Steph: Keep On Keepin’ On

StephNEW_thumbnailSince the afternoon we arrived in St. Francis, Kan., we hit the ground running and have been able to keep up momentum the entire week. The kind of days we have (graciously) been putting in are the kind where I go to bed one minute and feel like I am waking up the next. This is the type of harvest we know and love; the days are long and we truly feel accomplished at the end of the day. Our test weights have stayed at 65 pounds, with yields fluctuating from 40-60 bushels.

Since truck driving is my scene while we are down here, I haven’t driven anything but Purple, Petey or the service truck for the past week…until today. I was sent to town to get supper since we were all busy out in the field. Driving the pickup into town felt like a foreign concept. The change in height is what threw me the most. I was so used to being at the height of a truck that when I would pass other grain trucks, I quickly came to the realization that they really couldn’t see me waving nor could I see over the hills like I was so accustomed to.

At the St. Francis Equity, they have red and green lights to signify to the truck drivers when it is safe for them to approach the scale. I have been hauling here long enough to know that when it’s not busy, the lights often get neglected and will stay red. Upon seeing the red light when I approached and waiting for a few minutes, I further investigated and decided to approach anyway. After stopping safely on the scale, I saw that there was in fact a truck that was preparing to enter the scale from the opposite direction. Whoops. I went into the scale house, expecting to get an ear full. Instead, they were laughing because the truck that I cut off was my dad! Dad’s response to their reaction, with a smile and laugh of his own, was simply “no respect.”

Quote of the Day: “So am I filled to the gills?”

Harvest Tip: If you run across someone who is all revved up about something, simply using the words “I understand” can go a long way in the calming down process.

Loading up Purple to send me on my way again.

Unloading into Purple and sending me back on my way.

Life in a hopper.

Life in a hopper.

Gail, unloading Purple.

Gail at the St. Francis Equity unloading Purple.

The pit at St. Francis Equity.

The pit at the Equity.

Sunset on the Equity.

Sunset on the Equity.

Another view.

Roadside.

Roadside.

A trucker's life for me.

A trucker’s life for me.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and New Holland Agriculture. Steph can be contacted at stephanie@allaboardharvest.com.

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