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.