I’ve been away for a little bit…
I’ve been extremely busier than normal with putting together a fairly large event for the U.S. Custom Harvesters. We’re celebrating our 31st annual convention and trade show in Wichita, KS on March 6 – 8. It’s been a work in progress, that’s for sure. The biggest event I’ve ever done was Jamie and Curt’s wedding. That seems like a piece of cake. 🙂
Jenna, on the other hand, knows exactly what this is all about. She’s the trade show coordinator for CLAAS and travels the farm show circuit with the CLAAS equipment. She knows how hard it is to make things work and click and look good and deal with stress. So, for the past several days, I’ve talked to her about all of this because she knows and understands.
Jenna is on the road again. She drives the company pickup pulling the CLAAS trailer from farm show to farm show. The Louisville Farm Show was the first one for 2014. She’s now moved to San Antonio for Commodity Classic. And, she’ll finish this multi-city tour with the USCHI convention in Wichita. So, if you’re planning to attend Commodity Classic (or the USCHI convention) make sure and stop by the CLAAS booth and tell her hello!
One day, recently, I received an email from her with an attachment and this is what it said:
I just found this on my computer from the first farm show last year summer. I wish I had time to journal/write like this…usually I’m too exhausted. 🙁 Anyways, just thought it was fun!
The entry was so good, I felt like I should share it with you – as well as – the picture of Jenna and her German intern name Jan (pronounced Yawn).
June 16, 2013
Waukon, Iowa –
Jan (“Yawn”), a German intern, met me at CLAAS at 3 pm.
As I was about to get in the driver’s seat, Jan asked me, “So, uhh, Jenna, you have driven, uhh, a big truck and trailer like this, uhh, before?”
I don’t think he was necessarily worried, but I sensed some hesitation. “Well, I used to pull the combine header behind the pick-up when I was on harvest,” I said.
It was good enough for him, I guess. And away we went.
We were chatty for the first couple of hours – Jan told me about his recent travels across the States, I told him about my recent travels across Germany – and Des Moines came fast.
We stopped for fuel in Ankeny. After filling up the tank, we went inside to get something to drink. We both grabbed Mt. Dews.
On moving days on harvest, my sisters and I would buy Dews and Laffy Taffy – the greatest combination, probably ever. What’s a road trip without Laffy Taffy? It’s not.
I grabbed a piece and asked Jan if he wanted one, too. He asked what it was. “I don’t know…it’s taffy. Strawberry-flavored taffy.” Blank stare. “It’s strawberry taffy with jokes on the wrapper – get it? Laffy Taffy!” Blank stare. “Ok, I’m just going to buy you one.”
On our way back to the pick-up, Jan called me out. “You eat a lot of sugar.”
Hey man, back off.
So we drank our pop and ate our Laffy Taffy (the jokes weren’t that funny – weird) and listened to country music and drove across Iowa.
The countryside was beautiful at dusk. And when I told Jan so, I think he made fun of me, but I’m not sure.
He did compliment my driving skills, though. “You are a good driver, Jenna. With many other women I would be frightened, but with you, no.” Redemption.
Around 8:30 pm we realized we had gone pretty rural. And, dang, we hadn’t had supper. I told Jan we better stop the first time we see something because we might not see something again.
As we approached Lafayette, I spotted a Dairy Queen sign. Bingo.
“Have you ever eaten at Dairy Queen, Jan?” Because you’re about to.
I parked the rig at a gas station and we walked across the street to DQ. It gave me a bit of a funny feeling – it felt an awful lot like a night on the harvest trail.
I’m not sure how much Jan liked his bacon cheeseburger, but it was food. We ate quickly and got back on the road.
Around 10 pm we saw the lights of Waukon. On the edge of town, there was an equipment dealership.
“John Deere. John f—ing Deere,” Jan said. And I laughed for a really long time.