On The Move: Monteview

Once we were finished chopping in Grace, it was time to head up north to Monteview for our big job.  (We had 600 acres of corn and 1,000 acres of hay to chop.)

Thank goodness I had Hudson around to help me get things packed into the camping trailer.  He is getting stronger and becoming quite handy to have around.

Temperatures kind of took a nose dive while we were there.  It became especially critical to get the crops harvest in a timely matter before they lost too much moisture from the frosts.

A cold wind was blowing out of the north, stirring up all sorts of dust and holding us hostage in the trailer for the first two days.

That made for plenty of time for being silly, getting pretty with sticker earrrings, crafts, old movies, and coloring on the walls.

Hudson was responsible for pulling samples of the silage, weighing it out, putting them on the Koster tester, and recording the results of the moisture.  He was happy for the responsibility and did a great job.  Somehow the 4-wheeler got involved in every job he was asked to do.

It was a group effort to get the lunches assembled and delivered, and one that the kids took quite seriously.  We would watch for trucks to come and meet them at the scale with their lunch.  On more than one occasion, Dalanie or Hudson would run in frantically demanding a lunch for an incoming truck driver.

In honor of spud harvest, Hudson thought we needed to make twisted taters.

Since we were camped near the pit, we got to watch the tractors work pushing and packing an ever growing pile of silage.

The funnest part of the entire trip was watching all the elk.  Last year there were a few, but this year because of drought and fire there were over 20 that we pushed out of fields.  Admittedly, my point and shoot's zoom is not up to much, but there are two bulls between the pivot towers in the picture below.

Dalanie was obsessed with all the wildlife and wanted to be in the chopper as much as possible so she could see "the most."  As of late, everything has become a competition with that girl, "the first, the best, the most."  She enjoyed the cottontail rabbits, white tail deer, and elk equally.

The area had an open hunt for cow elk with a tag.  The farmer/rancher was happy for anyone to come and hunt on his place as the elk are a big nuisance to his operation.  We called and invited Dad up with a pretty sure promise that he could shoot and elk.  It was the highlight of our week to have Mom and Dad up.  The kids were excited to be a part of the hunt.  Hudson buddied around with Grandpa and helped with the elk "carcass."

 Mom crafted and snuggled with the girls.  What could be better than snuggling with Grandma and eating chocolate?

They got in on the lunch assembly line and later in the day, Dad got thrown in a truck to drive for a few loads.  It was fun to have them involved and see what our harvest operation is like.

Harvest: Grace Style

Shopping for food to feed the crews before going to Grace and Monteview.  It took most of a day and an entire back of the Suburban to get it done.  I was sure glad to have some of my best helpers out of school for harvest break.

Finally at the field.  Kicking up dust, which was ironic, considering the huge swamps the trucks were getting stuck in.  At times nearly every truck had to be pulled out of the field.

 A game we made up: corn stalk bowling.  They were disking behind the chopper to try to alleviate the huge pivot tracks for the trucks.  Consequently, remaining cornstalks were unearthed.  The goal was not in how far you could pitch the stalk, but rather how accurately you could throw it into the wheel tracks.

Ruby, fleeing the scene since she got dirt down her shirt more than once.

 We stayed in Soda Springs, so we spent one morning taking in the sights of the town.  It is full of a rich history.  First and foremost, the Soda Springs Geyser that goes off on the hour.

 Trains and trains.  We quit counting the amount we heard or saw.

Sharing cinnamon rolls at the historic Enders Hotel.

 Assembling lunches to take out to the field.

A little old school fun at the park.

 Classic old building photo shoot.

 Colors over Fish Creek.

Harvest Outings

After years of promising, we finally made it to the potato museum.  We headed out early the first day of their break.  It was a good thing since we were just walking out when Brent called us to run parts.  Rest of the entire day was spent chasing phones, parts, and pizza.

 We took our microscope to the River Bottoms and found all sorts of cool things.  Of course the kids loved throwing rocks just about as much as anything.

 And there is always Spud Day.  It was a gorgeous day.  The kids saw some of their friends in the parade and collected a bunch of candy.

 The best part of the free baked potato was that Miss Russet served ours up.

And since we were out and about, we thought a nice ice cream cone would round off the day.  It's hard to tell if the kids like going to Reed's for the ice cream or the little petting zoo.