while you were away

That’s what my Twitter feed tells me. When I see that, I feel behind. It’s been that sort of winter!

Reader BEWARE – you are about to see a whole lot of pictures and not many words while I attempt to get you caught up on where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to.  I’ve made a few trips since the first of the year. A couple of excursions to DC, a trip to Phoenix, to Billings and one more scheduled to Colby, KS before the beginning of the 2015 harvest. Of all these trips, the very best one was the trip to Phoenix. This took me away from home one day short of two weeks. But…it was two weeks with Jenna and I would do it all over again if I could. We left Omaha on a very COLD, windy day with anticipation of much warmer temps once we started heading south. The one thing I would change, if I could, would be that Jenna wouldn’t have been suffering from a miserable cold.

She’s done this ever since she was a little girl (and she’ll probably be mad at me after she sees this picture. 

Our route took us through the town of Norton, KS. A harvest town. A town that provided lots of memories and warm, fuzzy feelings when we drove through remembering different times that held special memories.

While harvesting in Norton, our home was the trailer park just to the left of the Love’s.

Hooker, OK – another harvest destination.

My attempt at re-creating this cowboy’s stance.

This was on the side of a semi trailer and was specifically taken for Jamie because of her love of zombie’s. 🙂

Our second night landed us in Winslow, AZ. I told Jenna we HAD to stay in Winslow. Her reply, “Why?” That’s when I began singing the Eagle’s song, “Take it Easy”.

Most of the roads we travelled were near or along the historic Route 66. Jenna and I decided that on the way home, we should actually follow Route 66.  Unfortunately, due to the snow storm that moved in just as we were ready to head north, we had to make a change in our plans.

The outskirts of Phoenix.

Our destination was finally in view.

And this is where it got a bit weird. Farm equipment in the city limits of Phoenix, AZ surrounded by palm trees is JUST WEIRD!

The next day was spent moving equipment into the facility that hosted the Commodity Classic trade show and setting up the booth.

It was a long day but a good day. I was so proud of Jenna after watching her in her “world”! She knows her job and does it so well.

And then we had a few days to kill before the show actually got started. So, we took an extended drive one day and then decided to go to the Grand Canyon on another – even though it snowed.

One of our favorite places to go after the show was over.

Yep, that’s me handing Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack a copy of “The Great American Wheat Harvest” DVD. Thanks, Dan, for encouraging me to do it. I wonder if he’s watched it?

After the show was over, Jenna and I packed up and headed north. We decided not to follow Route 66 because of the snow storm that was moving in. Instead, we opted to head south before we headed north. We decided the extra miles would be better than fighting the snow and ice.

This was our typical lunch while on the road. Jim would not have been happy with us using the blue shop towels.

The road we were travelling was only 23 miles from the town of Tombstone. Tombstone was Jenna’s Winslow. We HAD to go. We met the Misener’s there and toured for a couple of hours before getting back in the truck and hitting the road once again.

Silly girls!

We were close enough to the Mexican border that we had to drive through a couple of the Border Patrol check stops.

Jenna and I saw a lot of  different scenery and spent a lot of minutes together on the road. I thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with her and when it was all over, my heart hurt. Then, I remembered the famous Dr. Seuss quote, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. This will definitely be one of my favorite life memories.  Thank you, Jenna, for letting me join you in your world, for letting me be a part of what you do and who you are! I love you and am so proud of who you have become!