Category: North Dakota

Trek from north Dakota to coast of oregon

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Being early November this may not have been a wise choice. With a new app in hand weather route and closely monitoring radar, I navigated some terrible weather and witnessed amazing scenery.

 

tart with gusting snow through both Dakota then through Montana mostly in the dark trying to gut it out knowing it would end. When the roads were ice and my hindend kept sliding I pulled off to sleep. The aftermath of the storm left a beautiful white winter blanket over green pine trees through Bozeman pass with rippling creeks and rivers along the way to the or beside still cold but sunny and flat for a while. The out crops of black rocks, apparently sink holes of old lava?

 


did take a stupid detour to look at a crater that ended up down a bunch of dirt roads.

There was another big mountain pass that did not have snow, but had fog. Blinding white thickness surrounding you as you creep down and up and around this mountain pass. Whew and white knuckles at the end.

I cannot express enough how amazing the views were. I hate driving at night, you miss to much.

 

Final rest stop stop for a night was in hood river. Tight. Very tight, dark uninviting really.

Sugarbeet harvest the highs and lows

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The weather has been a bit inhospitable this year and from what I understand allowed for some unusual amounts of time for a group of mostly transient individuals to spend large amounts of time together that on a good year does not exist. The 12 hour work day one after another leaves very little time for more than eating and sleeping and bare essentials between shifts. Being a night shifter as I like to refer to our kind here in our often freezing tundra struggling to continue a night life during the unheard of week off, seven entire nights with no work. Learned to walk with no lights well and could navigate the extreme mud gravel frozen terane and rarely even miss a step. I did face plant however the very first night walking to the beet piler. my shoe laces literally wrapped from one shoe to the other and tripped me like a bad joke. Now 26 days later I can seen in the dark. I am almost scared to be blinded by the day light. I have rarely seen past morning and dusk sun for almost a month. I dont know about everyone else here, but sometimes i wonder if this is the vampires. It can feel a bit lost boys with the campfire clusters, music, and hoopla.

Death on the road

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I now have not only lost my beloved Steve the great…Pyrenees, but the same week had also lost the one black and white show pony that I personally never named on the ranch. Well away for a week I just lost snowman the horse with cyst and breathing issue that was lovingly called Weezy. Never recovered fully. And we lost swaye. A literal bag of bones horse when I left. I do have to say I know I was the last person to sit on his back. The very first night I was on the ranch he was in the one decent stabeliss type stucture and I climbed up the railing and onto his back. No saddle or anything. He was not comfortable at all. He just stood there . I could barely sit all the way up and not hit my head. It was the first and only I ever rode by myself. Not sure Just standing there classifies, but to me it did.

Finally I lost my old girl Carly 17 year old black lab mix. I’m gonna cry… ..

Farwell to those wonderful beings I was so honored to get to know.

 

 

First full shift of unbeetable harvest

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Well from the stories you hear as hear say or from the mouth of a timers, I had NOOOOOO idea what to expect.  Over dressed but actually pretty comfortable.  Literally layered my ass off and the coat situation was ridiculous with the 30 year old almost bird watcher grey jean material jacket over a wool pea coat to top it all off.  I was warm and yet not too warm even when we did some work.  Which the work, I expect to be a little if not a lot more strenuous in nights to come.  We didn’t clean the pilers yet, we start that tomorrow.  All good though with my trusty earlier inhabitants of a more vintage style winne then mine neighbor couple who I ride over with because no matter who told you it is not true you can not under any circumstances ride bike or walk to work.  Well there goes my 2 wheeling lifestyle expect I dont drive I ride 😀 with the here before mentioned neighbors . It would be extremely dangerous.  It was pretty dangerous as it was with the walking just around on the grounds.  Which brings me to the hard hat.  I will definitely will be seen on tonight’s shift.  Just think lights.  I was told I can do with it what I want.  And safety first!   Being seen has to be the most important thing and at night even with reflectors you might get run over.  It would have been nice if my first night of work wasn’t my very first interaction in the field.  One step behind.  I actually said to someone with a white hardhat I am learning starting with how to shovel.

 

Made it for The unbeetable harvest

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Bowie, TX to Drayton, ND. Quite the trip. Most of a lot of nothing, but the Dakotas take the cake on nothing. Spectacularly nothingness. The rolling hills and landscape are all I need to let my mind wander and clear my thoughts. I don’t listen to the radio or anything. Crazy how the silence is so loud.

I’m super excited to be a complete grunt worker. Bottom of the totam pole for 3 weeks. 12 hour shifts every day we can work. Officially starts Oct 1. Better rest up I’m probably on the 8pm to 8 am shift being and newby and all.