Welcome to our Adventure!

Al and I are thrilled that you have found your way to our blog. We hope you enjoy reading our journal and viewing our photographs of the natural wonder of our United States of America. Let's hit the road together!
Homer, Alaska

Sunday, September 30, 2012

The Waiting Game

And so we wait. And wait. And wait.

Who would think that we'd be complaining about weather in the low 80's, no humidity, and sunny? Go figure. But that is much too warm for harvesting the beets. The temperatures must be between freezing and 70 for proper harvesting. And so we wait. The "perfect" forecast we had coming up is slowly going downhill as well. The last message we had on the "beet hotline" said they hoped to start Monday or Tuesday. Looking at the ten day forecast, Thursday and Friday nights show temps in the 20's...so we wonder if we'll be shut down those nights due to cold? This is where more detailed information about the job would have been helpful. It's doubly frustrating as Amazon called last Wednesday to see if we could come....now?! We've already signed the hiring paperwork here, and done the training, so we don't want to leave...but knowing we'd be working there while twiddling thumbs here is annoying. Oh well, it's a new experience and I know many of you are looking forward to hearing about it!

Unfortunately, there isn't too much to do here, except watch sugarbeets, soybeans and hay grow :-) We did find a Ford dealer in Fargo and went yesterday to have the truck serviced, oil, fuel filter, and it was due for a 90K transmission tune-up. That was an ouch, but due diligence on maintenance will hopefully keep us trouble-free down the road. The truck is our life blood after all...without it we wouldn't be going anywhere!

While in Fargo, we visited the Fargo-Moorhead Visitor Center.
This painted bison was there to greet visitors. I didn't take pictures, but while in Custer, there were many painted bison decorating the streets of the business district. It was really neat, and reminded me of the decorated frog sculptures in downtown McKinney, TX when we were visiting Al's family there.


The Visitor Center is home to one of Fargo's most famous citizens, The Wood Chipper from the movie "Fargo". This movie is really all I knew about Fargo, and it was enough to make me stay away from wood chippers :-).
The Wood Chipper in person

and up close! Yes, this is what we are doing for some excitement :-). I wish I had a copy of the movie to watch, it's been so long since I've seen it. After saying hello to The Wood Chipper, we headed down the road to pick up a few things at WalMart, since we were "in town", and then had lunch at one of our favorite places, Culver's Butterburgers. We discovered Culver's in Michigan, and you can't beat their burgers or frozen custard. Yum!

One nice thing here is there is a very nice public park, Woodland Park, here in Hillsboro. It's usually devoid of people, so we can let the pups off leash and have a good game of wingy ball with Casey. Chelsea just likes to roll around in the grass :-). Then we go for a walk around the perimeter roadway. I don't know if it's because we became acclimated to a higher altitude, or got in better shape climbing all those trails, but walking here is a snap! I almost feel like I could jog ( I can't believe I just said that!). So we go to the park twice a day right now. We've been catching up on some television shows, I started beading a new bracelet, and Al has been working on a new model rocket. Not very exciting stuff, but there you have it.

Today I'll leave you with a picture of some of the, shall we say, interesting things we are finding up here in Hillsboro Campground. Has anyone ever seen a rig like this before, for real?? I assure you, it is real, and there is a family living in it. They are here for the harvest. Too funny!

Hopefully, I will have a better idea of what's going on after Monday. We feel we have made a commitment to work here, and don't want to be "those people" that leave, but jeez, it sure is frustrating to be sitting here. I'll be back when I have something to report :-)!

23 comments:

  1. Amen on the Culver burger and custard!

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  2. Someone's creative juices were flowing when they created that rig! LOL

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  3. I guess you could call that a 2 story condo, right? That second story must get mighty chilly on those 20 degree nights!

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  4. I've heard about people working the beet harvest. Curious to hear how it turns out.

    We were in Custer this summer and noticed those painted buffalo too.

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  5. You are up in Al's neck of the woods. He was born in nearby Jamestown and has relatives there.

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    1. Hi Karen...yes, we drove past Jamestown on the way here. Ask Al if there's anything interesting to do, although we're hoping to get to work soon.

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  6. Definitely sounds frustrating to be waiting especially in an area where there isn't much to do. But time to relax is goodd and from what I hear the Amazon thing is really a lot of work so maybe it's good you aren't able to "extend" it.

    Hope the weather cooperates for you soon.

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    1. We worked at Amazon last year as well, and its not as bad as people say it is. Especially Al, he has the nice job in AmCare :-). We just go with the flow there!

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  7. Which Amazon location are you headed to? We're in Coffeyville. We spent the summer in ND (near Garrison) as I grew up in Velva and graduated from NDSU in Fargo. Check out SmashBurgers in Fargo next trip. Excellent burgers and my niece recommends Hu Hot around the corner (mongolian bbq). If the NDSU Bison are playing at home that's always a good time if you like college football. That's all the suggestions I have for the area :-)

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    1. We go to Campbellsville KY. Its closer to Florida, so we have a quick run "home" for Christmas!

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    2. Our friends Joy and Steve Stuller are going to Campbellsville as well as several other folks who were here in Coffeyville last year. We seriously considered doing the beet harvest, but decided to just come directly to Amazon. Hopefully work will start soon.

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  8. Wow! That's what you'd call a "highrise" rv. We are down to our last week here in Oregon. We'll do a little sightseeing on the way to Amazon.

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  9. Truckers get detention pay when they have to wait, you don't? Hopefully, it pays better than Amazon.

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    1. Nope, no pay while waiting beyond having our site comped. Pay is about the same as Amazon, but the extra hours and premium pay on Saturday and Sunday make it more attractive...we'll see if its worth it.

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    2. As I was reading your question to Al..he just started laughing. I guess that means there isn't anything to do. Oh...he said if you wait a few months you can go ice fishing! LOL

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    3. Tell Al I will NOT be here long enough for ice fishing!

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  10. I remember the painted Bison in Custer too. I can imagine it's frustrating waiting, especially for the paying job. Keep those temps mild for us..we'll be there in a week!

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    1. Laurie, temps are supposed to dive mid-week when a cold front comes down...in fact I hope it doesn't get too COLD for us to work!

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  11. How do the folks get up to the tent camper?

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    1. Judy, I have no idea. I'm hoping they removed the outside door...can you imagine groggy with sleep and forgetting you're that high up and walking out the door? Ouch!

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  12. =) Hey! I recognize that bus! I follow the bus blog! http://theschollbus.com/

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  13. Fargo is one of our favorite movies. Love the wood chipper.

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