the northward trek – day 2

photo 1 (20) - CopyOur day started out foggy and cool. This is Scottsbluff minus the top half.

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nebraska to montana – montana to nebraska

In my previous post, scenes from j & t’s excellent adventure parts 3 & 4 (cont.), I left you with the arrival at “home, home”.  This gets a little confusing with referring back to posts but if you need to be reminded where we are from this point with the pictures I posted, you can refer back to scenes from j & t’s excellent adventure parts 3 & 4. 

After we got home, we TRIED to turn on the water, went through mail and whatnot. The next morning, we packed for a week and headed to Grand Island for Husker Harvest Days. We ran into all kinds of people we knew – including the Miseners.

IMG_4600Entering Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, NE.

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scenes from j & t’s excellent adventure-parts 3 & 4 (cont.)

I’m not sure where this is going to lead but my intentions are to share with you some of the scenes of our travels from Montana to Nebraska, back to Montana and then, finally, back to Nebraska again.

We’ve been “home, home” for two weeks. ONLY two weeks. Harvest feels like a dream. Callie and I made a trip to Omaha on Saturday in search of the perfect Homecoming dress. We met Jenna very briefly at the mall and had lunch with her but basically the day was just a me-and-Cal-day. This doesn’t happen very often.  Anyways, she and I had some fairly deep discussions that day; one being about harvest. She and I agreed that unless you’re involved with harvest, you just can’t explain the feelings this industry creates deep down in your soul. We discussed how sad we were that there are people out there who haven’t any idea what a wonderful place Jordan, Montana is because it’s not within their 10 mile radius. Did we find the perfect dress? We found “plan B” dress. “Plan A” dress is on it’s way in the mail.

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scenes from j & t’s excellent adventure-parts 3 & 4 (cont.)

I’m not sure where this is going to lead but my intentions are to share with you some of the scenes of our travels from Montana to Nebraska, back to Montana and then, finally, back to Nebraska again.

We’ve been “home, home” for two weeks. ONLY two weeks. Harvest feels like a dream. Callie and I made a trip to Omaha on Saturday in search of the perfect Homecoming dress. We met Jenna very briefly at the mall and had lunch with her but basically the day was just a me-and-Cal-day. This doesn’t happen very often.  Anyways, she and I had some fairly deep discussions that day; one being about harvest. She and I agreed that unless you’re involved with harvest, you just can’t explain the feelings this industry creates deep down in your soul. We discussed how sad we were that there are people out there who haven’t any idea what a wonderful place Jordan, Montana is because it’s not within their 10 mile radius. Did we find the perfect dress? We found “plan B” dress. “Plan A” dress is on it’s way in the mail. Continue reading

meeting a love story face to face

1237066_10100299663010020_1663191947_nWe had visitors in Jordan the other day. Before our “chance” visit, I knew Jenny (aka @jenlynndewey) and Mark (aka @sunflowerfarmer) only through social media…Twitter, Facebook and Jenny’s blog,  jldphotographblog.com.  Who would have guessed my simple question, “Coming through Jordan?” on a Facebook status would result in meeting a love story face to face?

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pieces of a montana past

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When we first came to this part of Montana 32 years ago, the residents of this state hadn’t been here all that long. The  community of Jordan dates back to 1896. In 1919, the county of Garfield County was established and Jordan became the county seat. Jordan was incorporated in 1951. As you can see, Jordan’s history is relatively young.

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what? another week is gone?

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You know, when you get involved with the day-to-day stuff that being in the field is all about, the last thing that gets done is posting on Nebraska Wheatie! Oh…I think about it at the end of the day but most times, taking my shower and finishing up the what-needs-to-be-done-before-you-go-to-bed chores takes precedence. And then, all at once, another week has gone by! No wonder it feels like the summer has zoomed by!

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just long enough

Well, we made it to what could be our final stop for the 2013 harvest season. Coming back to Jordan feels like returning home! We’ve been coming here since 1981. My Grandpa & Grandma were looking for wheat to cut when we stopped here 32 years ago. Who would have known just how important this little town would become to the Z Crew!

img_4491Before we left Denton, Jim and I cleaned the combine and header – AGAIN. My job…the header. Yuck! I sent Taylor & Callie a text and asked them if they missed this mess.

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“binning” the grain


IMG_4355There’s two ways to get rid of the grain once it leaves the field.  Once the combine(s) have dumped and the truck is full, the grain will either head for the elevator or to a grain bin (On-Farm Storage). My favorite, of course, is to the elevator.

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wordless wednesday – curious teenagers

The farmer’s wife called these guys “curious teenagers”because of their age. They certainly were curious about the machines being so close to their pasture!

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