“We were just in here yesterday”, says Mr. Jim as we’re walking into the Scottsbluff, NE WalMart this evening. “No we weren’t. It must have been the day before”, I replied. “Nope, it was just yesterday”, said Jim. He’s right…It WAS just yesterday! Let me go back to Thursday and getcha caught up to speed with what’s been happening with the Z Crew. Thursday morning, the girls packed the “Nasty” with all their items while Jim and I were trying to close down the cottage on wheels. As you will recall, the girls decided that it would make more sense for them to go home from Limon (450 miles) rather than follow us up to Denton, MT, be there for a couple of days and then have 1,100 miles to drive home. We also decided we’d caravan to Brush, CO and continue to act as we had all summer (Jim in the lead, the girls in the middle and me bringing up the rear).
Goodbye, Limon – for a few days.
The plan was that once we got to Brush, we’d fill all vehicles with gas/diesel, have lunch at McDonald’s and then go our separate ways. The dreaded time had made its way back and my heart was once again going to have to suffer the pain of telling the girls goodbye. When they leave, the summer feels like it’s nearly over. Even though the calendar says it’s only the beginning of August, harvest feels like it’s coming to an end.
Wind turbines just North of Limon. They certainly don’t look nearly as big on the prairie as they do in separate pieces being hauled on trucks. When we meet those pieces on the highway, they seem like monsters. I can’t help but think about Don Quixote fighting the windmills:
“Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, “Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless.””What giants?” asked Sancho Panza. “Those you see over there,” replied his master, “with their long arms. Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length.” “Take care, sir,” cried Sancho. “Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone.”
—Part 1, Chapter VIII. Of the valourous Don Quixote’s success in the dreadful and never before imagined Adventure of the Windmills, with other events worthy of happy record”
“Come on girls…one final picture before you head east” (me, of course) They reluctantly obliged.
The rest of the day was spent trying to make my brain think of something other than wishing it wasn’t over already, crying, thinking and calling the girls to find out where they were. “We’re at Big Springs” “Now, we’re at Kearney” “Stopped at Arby’s in Grand Island” “17 miles from Lincoln” “We’re in Louisville with Jamie, Curt & Eli” Whew! One less thing to think about – to pray about – to cry about. “Mom, it doesn’t even feel like we were on harvest” Oh how I understand that comment! The two worlds are so completely different. And we all look so forward to harvest beginning. Before you know it, harvest is over and we’re trying to make the transition of being back “home, home” again.
Outside of Scottsbluff, NE
This thunderhead was outside of Crawford, NE
We spent our first night on the road in Belle Fourche, SD. It was cool enough we didn’t have to worry about which way to park the trailer house. Jim and I recalled the first night we began this journey in Shattuck, OK and how horribly hot it was. And the trains… We parked somewhat close to railroad tracks again this night. But, there weren’t as many rolling through as there were in Shattuck.
The next morning (Friday), we got a good start and made it to the Broadus, MT port of entry to buy our Montana permits. This can sometimes take quite a long time. I can’t imagine being a crew of four or five combines and all the support equipment. It would take half the day just getting that process taken care of. Once we left Broadus and headed out of town, we bypassed the north turn that we’ve taken always and forever. That north turn would take us to Miles City and eventually to Jordan. Not this day. We continued West with the intentions of getting on the interstate and eventually into Billings. The countryside was beautiful! It felt like we were on vacation rather than relocating to our next job.
I don’t even know what time it was when we finally made it to Billings. Frank needed fuel and we needed to get something to eat so we stopped at the first large truck stop as we came into town. Jim was going to make a brief stop at Peterbilt and I was supposed to fill Frank up with fuel. That truck stop was BUSY and I felt like the country mouse in the city mouse’s domain. It was intimidating and too crazy for me. But, I did what I set out to do and then parked. Once Jim found me and he got parked, we went into McDonald’s (again) for something to eat.
We pulled into Denton about 7:30 that evening. I tried (I really did) not to cry while putting all the pictures up and decorations on the walls. The last time we did this, I had help. I was really missing Taylor & Callie. Jim walks in (Mr. tough guy) and doesn’t understand what the heck is wrong with me. “Do you want to go to the cafe and get something to eat? They close at 9:00” I guess we should but I sure didn’t feel hungry. When we walked into the Denton cafe, they remembered us from last year. That’s always a good feeling when people remember who you are. “We wondered when you’d be back. It’s a little earlier this year, isn’t it?”
It was doggone chilly when we woke up on Saturday morning…48 degrees and foggy! When I got out of bed, this was greeting me. Jim had turned on the fireplace to help warm the house.
This is our new home in Denton.
So, Saturday morning, we took Frank out to Ed’s farm and unloaded the service truck. Went back into town to pack a few items for the road, closed up the cottage and headed back down the road we had just came in on the night before.
Main Street Denton
Our favorite cafe where the people remember you.
There will be NO MORE cutting on the ground!
Headed back towards Lewistown. Doesn’t it look like vacation?
Montana prairie outside of Jordan. This is UNHEARD of – green grass in August!
We made a quick stop in Jordan. We wanted to touch base with Jennifer while we were there to let her know what our plans were and to look at the wheat. I believe it was in my last posting I mentioned Charlie had died suddenly of a heart attack this spring. I kept waiting for him to come out of the house but he didn’t. Wally and Ringo (Charlie’s dogs) were there, though. And as usual, they were glad to see us. After our brief visit, it was time to keep moving down the highway. We stopped in Miles City for a taco at Taco Johns and kept making our way back towards Broadus. The storm cloud that we were driving into sure looked like an ugly monster.
It was again about 7:30 p.m. Jim thought if we could get a room in Broadus, we probably should because of the bike rally in Sturgis. He knew the closer we got to Rapid, the less likely we were to find a place. NO VACANCY was what the sign said. As we were waiting to get back on the highway, I looked to the Southwest and this is what I saw.
I really DID want to stay and watch! How often do you get to see a tornado form right before your eyes? Well, needless to say, we did not find a room for the night. We drove until we could drive no longer. We pulled into the truck stop outside of Hot Springs, SD, locked the doors of the Dodge and got comfortable. Jim slept in the back seat and I on the front. It wasn’t too bad considering how tired we were. This takes us to yesterday (Sunday). We DID stop at the Walmart in Scottsbluff. 🙂 And, we made it to our destination – Limon. We opted not to load the combine because yet another storm was on the horizon and we felt it was best to wait until this morning. While we were making our way south and seeing tornadoes in Montana, Matheson (Limon) was dealing with their own problems. The fields and roads we had just left received 5 – 7″ of rain on Saturday night. This is what happens to roads when that much water comes down as fast as it did:
This is the first time in seven years of being in Limon that I saw water in this creek. Always before, it was just a bed of sand.
Yep, that’s someone’s hot tub there in the creek.
This morning was the first time since we’ve been in Colorado I felt like I could take a picture of Pike’s Peak and you’d be able to tell what it was.
We got the Yellow Beast loaded and down the roads – with caution – this morning. It was a good thing we waited. We told our new farmer family goodbye and hope things worked next year so we could come back. What a great family! I look forward to being back and spending more time with them. And…they’ll definitely be added to the Christmas list.
Now, we’re back in Scottsbluff. Spending the night tonight in the parking lot of a truck stop. This time, we have our bed with us in the sleeper of the Pete. The remaining miles of this journey will be traveled tomorrow and Wednesday. With a lot of luck, we should be back to Denton on Wednesday before sundown. I’ll certainly keep you posted!
