a sight.
Road trip to have Thanksgiving dinner with Marilyn's kin in Moose Jaw tomorrow...
View of the day-The 2390 is up for sale and Al is now searching for his dream ride...at least in the cart department. A CaseIH 7220 Magnum. Let the auction sale circuit begin.
It was a day of driving back and forth into town. We started by going in to get the camper, once we got it hooked up, we went back out to the farm to get it parked. They were able to fix the furnace...a blower circuit board...for only $380. After finding out they were an authorized Suburban repair, they filled out a warranty form and sent it in, so if it is accepted, we will be reimbursed. Which would be nice.
After we got it parked, Al went back into town with the big Dodge to get the oil changed and do a few errands. Marilyn tried to get some more cleaning done, the went into town with the little Dodge and deck trailer to pick up the new sofa and love seat...and free 51" plasma TV that was thrown in the deal. We got everything strapped down, then went back out to the farm to get it moved in.
With all that done, Al got all the cardboard boxes broken down so he could take them into town to put in the recycle bins...and have coffee with one of his toy buddies. He made sure to get everything put away from our cleaning spree so he could finally get the trucks into the garage.
Tonight is looking to be -10ºC...the water will be really hard...
View of the day-A regular occurrence here on the flat land...those sunsets are beautiful.
It was another early morning for us, this time it was for a road trip to Saskatoon for a meeting...and a side trip to Princess Auto. We went through town to grab a coffee and snack for the road and then we were on the road.
Uneventful trip to Saskatoon, then we hit the city. We though we would take the "bypass"...which is now basically right in the city. We hate driving in the city and especially in this one, which seems to have rush hour traffic all the time...going in both directions.
We finally got out to the north end of the city, then made a pit stop at Princess Auto to pick up a few things. We didn't have a lot of time to spare, so it wasn't what Marilyn likes to refer to as a "thorough" shopping trip. That requires a trip down all the aisles to see what treasures they hold. We got what we came for, then we were off to the John Deere dealer to visit with Murray, the parts man, and another of Al's farm toy buddies. Al had to pick up a gold JD 4440 that Murray had put away for him...and that was the only toy for this trip.
When we were finished with that visit, we had to drive down town for our next meeting...just as the technical school was getting out. More traffic to contend with. This meeting was with Jody Lamp and Melody Dobson, who are working with The Great American Wheat Harvest documentary.
We had a good visit with them, finding out about the documentary and all the work that is going into it. We also discussed the various funding possibilities and their tie in with this year's Harvest for Kids, which will be taking place north of Saskatoon, October 6.
After our meeting, we started back for Yorkton through the rush hour traffic, which was not as bad as we anticipated...at least leaving town. Highway 16 really needs to be twinned, there is a lot of traffic pretty much all the way, which makes night driving a real treat.
We got the call that the camper is fixed and they need us to pick it up as soon as possible...it's taking up way too much room in their small compound. But at least they got it done right away and now we can get it parked out of the way until we take our road trip at the end of the month.
But it might need to be winterized first...it's cold out there...
View of the day-Finally got everything lined up...all scales present and accounted for...1/1, 1/4(the M88), 1/8(pedal combine), 1/16, 1/32, 1/64.
Another day of washing and rearranging. Brenda was out again and this time she was put to work washing the General...engine, frame and all. Marilyn was busy scrubbing out the camper, so Al had to run the soapy brush for Brenda...he wasn't so particular on any streaks that were left. His comment was "it's a lot cleaner than it has been all year"...and because it was his rig, Marilyn didn't push it.
In between brush detail and moving equipment around, Al found time to change the oil and filter on the combine, and the coolant filter. The reminder had been going off for the last few days of combining, so it was time...and we start fresh next year.
Marilyn got the inside of the camper shined up, then it was time to work on the outside. This time she ran the soapy brush while Brenda worked the pressure washer. Since Brenda had some time off before the camper was ready to wash, she gave all the pickups a splash...the Freightliner was the only thing that didn't get a swish.
During this latest break, Al was trying to get the M88 mini combine running, since it had been sitting all summer. He had mentioned at one time that it would look kind of neat to have all the scales lined up, so Marilyn "suggested" that we do it now, since we had the time and everything was handy. So we did...and took a few pictures before putting everything back where it belonged. Al figures we have to take the little combine in for the CaseIH uptime checkup to get the throttle and the steering looked at...not sure if they can pencil it in, though.
With the camper now ready to take into town, we got it hooked up and moved out of the way so Al could bring the neighbours flat deck trailer over to haul out our old sofa, loveseat and glider chair. They are going out to the auction to make room for the new ones that will be making the scene on Friday.
Marilyn took the trailer to the RV shop while Al was at the auction yard, then we met Brenda for supper. After that, it was back home to do some more unpacking and cleaning...yay.
Road trip to Saskatoon tomorrow...
