01 Jun Steph: A twist on preparation

The preparation before harvest begins tends to be just about as hectic and unpredictable as any other time during the harvest season. The pre-harvest prep includes anything from welding new pieces onto a trailer to simply washing the trucks to make sure they draw the proper attention while we travel.

My dad made an appointment to bring Big Purple (AKA: our Kenworth) to Fargo and have new front tires put on, along with having the alignment checked out. Since I go to school in Fargo, who better to fulfill this need than someone who is ever so familiar with the trip? And I am the odd one in the family who always enjoys driving truck anyway.

In North Dakota, we all make jokes that we have 2 seasons: winter and road construction. Knowing this, seeing those ominous orange cones drawing nearer to me halfway through my trip came as no surprise. What did come as a surprise was when my engine temperature gauge skyrocketed from slightly below 180 all the way to 230 in a split second, causing all my buzzers and thing-a-ma-bobs to go off on my dashboard. Being in the middle of a road construction zone and having no other option, I was forced to pull over onto the shoulder in order to check out what was going on under the hood. While cars and trucks and vehicles of every size were speeding on by me mere feet away, I came to find that the radiator fan had busted and had punctured a hole in the radiator, which is what caused my truck to overheat so quickly.

What’s a girl to do when stranded on the side of the road with a truck that cannot be driven? You call dad, that’s what you do. Dad then called a towing company from a town close by and I was to wait till my “knight in shining armor” (which is what the tow man referred to himself as when he called me on his way) arrived.

Even though we are a week or so away from leaving for harvest, we still manage to find ourselves in interesting situations. I nor Big Purple were harmed during all this and I am happy to report that the radiator will be fixed within the week!

Harvest tip: However you think your day is going to turn out, you’re probably wrong.

 Rainy days that seem to never end. 

Sign at they had up at the towing garage, found it rather humorous.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta. You can contact Stephanie at stephanie@allaboardharvest.com.