On the Road Again!

After a 2 month vacation we are back on the road!

As most know this time our journey has landed us in St. Louis Mo for work. We are currently staying in Illinois until Monday (1/5) till we find out exactly where Dylan's' job will be. He signed the books at Local 2 (St Louis) yesterday and reports next Monday morning next to the Gateway Arch. 

We wanted to avoid cold at all cost but it looks like we couldn't, for a few days at least, but we are trusting God has a plan for us being here and we are making the best of it. As we were setting up the trailer, we were approached by our neighbors --- we are parked next to another lineman and his wife! Its our first run in with another line family so that has been nice being next to someone who understands what we are doing and why we are here. I am already combating moisture unfortunately, all the cabinets are open above the chairs, we have pulled the mattress off the wall and I have purchased a small stock in damprid. After we find out where were are going to be permanently we are going to order a dehumidifier to hopefully help with this issue. Our water tried to freeze our first night here, but we are getting better at preventing that. Unfortunately the temps are getting lower so we are not 100% sure we wont freeze. 

We arrived here Saturday evening after a long raining trip from home to Cahokia, Illinois. Since neither one of us like the cold we decided on Sunday we would go ahead and see the sights, plus it doesn't look like its going to get any warmer! 

The Gateway Arch is breathtaking and absolutely beautiful. Seeing sights like that make us both thankful that God is allowing us to travel and have the opportunity to see some of the great sights all through out America. No we did not go to the top. Heights and small spaces are not what I consider a good time and the line to get inside the museum was too long to be standing outside in the cold. 

Mo-mo is doing good, but he doesn't know that he is getting booties and I am sure that is going to go over good since he doesn't even like wearing his sweaters and jackets. 

We are hopefully that in the coming weeks more jobs will come available so we can find some where just a little bit warmer! 

Our Conclusion to Michigan

One of my favorite things about being on the road is that it gives me the opportunity to watch Dylan do something that he loves. It gives me a sense of peace knowing the guys he is working with. I  guess seeing the passion that all the guys have for their career and that they will do anything to keep each other safe.

When we began this journey there wasn't much distribution work available so Dylan had to take a transmission job. It was a little nerve racking for the both of us since he had never done much transmission work. To be honest the last thing I wanted was for his first transmission job to be climbing tower and working on a 500kv line.

Thankfully there were a few open calls in Michigan so he was able to choose which one he wanted to take. The call he took was 46 re conduct with distribution under build. Like in this photo the transmission is on top and the distribution is below them. I will explain a 46 line the way I was explained, its the fine line between transmission and distribution. Some consider it transmission and some consider it distribution. This particular job they replaced all the poles and the 46 line. The crew Dylan joined seemed to be the perfect match; Dylan knew a lot about distribution and the foreman knew a lot about transmission so they have taught each other along the way. The way Dylan just picks things up and the job comes so natural to him that it proves that this is what he is meant to be doing.

Its amazing to see the progress Dylan has made in the last 3-4 months. When he started he knew the concept of what they were doing, now he is running crews when his foreman is out, being called to other jobs to help when they can't get everything done, and being put in charge on wire pull day. 

In Michigan Dylan worked on 3 jobs and helped rebuild about 14 miles of line. We talked about it the other night how amazing it is that he is replacing a line that was built in 1940's and wont be touched again for years to come. We also discussed some of the the things we have learned and experienced while being here. Hate to hurt peoples feelings but boiling crawfish in saltwater is not acceptable, dear sir: crawfish is more than bait it is very delicious if you would have been open to trying it, and I still think everyone is lying to me about freeze drying clothes.

We are now back home, and have been for a few weeks, and things have been non stop. We left Michigan Friday November 1st at 3:30 am eastern time, just hours before the snow started. Since snow is technically drag dust it seemed like perfect timing that and the water at our park was cut off Thursday morning instead of Saturday when they closed. After a LONG day we arrived at home at 9:30 pm central time. Saturday and Sunday was spent surprising our family that we had come home 2 weeks early.

We are now settled in at the hunting camp in our new trailer. It is amazing compared to our little 17 footer. Our new adventures will take place in a 2009 Crossroads Cruiser------with 3 slides!!!! After all the times Dylan said he would never own another diesel Ford thats exactly what we have! 

 If all goes right we will be back on the road shortly after Christmas! 

A Vacation... What is that?

Dylan hasn't even been real big on taking a vacation. If you look up workaholic in the dictionary you will find his picture. I have to admit he has gotten better over the years but getting him to take time off can still be a challenge.

I must say after driving all night Friday, with naps in between shifts, if that's what a hangover feels like, you don't have to worry about this girl ever getting drunk.

Since we haven't been home in over 2 months we tried to make sure we have some time to just sit home and relax and we did but we also had plenty of things we wanted to get done while we were home.

I got my Sunday dinner at my mom and dads, it was my my late birthday dinner complete with my favorites - steak, homemade macaroni and cheese, twice baked potatoes, yeast rolls, salad, and yellow cake with chocolate icing.We even picked some cotton to bring back to Michigan for everyone to see.

YUUUUMMMM

Doin a little pickin

Monday we spent the day enlarging the dogs run so they will have more room to play. We have to have happy fur babies :)

Tuesday and Wednesday we rested in anticipation for Thursday, we finally got to put up the new box stand. It went fairly easy for the size of the operation we were trying to do. This task was important to both of us, we both wanted to be there to help in some way to prepare for the upcoming hunting season and since this deer stand has been in the works for so long it was nice to finally see it in the woods.

Out with the Old

In with the New

Complete

Friday, Dylan had an evening at home by himself while I took a trip to Monroe with Mom and Granny. What girl wouldn't turn down a mani/pedi and a shopping trip? :)

Saturday is when the big surprise took place. It was a hard reality when we hit the road that we would be so far away from family and important events. For a while it looked like we would miss the wedding of Dylan's cousin, Devon. This was hard because the boys are more like brothers. Since Devon was there for Dylan on his big day, Dylan wanted to be there for Devon also. So some time toward the end of August the discussion began if we could afford a trip home, so we could be home for the wedding. I even considered fly for a moment but that didn't last very long. It was $185 for Mo to fly one way so it was way cheaper for us to drive. Well things worked out and we made it home. We still don't know exactly who came up with the idea but on the Monday before the wedding Dylan got a call from  Devon sister and fiance, the plan was put into action. Devon still didn't have a clue we were home and it would remain that, the girls had arranged it so Dylan would be able to be in the wedding and Devon wouldn't find out until Dylan showed up at the wedding.

Got to see my handsome husband all dressed up!

The top picture was captured at our wedding in 2012 so I couldn't miss the opportunity to capture this memory again at Devon and Mandy's wedding.

After the wedding festivities we headed back to Franklin parish, picked up Mo, and headed back towards Michigan.

We arrived back in Michigan about 9:30 am eastern time. As much as we both wanted to take a nap we decided it would be better to go ahead and move the camper to the new campground and have the whole evening to rest. It was a little sad leaving our first campground, Red Pines, but was closing October 1st so it was time to move on.

Pulling out of Red Pines

The move went very smoothly and we impressed some people at the new campground by how fast we set up. Our new home is located at Leisure Lake Family Campground. We tried to stay here when we first arrived in Michigan but they were booked full until after Labor Day weekend. It is nice here, we actually have grass but I am missing the trees to protect us from wind and rain. Unfortunately the fact that we live in a 17ft trailer has been very obvious the past few days since it seems like it has been raining every day and the wind makes it too cold to sit or unpleasant to sit outside when its not raining.

Our View

Even with the not so pleasant weather this is still a nice campground. We have visited the pet goats, check out the put-put golf course, but have yet to play. We also have seen 2 eagles and too many geese to count.

Photo Credit Leisure Lake Family Campground

Ferra & Samson

We only have a few weeks left to work at this point I believe so hopefully everything works out and we don't freeze before then!

Want to leave us a comment???

It was brought to our attention that to comment on our blog could be a bit confusing when it come to which option to select if you don't have a google account.

The easiest option I have come up with is select Name/URL in the drop down box and just leave your name you do not have to put in a URL. Then submit your comment :)

For the love of Ice Cream

One thing we both looked forward to when we decided to head north was the fact that you can always find an ice cream shop where ever you are. Dylan has always loved going to get ice cream as it is a fond memory he has from growing up. When in New York he would always go with his Uncle Rod to get ice cream. It is a memory that he talks about often when remembering his uncle.

So it didn't take us long to find the ice creams shops here in Carson City after we got settled in. The other day, a few days before school started, I entered the grocery store and noticed the small shop inside the store was closed. Reason being it is the end of season. How can it be the end of ice cream season? This was hard to process, coming from the south where it is always ice cream season. We get ice cream on Christmas day, we huddle around heaters with it freezing to eat homemade ice cream, we love our ice cream. So for everyone in the south it is always ice cream season.

All this talk about ice cream has got me wanting some, so here it to hoping Heralds is still open for the season!

A Little Adventure

Lake Michigan Light House
Grand Haven, Mi

Since arriving here in the north, even when we were in Ohio, we decided we wanted to visit at least one of the Great Lakes. After talking with some locals Dylan surprised me with a day trip to Lake Michigan.

Saturday morning we go up and headed out, we even took Mo on this adventure with us. We didn't have an exact address to make it to the lake we just had a town to program into the GPS and figured we could figure it out from there. We made it to Grand Haven, Mi with no problem. The GPS did exactly what we asked it to do, it took us to the middle of town which also happened to be in the middle of a residential area. So we broke out our phones so we could see the lake and figure out how to get there. We were only a few miles from the lake. As we were going down this road we rounded the curve and BAM there was Lake Michigan. Finding the lake this way made it even more amazing because of the view and size. The lake was beautiful but unfortunately the visibility was low Saturday due to the fog. 

At first it looked like it was going to be a short trip, there were signs everywhere saying no dogs but we were going to make the best of the day since we had already drove that far. It took us a little bit but we finally found a place to park. We parked inside the state park, for a non-resident it was $9 for the day but the permit allowed us in any Michigan State Park Saturday. The guy working the gate was very friendly and helpful and pointed us in the right direction to find the dog beach. 

We made it down to the dog beach and made our way to the water. You guessed it, it was COLD. We had considered swimming while we were there but after feeling the temperature of the water it was too cold for either of us but it wasn't stopping the locals. Mo does not like the loose sand, I guess because he gets bogged down with his short legs. Usually I can't keep him out of the water but because the wind was blowing it was causing waves and we think the sound scared him. He made sure he kept me between him and the water.

After our walk along the beach we walked along the bay making our way to the pier with the light house, this apparently is the thing to do while in Grand Haven. Of course we found it comical at the variety of the size of boats coming and and going out through the bay area. We saw sizes from kayaks to small yachts. I have to admit the view from the pier was amazing. I could not imagine being out there when the waves where high. Since being home I have researched the light house and the winter photos are absolutely amazing. 

Overall it was a great day we both had a blast and Mo, as always, got a ton of comments. This was definately a place I wouldn't mind getting the chance to visit again. 

One Month Down...

We have survived our first month and a few days, yay!

Unfortunately everyone is saying winter is on its way, which means we will have to be leaving here sooner than we thought. We are already seeing temperatures that they do not normally see until October. That's not good for these two Louisiana kids. We wanted to try to make it here until mid November but it looks like we will have to catch a job further south since this RV park closes October 1st. That's the only negative about tramping where it gets cold, almost all of your RV parks are seasonal so they are only open during the summer months. Then if you are lucky enough to find an open park more than likely you wont have running water.

Since we know our time is limited here our to do list has been rewritten a bit. We found Crystal Lake last week, I cant get over how crystal clear the water is here. All we have in Louisiana is muddy water. Here you can see 3-5 down easy. We had talked about going swimming there one weekend but with the current temperatures I don't think that it is going to happen, and of course Dad wont bring the ski boat up here. We are also trying to plan a weekend trip to one of the great lakes we just seem to decided on which one, where to go, and what to do.

It is strange that I think it is totally hilarious that the grocery store put the cajun style food on the world food isle :) When I seen it I just had to stop and stare. But the good news is I found all the Tony  Chachere I need and want along with Cafe du Monde coffee and beignet mix. What is even more funny is that Dylan has all the guys on his crew convinced that only the men in Louisiana can cook etouffee, bahaha ask me how many times he has cooked it. That's ok though because he gets to cook the gumbo and if he is nice I will take care of the etouffee.

On a positive note we went fishing last weekend and I actually caught a fish, it has been years. Being totally honest it was more like catching than fishing, which is my kinda fishing. 34 bream later and we were out of worms but it was good relaxing fun.

Just a little update

Well not much has been going on the past few days so not much to share as we close in on our first month on the road.

We missed a pretty good thunderstorm Sunday evening. It resulted in Dylan working about 12 hours of storm work Monday evening. We just got a little rain, it looks like the actual storm went south, south east of us. Detroit had a good bit of outages. Dylan and his crew went to Flint, which is about an hour south east of here but he was home around midnight Monday night. So I am happy to say we are going on 50 days of being together. It's like we are married again :)

We were talking about it last night, it feels like we have been on the road longer than 3 1/2 weeks. We decided because this is where we are supposed to be it make settling in easy. It feels like this is the way things have always been because things are going  so easy for us, settling in, his job going so good, great neighbors. Yet even with all that at the same time it feel like we have been away for ever.

Thanks to the family sending pictures it is like we are watching our children (the dogs) grow up. They have discovered the fig tree and from what I hear they love helping mom pick figs :)

Mo finally got to chase something. Yesterday (7/29) while taking his walk we came up on a rabbit in a open area and after it he went. I don't know what he would have done with it if he would have caught it since he was as big as he is but he gave it his best.

We are just making this little trailer home and patiently waiting for some deliveries from home in the form of Zapp's potato chips. Mo is going through with drawls not having his chip every evening. Thanks dad for spoiling him!

We are making things work in this little 17 foot camper. So far my only complaint is Dylan wants to sleep in the middle of the bed. No biggie except we are trying to adjust to a full from a queen. We have found our dream camper (you can see it here) http://www.forestriverinc.com/FifthWheels/Sandpiper/default.aspx?page=floorplandetails&floorplanid=5281
Dad says he sent us the money to buy it, but it looks like his check got lost in the mail so in the mean time we will just keep drooling and saving.

We Survived Our First 2 Weeks In Michigan

Dylan 7/18/14 Hydaker Wheatlake
Carson City, Michigan

Well we have survived our first two weeks in Michigan. It has been very interesting to say the lease. The culture shock hasn't been as bad as I expected. Everyone can still tell we are not from here based on our accents.

For those who know Moses, you know how much he LOVES camping. He is adjusting well, although I believe he still hopes we are going home every time we get in the car. It is a good thing I did not give him that hair cut I had planned before coming here or he would have froze last week. Last Tuesday he sported his cam sweater all day and was still shivering. We have been told by several people not to expect any 100+ degree days; Dylan is loving that! He did sweat once his first week at work. We can stay we survived the summer polar vortex. Although I have to admit it was odd looking fir a heater to buy in the middle of January. We definitely stuck out during the couple of days it was so cold. I was beginning to wonder if we packed the right clothes. We were expecting cooler temps but not quite this cold as we didn't officially plan to be this far north.

One thing I have noticed is that this area in Michigan has a very LARGE deer population. I almost got my first buck in velvet last Friday while n my way to take Dylan his lunch. It seems like every day you can drive down a road and  see a new dead deer on the side of the road. It is sad actually, all that meat gone to waste. I looked into deer tags up here but unfortunately they are on a lottery system so it doesn't look like this will be my prime hunting location. 

I got to spend some time with my camera last week while waiting on Dylan and the crew to finish clipping in the wire on the pole they were working on. My favorite shot of the day is the one I have included with this post. You can tell by the look on Dylan's face he loves his job. The more I used to canon the more I learn about and love it even more. So expect many pictures of our travels to come. I am working on linking a photo album to our blog. 

This week I can tell we are starting to settle into a routine. Monday we officially got our Dish Satellite set up, this helps the days go by so much faster. Fighting with the antenna all day every day was getting old fast. Dylan is getting used to working again after having his longest vacation ever. He even had to sweat at work this week. Monday and Tuesday we his 90 degrees, last night I was in a sweat shirt and sweat pants and we had a fire.

Today (Friday/July 25) Dylan wanted to grill burgers for the crews lunch today. Well, to help out I decided I would grill the burgers and take everything to them so they didn't have to do anything...I am DONE grilling until we have a Holland Grill that is all I have to say. The one we have now almost went into the trash today and the guys almost got fast food burgers. Everyone said they tasted good so maybe they were being honest and not just trying not to hurt my feelings.

One last note::: I have to say Michigan mosquitoes, while do not compare to Louisiana mosquitoes in size, sure do leave a lasting bite. I have bought just about everything to repel mosquitoes but these things are determined. 

Virtual Move

Just a heads up! We made a virtual move! I am more comfortable with how blogger/google works than wordpress so I have made the switch over to blogger until I get more comfortable with wordpress.

How Did We Get Here?

I guess you can say our journey to here started back in 2011 when Dylan went to work at the co-op. After working in the oilfield it was a nice change to having him home every night.

We talked about tramping from time to time while Dylan was working at the co-op but it wasn’t something I took too serious at the time. I mean, we had everything. We had just bought a house, I had graduated college, he worked 15 minutes from home and was home every night except for storm and they did not work storm out of state. From a new wife’s perspective everything was perfect.

Little did I know the urge to tramp was growing inside Dylan, it was something he just had to try and to be honest this was the perfect timing. It is just the two of us, no kids, perfect time to travel and move around constantly.

June 5, 2013 (thats close enough) Dylan comes home, a decision has to be made. Stay at the co-op or leave to go contracting. Staying meant we would be in a financial bind in a just a few short months; leaving meant giving up “our perfect life”. The decision wasn’t easy but it was one that had to be made. Dylan worked his last day at the co-op on June 6, 2013. One June 7, 2013 the application was submitted and drug testing done he was on his way to work for his first contractor, KDM. To make things even better he left for his first job away from home on June 9, 2013, our first wedding anniversary.

We settled in to a routine the best we could, Dylan was working 8 days on 6 days off in Paris, Tx. so he was only 5 hours from home. On the weekends he worked I would pack up and drive out there. Our amazing friends and family would make sure our dogs at home were taken care of.

This routine lasted until September 19, 2013, the day after my birthday. Dylan was fired from KDM. He had signed off on a transformer that was leaking. The co-op they were contracted to found it before they did and since he signed for it they wanted him fired, a blessing in disguise I call it.

For serval days Dylan called around to different companies to find a job. The first opportunity came through a linewife (praise God for them), but it wouldn’t work for our family at the time. On September 30th Dylan called the IBEW 995 in Baton Rouge just to see if they could do anything for him and they did! He was told to be at the hall first thing Tuesday morning. October 1, 2013 Dylan joined the union, this has been our biggest blessing so far. With the years of experience he had he was able to test in and got his Journeyman Lineman Card (the yellow ticket).

His first union job was for Ca-Par Electric in South Louisiana, working 4/10’s in Walker, La. Perfect! Three hours from home and home every weekend. With Ca-Par and the union I felt a sense of security that I had not felt since Dylan had left the co-op.

Dylan had many great experience with Ca-Par, which was a great relief since this was the first company he had went to work for without knowing anyone there. He meshed well with his crew and even got a long with a foreman everyone told him he wouldn’t like.

In February Dylan finally got his chance to go on his first storm. Ironically he had given me my valentines day present the weekend before. Ice Storm Pax was Dylan’s first major storm to work and his first time ever to travel out of state for work. This took a lot of adjusting for me but thanks to an amazing family and equally supportive friends I made it.

Right after the ice storm things began going south with Ca-Par. With in a few weeks they made the announcement they were going non union. Time for yet another hard decision. Dylan loved working with his crew, they meshed so well that it was hard to just decide on the spot to leave. Again the word finances comes into play. Financially we couldn’t afford to stay, insurance for us was going to be extremely expensive. Not including the fact that we had not had to pay insurance or retirement in the last 8 months.

This time there was a sense of security while Dylan was looking for a job, maybe it was because he began looking before ever leaving Ca-Par or maybe it was because of the union. I have to say so far Cliff at 995 has worked his butt off keeping Dylan informed of job possibilities and which halls to call.

The transition to his next job was easy. On Friday (March ?) we drove to El Dorado, Ar. to fill out his paper work for his new job. This seemed to be an even better place to be, only 2 hours from home yay! That next Monday he started working and fell right in to place. Dylan left on Monday mornings and came home Thursday afternoons , it was great; but we both were not 100% happy. Something was missing and we both knew what it was.

This is when we tramping as a family came back into the picture. Everything was going good. I credit Ryan Huntington with putting tramping back in Dylan’s mind. The guys seemed to talk about it all the time and therefore Dylan talked about it every week. We talked about it for serval months and the decision was made March 2015 after the big thaw up north we were headed out.

June 11, 2014 – with out going into all the details of the day; Dylan call’s he is headed home they care no longer allowed at Entergy therefore they have no work. Along with some other events in life it seemed like God was pushing us out the door saying that our time for tramping was now, now March.— ALOT of prayer went into making this decision. —There were jobs posted everywhere, great except they all require a Class A CDL, bummer. Well, thanks to another awesome linewife we get a tip that some halls would possibly take him with only having his Class B. So on the phone he gets again. IBEW 71, Columbus Ohio is who we set our sites on. Word on the street it there were to be hiring 41 linemen. Dylan does everything right, he calls the hall verifies the info and gets the ok for his CLD and the decision is made we are hitting the road July 5 in order the be at the hall for the call on July 7th. So we pack up everything we think we might need in a 4 months time span, including the Tony Chachere’s, into our tiny 17 foot camper and hit the road.

We sit in Ohio from Monday until Wednesday. Everyday Dylan and two other linemen he had met at the hall are on the phone trying to figure out if there is going to be a call at 71 or not and if not what are our options. Wednesday afternoon we make the decision to move to Michigan. The hall in Grand Rapids has open calls. Wednesday afternoon Dylan gets a call for storm work but turned it down, he said he couldn’t leave me in the position we were in and that turned out to be the right decision. So Thursday morning we head out. Half way to Michigan Dylan finds out the storm crew he would have went with was turned around. Yes, the 4 hours of pay would have been nice but it would have put us farther behind in getting to Michigan.

Thursday at 1 pm eastern time Dylan signs at IBEW 876 and gets a referral to go to work. In order for him to be able to work Friday we have to be at the companies office by 2 . No biggie except the office is one hour from the hall. We arrive at the office at 2 pm on the dot, 3 and a half hours later we leave.

After a roller coaster of 3 weeks we are finally settled in at the Red Pines Campground in Carson City Michigan. Dylan is working 5/12’s for Hydaker Wheatlake and the best part is his job is just a few miles from our campground.

Missing home is tough but we both still feel like we have made the right decision. We both no longer feel like something is missing. As a wife it is great knowing I get to see my husband every morning before work and every evening when he gets off. I miss my family and my 4 big fur babies but in 4 short months we will be back home again. Thats not saying we will be here all that time, we are tramping now, and plus it gets way to cold up here! We have to say thank you to our amazing family, with out your support this would not be possible.