Crossing the Mid-West

Today is 2 1/2 weeks since we went back to work from our break. That means, if we stay out our usual 5-6 weeks, then technically, we're at our half way mark! Kind of...

Last Thursday afternoon we loaded barley in Carter, MT. That is north of Great Falls.

 That morning had been rough. Malcolm had had a bad cold for several days preceding this, and Wednesday I started feeling puny. By Wednesday night I was all sniffy and I woke up Thursday morning feeling like I'd been run over by a truck. So when we found out the receiver in Minnesota didn't want their barley till Monday, we had no complaints, as Malcolm was still feeling drained and I was on my way to becoming a plague victim. We loaded up and headed east through Montana's northern plains, expecting to be home by late evening, where I planned to pass out on the couch and not move till I had to.

I love these vast rolling grasslands.
And I hate that speck on my camera lens.
I've reached my limit of tolerance and think I'm going to have to mail me camera off to be fixed. But in the mean time, we'll try to keep looking past the dark smudges on my pictures.


By late afternoon, we'd passed through Roundup and were well into the plains of eastern Montana, which were visibly dryer than those of the western side.

Quite a dramatic difference, and a depressing sight.
On a good note though, by this point in the day I was feeling much better and it was looking like I was going to have a 2 day version of Malcolm's week long illness. Lucky me! I had expected to be camped out on the couch at home, recovering, but instead by Friday morning, when we woke up in our bedroom at home with the sound of silence (specifically no traffic or rumbling motors), I was feeling energized and happy, ready to start my day with a cup of coffee in my favorite mug while organizing my time and ideas.

Malcolm worked with his dad on Friday and Saturday he worked on the truck. Friday I did house chores and laundry (sounds dull I know but I enjoyed every minute of it) and Saturday I camped on the couch with my girls, not because I was sick, but because we thought an afternoon lounging on the couch with a good book sounded really nice. So that's what we did.

Saturday evening I noticed some stormy weather moving in so I went out to see if Malcolm needed help putting things away. When I got out there he'd just finished so I stood around waiting for him to be ready to go in, and just before we headed to the house I glanced out towards the southwest and I think my heart literally stopped for a few moments.

There was a brown column of smoke quickly rising  into the air on the horizon.

Fast tracks made to the house and the phone. Malcolm's mom called neighbors while we watched the smoke and listened to the conversations. Someone had already spotted it and been on the phone. The fire was several ranches away from us and people were in route to take care of it. The wind had been blowing good all day, but now it was turning ferocious, which never helps. We were debating whether to go down there or not, when the smoke disappeared. We heard later that rain had come in and put the fire out just before people arrived. Thank goodness! Thank God!

Sunday morning we left the house and headed towards Minnesota. Seven miles from home we hit the North Dakota state line, and four miles later crossed into South Dakota.

We're on 2 lanes for a couple hours or so before we hit I-90.

Hadn't been in South Dakota for a while. It was a beautiful day! And it was clear that South Dakota is suffering from drought too. I'm beginning to wonder if there is any state in the country that's not withering.

We hit Minnesota near dusk and I went to bed. Our delivery was on the very eastern edge of the state, in Winona. And when I say eastern edge, I mean if we'd rolled a few feet to far, we'd have fallen in the river and drifted across to Wisconsin. Malcolm got there around midnight or so and they were open and ready to unload us. That was a nice surprise. Worked in our favor.

Because we had a phone message from our broker to head to Decatur, IL as soon as we got unloaded and that was a 400 mile bounce! Malcolm woke me up around 4:00am and I took over. We were in Wisconsin and the sun had just gotten well into it's morning rise.

Wisconsin is a pretty state. I like to look at all the farms. But for some reason, neither of us really cares to drive in Wisconsin. I can't pin point the reason. But if I have to drive through Wisconsin, I like mornings. There is something about morning light and farms that feels good.

Madison traffic cooperated and then it was south on to northern Illinois. I was hoping I'd not have to deal with heavy traffic. In that part of Illinois, even though it's still relatively distant from Chicago, the traffic can still be bothersome. I had a good morning. Everything kept flowing smoothly.

Illinois......Land of Lincoln!
Illinois....Land of corn and soy beans!

No pathetic corn here. The fields are so lush that mostly it's just the rooftops of the farm houses and barns that are visible from the highway, though the roadsides do look a tad dry. Irrigation.....a marvelous invention!

We got about 50 miles from our destination when we found out we'd been told the wrong town, and so now we're hot footing it over to Quincy, another 180 miles back west! Yeah, you could say we were a bit miffed with that one. Four hundred miles was a long bounce to start with, but now we've gone quite a bit out of route, and then the real destination told us they had wanted us there at 7:30 this morning, but they'll try and get us loaded anyway.  This was a high paying load, but that's diminishing with each added mile and the extra fuel we're burning to make up lost time. Fortunately these mistakes hardly ever happen. It will still be a nice paying load and, provided we actually get loaded, we'll be heading west by this afternoon and in Reno, NV by tomorrow evening.
In the mean time, I'm going to enjoy all the green in Illinois for a few more minutes, and then go stretch out in bed, read a chapter or two (or three or four or...you know how that works) in my current book, and then try and catch a little sleep so I can drive this afternoon and give Malcolm a break.

A Walk on the Shores of Lake Michigan

A chilly and rainy weekend.

After delivering in Amherst, WI on Saturday morning, we drove over to Appleton and parked behind the Walmart. We just relaxed, napped, and had dinner. We needed a rest after driving all night long.

Sunday morning dawned another chilly and drizzly day. After grabbing some breakfast, we headed out to finish the 50 miles that were left to our reload.

On the way we drove around Green Bay, WI. We've never been anywhere near this part of Wisconsin, so it was all new territory with lots to take in. Green Bay was not nearly the size I expected for a city with a professional football team.

On over at Casco, WI where we were to load this morning, we parked at the mill there and examined our options for the afternoon. Casco, while a nice town to look at, only offered a pub for vittles and not anything else. However, I had made note that the shore of Lake Michigan was a scant 10 miles further east. And so, after a little persuading of the non-site see-er in our small touring company, we unhooked the trailer, and "bob-tailed" over to Algoma, WI.

It being a Sunday afternoon, most everything was closed here as well. It was almost spooky how deserted the streets were. We practically had the entire town to ourselves! All the little shops may have been closed, but the boardwalk and waterfront park was open. I'd never been to or seen the any of the Great Lakes before, other than a quick glimpse in northern Ohio as we passed by on the interstate a few years ago. I was amazed. Add some surf, seagulls, and a light house....it felt just like being at the beach...in winter.There were even some shells mixed in among the piles of pebbles that had washed up.The water just goes on and on, just like the ocean. Only difference is, Michigan's on the other side instead of Great Britain.It was very breezy, which is evident by my wild hair. The whole experience was worth it, but I have to tell you, I had some work getting all the tangles brushed out when we got back to the truck.Two more brave souls braved the cold and wind to do a little fishing. I enjoyed the walk on the beach, but I don't know that I could have done any fishing in that weather. They must be very dedicated...or desperate!After our walk on the shore, we drove through town and found an eating establishment that was open for business. Kind of an odd name for a diner in Wisonsin, but we fit right in with all the penguin decor inside, with our frozen fingers and toes. Fortunately it was toasty warm and we enjoyed thawing out over a yummy cheese pizza and cherry pie.This morning dawned clear, beautiful, and a little warmer with less wind. We were loaded and rolling by 6:30 (one benefit of coming east is the time change. It works against us, but in loading it works in our favor, giving us a head start on the day.) We're almost to Madison where we'll head south. We're going 40 miles out of route to avoid driving through the heart of Milwaukee and Chicago. While it would have been fun to see those cities up close and take pictures to share, we opted for making time and avoiding the gazillion toll roads around Chicago. We have to be in Nacogdoches, TX in the morning.