This story left off with us parked for the night at a truck stop in Scottsbluff, NE. This was Monday night.
The next morning, while headed to the convenient store for our morning java and whatnot, a pickup pulls up with a familiar face behind the wheel. Another harvester. How is it that most trips we don’t run into anyone and this time we see two people we know ? And at the same time of day…sleep in our eyes and hair all messed? Oh well – it’s harvest, not a beauty contest, right? It was good to see ya, Irvin O. and crew!! Hope you were able to get those last acres cut and equipment moving north.
Harvesters doing what harvesters do best – talk combines.
When we stopped for the night, I had hoped we could have gotten just a little further north than we did. I was hoping (with all my might) that we would land in Crawford at dusk. I wanted our usual annual visit with the Graham’s. I didn’t care how short it was going to be. I just wanted to see everyone. This was just not meant to happen. Another one of those things that makes this year different. The things you think will happen and the people you expect to see are never certain. Guess that’s why you should never take things for granted. Maybe next year, Graham’s? Save a few extra snare locks cuz we’ll have a lot of catching up to do!
We ended up in another truck stop for the night. This time it was just south of Rapid City (Hermosa). The plan was to stay there and leave EARLY the next morning to make it through RC on the interstate between 5:00 & 9:00 a.m. The reason for the set hours? Because it’s the week of the Bike Rally and the State limits the times a wide load can travel the interstate. But…we quit for the night like mid afternoon.
Here we are – parked for the night in Hermosa.
“Well”, says Jim, “whatcha want to do?”
“Go see the faces, of course!”, was my reply.
He reluctantly agreed just because he knew how much motorcycle traffic there would be. I had no idea just how many bikes there were…and how much biker attitude was flying around the countryside.
Both pictures were taken at Keystone.
I liked this picture. A little on the goofy side. I was attempting to do what my kids do all the time – take a “selfie”. I struggled and this is the end result. I think Jim’s face tells all. 🙂
So, a nice man must have been watching me struggle and offered to take our picture for us. Better? Oh…it’s ok.
After our brief encounter with the presidents, we made our way to Rapid City for supper. Jim decided Golden Corral sounded good to him. I have never been there. But, apparently he has.
“You’ll love it. They have everything!”
And that they did! What they also had was a tremendous amount of customers all wandering around trying to grab what they wanted to eat (it’s Buffet style). The free-for-all reminded me of visiting the zoo and feeding the fish. The food was excellent, though. I think the next time I go, I’d like to go when the place is not a madhouse.
The next morning, we were on the road at 5:30. That had to be a first!
Early morning South Dakota sky.
An empty field turned into a campground.
Campers, tents and bikes everywhere!
Filling Pete’s tank with fuel in Belle Fourche.
This is something we don’t normally see.
Big Sky Country of Montana – and large wheat fields, too!
The Judith Mountains.
We stopped for lunch in Miles City. While we were just sitting there, I figured we still had about 6 hours of travel ahead of us. “Better go”, Jim says as he’s getting out of his chair. Those last several hundred miles felt like they were never going to come to an end. I had to make a brief stop in Jordan to fill the pickup with diesel. By the time we arrived in Denton (about 7:30), I was road weary! Ed met us almost immediately and told us it was still too wet, but we’d likely get started the next afternoon. So, Jim and I unloaded equipment and did what we could with the daylight we had left.
God is good! We traveled 2,800 and had no serious issues. AND, He placed us back in Denton at just the right time of day for me to witness some of His beauty:
Yesterday, (Thursday, August 8), was a day of trying to finish the unloading process and getting caught up with stuff. I think Jim and I were sort of hoping maybe we’d have one more day to get settled in but that didn’t happen. After rebuilding the sickle bar and unloading Frank, it was time to get back to work. The wheat is amazing! What a great way to end such a trying year full of drought, late season freezes and disappointing yields. As long as the hail doesn’t ruin the crops, it looks like Montana will be the place to cut good wheat – for us.
Jim is removing the rivets that keep the sickle sections on the bar. Then we take the old sections off and replace them with newer, sharper ones for better cutting. The old one had been through quite a bit of dirt – sandy dirt – this year with having to cut so close to the ground.
Putting the re-built sickle bar back where it belongs.
Getting the auger set up for the day.
I got to witness another beautiful sunset as I was making my way to the elevator.
It took 45 minutes to unload these guys before I could get Frank unloaded.
We got in for the day close to 11:00. Unfortunately, the refrigerator has been neglected and we didn’t even have milk to have a bowl of cereal for supper. I opted for dry cereal. Jim decided he didn’t need anything. So, this morning, before much gets started, a trip to the grocery store is necessary! I wonder what adventures today has in store for us??