Where are we now???

Things have been a little slow the last month or so since we got back to work. After the job wrapped up in Albion, Mi at the end of August we took two weeks off and went home while we waited for the next job to start.

Our two weeks home flew by like they always do and the time to return back  to work came to soon.

The first job back was in Oxford, Mi. It was a short job, just 15 poles had to be set and wire hung. We were there a little over a month. During that time we had to re-adjust to living in a campground all while adjusting to having another dog on the road. Our black mouth cur, Karma, is now traveling with us.

Now we are back in Illinois, just west of Chicago, and back living at show-up. We are in the middle of farm country and are positioned on top of a hill surrounded by beans and corn. Its nice since this job is currently running 5/12's with the work day starting at 6:30, Dylan doesn't have to get up super early to make it to work on time. There is a down side to staying here though, we do not have sewer hook ups or running water. Currently we are filling our fresh water holding tank with 5 gal buckets and having the use the "honey wagon" to take care of the sewer--- Both of those are Dylan's job!

Mo is his normal self, requiring all the attention. He attends the safety meeting every morning and greats everyone who comes on the property but yet wont let anyone pet him poor thing. He thinks he runs things around here and can get away with almost anything.

The plan is for this to be our last job of the year after this one we are headed home for the winter :) 

---The pictures below are from Oxford, Mi. Dylan and the other crews build the steel poles, the lattice was already there. 

Long time no see

I kinda fell off a bit on keeping everyone updated. I've tried several times but couldn't get the words to come out just right. We have been on this job for so long so not much exciting has been happening very often. But here is a little bit of what we have been up to.

In June we went on yet another vacation, our first real vacation that didn't involve going home. We went back to our favorite place, Gatlinburg, TN. This was our first time to return since our honeymoon so we made it our anniversary vacation trip this year. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge was a blast as always and the company (Jesse and Harley) we took along made the trip even better. And of course the excitement didn't end when we left Tennessee. Our tried and trusty old truck that dad sold us broke down on us just before the Kentucky/Ohio border. The fuel pump went out, but thankfully Dylan and Jesse had the knowledge to know how to change it. And a big thanks to a local lady who shuttled us back and forth to the parts store. So instead of making it home at a decent hour we finally made it to the trailer about 12 am the next morning. 

The conclusion of this vacation trip also concluded Dylan's 1 month of working in vacation mode :) He took full advantage, while still allowing just enough time for work to get done. 

Another awesome thing we were able to do was visit a deer farm just up the road. It was so much fun seeing all the deer so up close, seeing the new babies, and feeding the deer. We can't wait to go back when the bucks are out of velvet. Plus we are watching a nice 9/10 point here at the trailer. He comes out almost every evening just behind our trailer in the right-of-way. 

Everyone thought we were crazy but we replaced our upstairs a/c in the trailer, the first day it made such a big difference it was nice for the trailer not to be 80 inside. But in Michigan fashion it was just a day or two before it was cool again and the a/c hasn't ran that much.

4th of July was a big monumental time for us. Once again it was a holiday where we broke away from our old traditions to start out own. Yes, I would have loved to been a Lake Bruin where the water was warm but instead we were on the AuSable Rive that was freezing. This once again confirms that people from Michigan are crazy, and I guess we are too now, for getting in water that cold. It was nice and relaxing tubing down the river after getting over the shock of the cold water. 

Like I said before we have been on this job a while, since February actually, and we can finally see the end. YAY!? Not really, we have a week or two of work left here then its on to the new place. Where will that be??? WE are not exactly sure either, but I will be sure to update everyone as soon as we know. On another note a bigger trailer means bigger stuff. Last year to pack the little trailer and be ready to move I needed 30 minutes, now I need 2 days and I am not exactly sure where everything is going to go so that it fits! Oh the joys of living in a camper! 

Road trip 1 - DONE

After 5 months we were finally able to make a trip home! We have tried several times but it was either too cold to leave the trailer un-winterized or Dylan couldn't get away from work.

The ride home was normal. We were not going to leave until Saturday morning so we wouldn't be driving at night but we ended up leaving Friday night about 7 pm. We had everything ready and we lost power, actually the whole town of Albion was out of power so we hit the road.

Once home we got a much needed and wanted crawfish boil. I thought this was going to be my first year with out crawfish but we made it home just in time. We got to eat everything we wanted while we were home - A&N Burgers, Foxes Pizza, Johnny's Pizza, and fried catfish. In between eating and visiting family Dylan finally finished painting our bedroom, its only taken 2 years!

Friday was all about Hannah, Dylan's little sister. We both can't believe it's time for to graduate and head off to college and are so proud of all she has accomplished and cannot wait to see her reach her goals in life.

The drive home we decided to mix things up. We left around 7:30 Saturday morning and decided to drive through Birmingham, Al so we could drive uo through the hills and take 2 days to make the drive. Just west of Tuscaloosa the interstate was closed so we detoured 2 hours through the back roads of Alabama with an LSU decal on our truck, that was fun. We decided after our delay to stop in Bowling Green, Ky. WELLLLL there were no hotel rooms available with in a 30 mile radius of there thanks to University of KY graduation. So we kept driving and trying to find a hotel with a room available that also accepted pets. We pulled up to the LaQuinta in Elizabethtown, Ky and got the last room they had. Exhausted, upstairs we go, open the door and the room is occupied! So back down stairs we go. The lady at the front desk can't figure it out what was wrong, that room was just cleaned and the last room they had available. FINALLY she realizes room 316 was the last one available not 315.  Thankfully after all that Mo did really good for his first time in a hotel room with us.

Sunday morning we continued our drive back to Michigan. We were not back at the trailer just a few minutes before we were off again, this time hunting Morel Mushrooms. After the last few weeks of finding fakes we finally found real ones this time and after trying them if that's what they taste like I will gladly continue "hunting" mushrooms!

Dylan is back at work today and I am back to my normal duties :)

We moved AGAIN

After one month staying in Angola, Indiana with Dylan driving a hour to and from work we are now living at show up, he has no excuse for being late for work now lol.

All the rv parks around the area do not open until mid May so we talked with the property owner and he was ok with us putting the trailer here so this is our new home location. Its more of what we are used to. We are surrounded by a pine field with corn fields behind us, great for watching deer in the evenings and we even had some come out close to the trailer yesterday evening. The drive was uneventful which was a blessing since it was my first time to haul the trailer except for a few miles around the house. The weather is trying SO hard to be warmer and some days it is but we are still getting snow/sleet from time to time.

Mo is a much happier dog, getting to run free all day. We have discovered one thing, he doesn't care too much for men in hard hats lol. But he is getting so much better at meeting new people and letting them pet him, he has come a long way in one year.

Things are starting to pick up on the job site, I'm hoping to get some good pictures soon. Their first wire pull should be next week so after that I will get some good shots for sure after wire is in the air.
Dylan and the guys will be pulling 10 wires into the air at just over a mile, stressful but exciting!

I have been told they guys have been asking when sausage balls will be made again so it looks like I a back in the cooking business! They don't know I am planning a big lunch for Lineman Appreciation Day, we will just have to celebrate a days early on the 17th. For now I am off to bake cupcakes before Dylan eats all the icing!

Finally an Update

Oh hey long time no see!

The past few months not much has happened.

We did say goodbye to our first tramp home in January, wasn't to sad to see it go as we are both still enjoying the room in our new trailer.

Dylan worked in St. Louis from January 5 till February 20.  On Monday, Feb 23 we moved to northern Indian and he signed the books at 876 and took a call. So we are back in Michigan, a little sooner than we had originally planned and A LOT sooner than we would have preferred weather wise. And just so you know if you haul a camper in 3 degree weather it will be COLD inside when you reach your destination. Since it is so much colder, especially at night, we joined the big boys and upgraded to a 100 lb propane tank after a 30 lb bottle only lasted about 2 days.

Now thats its official we can finally say that Dylan took his first foreman call. We are both really excited for him to have this opportunity. He has done it in the past, just now he has the title and truck ;) to go with it.

We will be staying in Angola Indiana until campgrounds in Michigan start to open in April if weather allows. So hopefully winter will ease up soon and things will begin to warm some.  

Mo in St. Louis

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I try my best to post everything in here but sometimes it's easier to post a small update in Facebook, especially when we are traveling. Also I don't always post all our pictures to our blog, just my favorites or the ones that stand out to most.

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We were not made for the city life.

We have survived city life for almost one month, yay us! Even though we are surviving this city life is getting old quick. Sirens, trains, air planes, helicopters, and big trucks every night while you are trying to sleep gets old QUICK. The best part is the train only comes through at night, or thats how it seems anyways. Oh and people in the city cannot drive,  if you are driving the speed limit you are going too slow for everyone else on the road. People don't realize that my 3/4 ton truck is bigger than there 1/2 ton truck or car and they are not going to push me off the road. We are both missing our dead end road where our closest neighbor is a half mile down the road not feet away. Dylan keeps saying he just want to start driving and not stop until he hits a dirt road and then just stay there a while. Once again God knew what he was doing when he chose for me to be raised in the country.

We got a rude awakening at 2 am this morning when some weekend campers decided to come in and set up. After all the hollering and unhooking the trailer (which sounded like the tore the fifth wheel out of the trailer) I am exhausted and I can only imagine how Dylan feels at work. They don't know it but they were moments away from meeting my not so good side. AND to make matters worse this is our second run in with these people so the owner of the park will be notified.

Except for city life and rude people things have been going pretty good for us here. Dylan is working 40 hrs so this summer is going to take a good bit of adjusting if he gets on a job working 60 hours.

Most have heard about my kitchen accident,  I tried to cut my thumb off instead of the deer meat. After almost 2 weeks the swelling is starting to go down. I am hoping after the swelling is gone I will get feeling back on that side of my thumb but we shall see. Just a word to the wise if you are ever around this part of the country don't go to Belleville Memorial Hospital in Illinois. It was a terrible experience all together. But that is over now and I am healing well and it was just an minor injury. Dylan was just being overprotective and wanted to make sure I was ok.

Hopefully we only have one month left here in the city and then off to bigger and better thing!