The Harvesters

The Harvesters
Originally uploaded by wethreedees.

It was a long hot day of driving. Many stops. Another fabulous early dinner at a Flying J buffet. When we pulled into the TA travel center in Ogalalla, NE after 7pm, Andre maneuvered us into the far corner. We watched in awe as trucks came in hauling farm equipment so big it extended past the sides of the trailer. A fifth wheeler backed in beside us. Later we decided to walk the 2 blocks to the restaurant. He wanted pie. Since nothing is worse than bad pie, I wanted the walk. When I caught up to him he was talking to this woman. One of the Douglas family from Bison, SD. At home they had cattle and sheep, but from May to Thanksgiving, they were harvesters. Mother, father, son, helpers, a man in his eighties who drove one of the trucks—and on this trip—the 7 year old grandson who already could drive the harvester. They were proud what they did. Tonight, they'd blown a new tire on one of the trailers, and were trying to fix it. They had a box truck full of tools and gear. The men were going to go to a motel for the night. Usually, while they're harvesting—going to the same farms each year—they rent houses. The grandparents and grandson would be in the fifth wheeler. After warning us about the bad food at the truckstop, they went to Wendy's to eat. But not before urging us to change our route, to head out on 61N and then I-385 to Rapid City, near Mount Rushmore. They got their atlas and showed us the way; said one road would have almost no traffic, and that it would be much more scenic than the highway. When we left the next morning, their green behemuths were still there.