We got up at 6:30 and were driving away from the campground at 8:30. That really does have to be a record for us. The girls worked together and we were able to get the trailer house “tore town” and hooked up in no time. It was difficult to have to tell the pups goodbye. They were at our cottage on wheels bright and early. I think they knew.

The trip north was uneventful. We stopped in Sharon Springs for our annual meal at the diner on the north end of town. I wonder if they remember us from year to year J It certainly felt good to get out of the vehicles and I know a couple of us were needing a bathroom break pretty desperately by then.

The heat started to crank up about Cheyenne Wells. By the time we got to Limon – it was nearing 100 degrees.

Going through Cheyenne Wells brings back memories of the one time we stopped there and cut. As we were nearing the edge of town, the black cloud we had been watching turned into a tornado – directly to the north of our pickup. Jenna was still with us and was driving the dually pulling the header. I was riding with her (I’m not sure why that was). As soon as we heard the warning on the radio and saw the rotation, I told Jenna to GO…GO FAST! She was concerned and looked over at me and said, “Mom, I’m going as fast as I can” To that I said – “Go faster”. We were a nervous wreck when we got to town and the tornado sirens were blowing. I don’t think Jim was nearly as concerned about any of it as we were and that made us all mad! We headed for the hospital and sat there until the warning was over. What a way to welcome you to a town you have no clue about!

Cheyenne Wells is also the wheatie capital of America when wheat is ready to cut! Every time we drive through that town and I see all the combines and trucks, it just fills my heart with pride knowing how important our industry is to the whole scheme of getting food to the table. I’m sure when harvest is at its peak in that area; the harvesters and their crews double the size of its population. Because we don’t get to stay in areas that are heavily populated with harvesters, I feel like a kid in a candy store seeing all the equipment sitting around. In a way, it makes me wish we were part of something like that once in awhile.

We got to Limon at 1:00 – Mountain Time. We’re now in a different time zone until we head back home again. We’ll be part of communities that are in this time zone so it’s just easier to make the switch and stay on track with what’s going on. It was sort of nice feeling like we had just added an extra hour to our day.

As I mentioned, the heat was cranking up to its peak level for the day just as we got to the Limon KOA. We got the cottage set up and the girls decided they wanted to go jump in the pool right away. Jim headed for the Witt Boys NAPA store. They were all happy. I went to the pool with the girls and stuck my feet in the water. It’s amazing how just getting your feet wet when it’s hot cools down your whole body!

We took the girls out for supper and will now head back for Deerfield yet tonight. Jim wants to get the combine loaded in the morning while it’s cool and try to get here before it gets as hot as it’s predicted – 100 degrees. We’ll get back to the Deerfield Beach Campground tonight and just spend the night in the truck. There’s a decent bath house so it won’t be like spending the night in a lot at a truck stop (which we do).

I’m going to leave you with another one of Callie’s jam session songs: