Tracy: Our Invitation FINALLY Arrived

Manley, Nebraska – Who mows their yard at 11:00 pm? Me. Thank goodness for headlights on the mower! Actually, it was sort of like cutting wheat at night – a good change from the norm.

I’m certain the neighbors looked out their window once or twice to see what the heck was going on and why in the world is she mowing now? The days before leaving home for the next several months is so stressful. It gets to the point where you’ve just got to be done with the little things you thought needed to be done and leave. Once we get on the road, the stress of leaving is done – it has to be. And a new stress takes its place.

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Last Sunday, we took the afternoon off and enjoyed some “real” summertime fun! I believe the last time I was on a boat and playing in the water would have been while we were cutting in Cheney, Kansas. It would have been Father’s Day weekend and I can’t even begin to tell you what year. A while ago, for sure!

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A selfie with my two oldest “grandkids” – Brooklyn and Jillian Rathe.

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We had to leave Jamie and Ben at home. It was just too hot for a baby to be on a boat all afternoon. These two little devils (Eli and Nora) had a GRAND time playing in the water!

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After the lake, we went back to Mark and Candi Rathe’s house for a BBQ and more time together. I tried to soak it all in. I tried.

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Chef Mark – he makes the BEST DARN FOOD!

There’s all those little things like packing the trailer house. For me, I’ve always felt like I need to wipe the cupboards clean of any food in case of a pest or two finding it while we’re away. Then there’s those things that need to go from the house to the trailer house – those things you just can’t live without (or so you think). So, I go from room to room, opening cupboard doors and studying what’s in front of me. Do I need this? Or leave it? It’s the perfect time to throw a lot of what is unneeded away! Once the trailer has been packed, then it’s time to close down the house. I usually try to give it a very quick cleaning because when I get home, I’ve got to do it all over again anyways. You would be amazed at how dirty an unlived in house can get – thanks to the spiders and bugs that find their way in and take up residence.

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We haven’t experienced a tornadic storm in quite a while. It doesn’t rain much while we’re on the road anymore – or so it seems. This cloud produced several tornadoes which touched down just three miles north of us. This was taken from our backyard. Quite interesting to watch – knowing it wasn’t headed in your direction, of course!

Jim’s busy the whole while preparing equipment to get loaded and going through all that he needs to do. It’s always so easy to think what you have to do is more important than the other but it takes both of us to make it work. And that’s it…just the two of us. He has no help getting the equipment ready and most of what I do, I do alone. We both appreciate any help that comes around once in awhile. My mom always tries to come out just before we leave as it’s been her job for many years to clean out my refrigerator. It all helps!

We made the first trip to Lyons on Thursday. Once we arrived, we unloaded the service pickup and parked the trucks where they would sit until our return. Then we made our way to Lyons to find a place to park the Cottage on Wheels once we arrived with it and headed north once again.

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Frank hanging out in Lyons until we return.

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Parked the Shop Trailer and jumped in the Pete – headed north once again. Arrived back home at 2:30 am.

The wheat has changed A LOT over the week that we had been down the first time to visit with our farmer. From Southern Nebraska to Lyons, it was mostly golden. It looks to me like the entire state of Kansas will be in wheat harvest mode all at the same time. I hear some are even moving into Colorado. It’s no wonder, this 100 degree heat plus the strong south wind is certainly helping it all ripen quickly.

The heat and humidity of Eastern Nebraska is FOR THE BIRDS! We had about a week of spring, once it decided to quit being winter, and moved right into the middle of summer – before the month of June even began. I believe that may be another reason for the difficulty both Jim and I have had in preparing for the harvest. It tends to wear us out…guess we’re showing our age? It’s so much easier to sit in the coolness offered by the house and air conditioning!

Jamie and the kids came over yesterday afternoon. Just to hang out. I absolutely love those little guys and it never gets any easier to tell them goodbye. They really don’t understand, yet, that when they told us goodbye yesterday, it probably means months will pass before we get to see them again. I feel sorry for all the grandparents who live so far away from their grandkids! I really do! My heart hurts thinking about not getting to see them at least once a week. They grow and change so much. And then…there’s that first birthday we’ll, no doubt, miss. UGH! I’m hoping to get to see the other girls later this morning to give them their farewell kiss and hug. The. Absolute. Worst. Part. Of. Harvest! And I can’t promise there will be no tears.

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Our goodbye picture. Dang!

The Beast is loaded and waiting for us to return this morning. As soon as all these last minute items get taken care of, we’ll hit the road, join the rest of the gang who have already started the 2018 harvest and go into harvest time mode. Such a weird feeling knowing we haven’t been out and about with everyone else until now. The temperature is predicted to be HOT from here to Kansas today so I’m hoping and praying for a decent travel day. One with no issues and we get to our destination without even a minor problem. But it’s harvest so anything can (and usually does) happen!

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Loading The Beast. This is a new model for us so it took some time (and patience) to make it all work. Nothing stays the same.

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These monstrous tires BARELY clear the trailer!

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Measuring to see just how much higher this machine is over the previous one. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t.

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Jim’s new invention. He devised a strobe system that attaches to the tires to help make safety on the road a priority.

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These babies will blind you! Oncoming traffic shouldn’t have any problems seeing this large load coming at them!

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And we’re ready!

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and John Deere. Tracy Zeorian can be reached at zcrew@allaboardharvest.com.

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