It’s been a whirlwind of a few days! We thought we’d give you all an update.
We were off from our work-camping job this past weekend, so on Saturday, we drove to the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca State Park. We both walked across the ENTIRE Mississippi River!!! It was a nice drive and of course, we did some geo-caching along the way! That evening we were invited by our employer to attend a fundraiser for the Hubbard County Mounted Posse. They provided a delicious pulled pork dinner and we met some very nice people.
On Sunday we laid low. We went to mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston, MN, and then to the Harvest Fest at the Sugar Beet Museum. They had demonstrations of sugar beet harvesting using older implements. Then we watched a tractor pull for a couple of hours! It was the first time we had ever seen a tractor pull!
Monday was a fun day! In the morning we learned how to dump the trailers for the beet harvest, we were taught how to go through the piling station scales, and how to dump at the piling station. Chris returned to the shop and detailed the insides of three tractors while Ken got put to “work” plowing a field using a John Deer 9330 and a chisel plow.
On Tuesday, Chris worked around the shop helping out wherever necessary. She detailed the insides of two more tractors and Ken got to plow another wheat field that had been harvested. After working in the shop, Chris joined Ken in the tractor for a “Farm Date”!
Today, Chris did more detailing, helped out around the shop, and for the first time ever, used a cordless impact wrench!!! Ken used a zero-turn riding lawnmower to nearly decapitate himself and to mow the property where the RV is set up. Chris helped to “blow-out” one of the harvesters and Ken got to use a “broom” to brush up all the dirt and debris on the pad in front of one of the shops. Check the photos below.
Are we having fun yet??? We think it has just begun!!! We are really enjoying this experience and all that we are learning.
We think we may be off tomorrow, so that will mean a run into town to visit the post office and do laundry!
Please be sure to look at the pics and picture captions below.
Lake Itasca is the origin of the Mississippi River. Where the lake begins to drain, is the source for the river.
Here we are standing IN THE MIDDLE of the Mississippi River!! That is Lake Itasca in the background.
We both rolled up the bottoms of our pants and “waded” across the entire Mississippi River.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston, MN. It is a beautiful, modern cathedral.
We went to the Harvest Festival after mass.
This is at the tractor pull. This man is one of the oldest at this pull…the oldest was 87!!!
It was a beautiful day to sit around and enjoy the different classes of tractors showing their power!
Here, Ken is planting a “trackable” geocache. We picked up the trackable in London, England last month!!
This is the trackable geo-cache. I wonder where it will go next! When we picked it up in London, it had already traveled over 7000 miles!
This is Chris driving up onto the piler where, next week, we will begin dumping loads of sugar beets. There are literally about 2″ on either side between the truck cab and the piler!
Chris is practicing raising and lowering the box of the truck!
This is us…in front of the trucks we will be driving for the sugar beet harvest.
This is where Ken spent two days! It was AWESOME!
Yeah, the tractor tires are huge!
The soil is SO rich and black.
Ken and the John Deere 9330
Chris is clearing up the tail lights of this harvester!
After one swath of chisel plowing…very satisfying!
Chris’ set up as she works on polishing the windows!
Ken is sitting down on the job! JK…He is actually refueling the tractor!
The forward view from the tractor while chisel plowing.
This is the “business end” of the harvester. Those little triangular blades are razor sharp!
Ken’s OCD is twitching over all the dust. His immaculate truck must think that it has been sold to someone else!
This is the “decapitator”!!! Yikes! This zero-turn lawnmower is what Ken used to mow the grass at the farm where we have our RV set up. It is super fast and super squirrelly!! Ken was glad no one was watching him, It would have been comical to see him trying to steer this beast and not get sliced by a low-hanging branch!
Yet another John Deere!!! This one was used to “brush” the pad in front of one of the shops.
Here, Chris is using an impact wrench for the first time!!! Do you see the contrast? Heavy-duty impact drill and her flower hat!
Chris is working on “blowing out” the head of the harvester. The head needed to be recalibrated from harvesting wheat to harvesting soybeans.
It all looks pretty innocent now. Check out the next picture!
Just “kicking up some dirt.”
