The life of a trucker...

This year I FINALLY learned how to drive beet truck.!! Darin is so proud to have me out there helping with the harvest, so is my Dad. I actually don't drive very often. 8 or so hours a week, just enough. Usually Susy tends the little two while I drive, but a few times she hasn't been home so I have had to bring them with me. Usually it's pretty good. Tyler LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to ride in the beet truck or the beet digger. He usually always wants to come with me. Heidi on the other hand is a little wiggly for the beet truck. She prefers to go to Grandma's.

They are eating their lunches they packed in their own lunch boxes. Heidi took this picture of me waiting for our turn at the beet dump. After we dump, Tyler usually chants "get more beets, get more beets, get more beets" over and over. He loves it.

Heidi also took this picture. This is her favorite driver, Laurie. Laurie's truck has a air horn (and she loves to use it) just like mine and they are really loud when used. Laurie is also very expressive and loves to wave really big whenever we pass each other. She is quite helpful in keeping the kids entertained. Tyler thinks every beet truck has Laurie in it.

This is what the beet digger looks like from the back.

Look at all the birds!! They are just amazing and SOO fun to watch. The seagulls just hoover behind the digger and snatch up any mice or bugs they see. I don't think they let any mice get away. There are lots of mice out there too. There are also thousands of little black birds that all flock together and fly in beautiful formations. Watching these amazing birds really helps pass the time.
After a few hours this is what the kids look like. I had to bribe Heidi with a treat if she would go to sleep, it did take a while, but she finally succumbed. It is so bumpy that it is hard to sleep very long though. Luckily my truck is an automatic (spoiled I know!) So I don't have to shift, which frees up my right hand. When we go through a really bumpy spot I can hold their heads so they don't flop around as much.

On Sunday Oct. 24th it rained 1 1/4 inches here. That puts a stop to harvest really fast. We are hoping the wind will stay.....the one and only time we like the wind, to help dry out the ground. We only have 3-4 more days of digging, but it doesn't look like we will be done before Halloween.

*I wish I had a picture of Darin in the digger. The day I had my camera in the truck with me he was always fixing something else and not driving the digger. I like to load under him the best and he's been really nice to me, even when I make rookie mistakes!! He must really like me out there.