nebraska to montana – montana to nebraska

In my previous post, scenes from j & t’s excellent adventure parts 3 & 4 (cont.), I left you with the arrival at “home, home”.  This gets a little confusing with referring back to posts but if you need to be reminded where we are from this point with the pictures I posted, you can refer back to scenes from j & t’s excellent adventure parts 3 & 4. 

After we got home, we TRIED to turn on the water, went through mail and whatnot. The next morning, we packed for a week and headed to Grand Island for Husker Harvest Days. We ran into all kinds of people we knew – including the Miseners.

Entering Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, NE.

Looks like a good crowd.

Two of the High Plains Journal “All Aboard Wheat Harvest” correspondents – Emma and Jenna – together again.

And Leslie. You can see him in action in quite a few of Emma’s YouTube videos.

The booth Jenna is responsible for setting up. 🙂

The combines waiting in line for their turn at the field demonstrations.

It POURED several times throughout the day.

The day ended by spending the evening and night with Jenna. We were able to get caught up on things – sort of. The next day, we made our way to Lusk, WY to visit the Graham’s for the evening.

The stories that were told and retold all over again around the supper table. Why does time have to fly by so fast? We tried to talk Jim into one more day but he wouldn’t budge. We’re hoping for a weekend get together after fall harvest.

Back in the parking lot of the Scottsbluff, NE Walmart. We’ve been here a few times this summer.

We took a different route than normal from Lusk to Belle Fourche. We took the highway through Spearfish Canyon. I convinced Jim to stop and let me get out so I could stand by the creek and pretend, just for a minute, that we were on vacation.

Had to wait on the Homecoming parade as we made our way through Belle Fourche.

So there’s a story behind this sign and the traditional summer picture. My grandma used to take our pictures by this very same sign when we were kids. I continued the tradition with the girls. However, because the girls didn’t even make it to Montana, I had to be the one in the picture again. The years of pictures with this sign may have to be a post of its own!

We arrived back in Jordan just as the sun was going down. Checked into the Garfield Hotel and ventured out to visit with our “family” , the Baker’s. Time went too fast this evening, too. Jim and Mardrie will forever be extended members of our family – we’ve known them since 1991. We’ve spent a lot of time with Jim and Mardrie and it’s always a tearful goodbye. Oh how I wish our friends weren’t so darn far away!

The sun setting over the Montana horizon as we made our way to Baker’s house.

The next day, Saturday, was spent tying up loose ends, paying bills and loading the Yellow Beast for the last time. One of the things I had to run into Ryan’s grocery store took me by the graduation posters which are hanging on the walls. Jenna’s class of 2006 must have fallen down but Jamie’s was still there. I’ve mentioned in previous posts about the girls attending school in Jordan and how fortunate they were in having two sets of classmates. Here’s proof how the school viewed them and their presence. Jamie’s senior picture is in the upper right corner.

Leaving Charlie & Jennifer’s yard for another year.

Pulling out of the Farmer’s Union and heading to the cafe on the hill for a late lunch before heading south.

Look who followed us to the hill – Tom Thumb. His last name really isn’t Thumb. Jenna called him that after he hit his thumb really hard with a fence post driver and really banged it up good. He’s been Tom Thumb ever since.

And then along came the sheriff – Sheriff Frank!

Saying our goodbyes for one more year.

We made it as far as the sale barn in Miles City for our first night.

More Eastern Montana scenery.

Back to the Broadus Port-of-Entry.

Getting close to the Black Hills and Bear Butte, once again.

Bear Butte with no fog hiding its beauty.

This is somewhere on the stretch of nothingness through South Dakota again. I thought the shadows of the clouds made it look like the prairie had been burned.

Jenna, I took this picture just for you! Your brand of combine being used in the middle of South Dakota!

A necessary stop! It was either stop of fall asleep.

We stopped for the night at a truck stop south of Pierre, SD. The colors of the sunset were amazing!

There was another crew with a few more combines than we have also parked for the night. In the dark, there are no colors…just combines.

As I mentioned, we made it home the next day. We drove into the farmer’s yard just as the sun was setting. Taking our bags out of the Pete and leaving the loaded combine in the yard verified that the summer journey was over. The twinges of sadness that wanted to fill my heart had to be pushed back into some unknown hole in my soul. Weird, I know!  Only another harvester can understand what I’m talking about. The question I am asked so often is, “What is it that you like about harvest so much?” I don’t know how to answer that. If you’ve been following my blog since I started writing, maybe you’ve had a glimpse of what the answer to that question could/should be. I just don’t know if there are words to correctly explain what it is that I like about this job so much. It’s an addiction which there is no cure!

Related articles

• scenes from j & t’s excellent adventure-parts 3 & 4 (nebraskawheatie.com)