Monthly Archives: August 2012

Another sugar beet harvest

I arrived in Stephen MN for (hopefully) another profitable sugar beet harvest. This year I elected to arrive early for the pre-pile. I guess pre-pile is sort of like training camp for athletes. Everyone from the farmers to truckers to piling station workers to yard processing folks get to make sure everything is working properly. The company also gets early looks at the beets for size and sugar content.

We don’t work as many hours as during the main harvest and there’s no weekend premium pay but it’s still money coming in and a free camp site. It was definitely strange working my first shift in a T-shirt. Last year I was layered everyday I went to work.

Speaking of weather, I definitely need to find someplace warmer to spend the summer of 2013.  The Tacoma WA area was just plain chilly and overcast most of the time I was there. The local newscasters referred to June as Junuary since it was so cold. And now here in the northern plains, the temps are getting into the 40s at night and I’ve already broken out and plugged in 1 space heater to take the chill off.

RV Repairs in Pacific NW

Just thought I’d make a quick entry about some excellent repairs on my 5th wheel before I roll on down the road and lose the info. First, Wescraft RV and Truck in Fife WA (between Seattle and Tacoma), 253.926.3443. They did major repairs to the back end of the RV that I damaged in Nebraska while pulling away from a fuel pump. They took the endcap completely off to repair and repaint the whole thing. Looks just like new. They also had to replace inside wallboard that was cracked during the incident. Great job and good communication throughout the process.

The second repair was more of an emergency repair. About a week before scheduled departure my landing gear quit working. I couldn’t find any mobile RV techs advertised in the local area. Called Wescraft and got one phone number to try but he was booked solid for the next week. I talked to the camphost and he told me about Alan at RV Service Pro, 253.229.6209. He’s a certified master RV technician and was able to respond the next morning. He was very knowledgeable and fixed the problem in about 2 hrs. Unlike most mobile techs, he didn’t have a travel fee, just a 1 hr minimum of a reasonable hourly rate.

I would certainly recommend either of these folks for any repairs if you’re in the Seattle/Tacoma area.