We had a great visit with family and friends in Indiana, but after a week it was time to move Eastward on our journey. Next up, was the very small town of Alton, Ohio, just west of Columbus, Ohio. We had the great fortune to visit with Pat’s good friend Becky and her family on their sprawling farm in the heartland of Ohio.
The Drive
This drive from the southside of Indy was fine, except for some heavy traffic going around the Indianapolis 465 beltway. I’m sure that I have mentioned that I really dislike driving the truck/trailer combo through congested city traffic. Would much prefer the small towns and villages, but sometimes our route takes us through a metropolis. We do try to minimize the issue by avoiding rush hours. Leave at about 9:30 am and then jump right in. While driving a small car is not a problem.
From there it was an extremely rough pavement section of I-70 until we reached the Ohio border and it cleared up. Go figure. Maybe Ohio has a better road budget. Then it was through Dayton and on into the west side burbs of Columbus.
Our RV park, Alton RV Park, is a small family owned operation. Very clean, new restrooms, but the spots are small and the turns are tight with a crazy layout.
Coach Becky and Family
Pat had gotten to know Becky a couple of years ago through a Facebook healthy eating group called Trim Healthy Mama. Becky is one of the coaches for THM and they have been good friends since.
Becky’s kids helping cook. 
Coach Becky at work.
We planned our 3-day stop at this location for Pat to spend a couple of days with Becky. Her husband Derek is a farmer and is busy harvesting this time of year. He works with his father and brother from sun up to after dark everyday that it is good weather.
Becky and Pat at sunset. 
They have a litter of 11 boxer pups. Want one? 
Becky takes care of their three children and is a successful coach for her Facebook group and prepares a dinner meal for the guys each day during the harvest season. We we lucky enough to get invited for her great cooking, but also to get out to the farm and chat with the guys.
Becky is available as a healthy eating/diet coach through her website at: https://abetteryouwithcoachbecky.com/ Pat highly recommends her to anyone wanting more information about her approach to a healthy eating lifestyle.
Harvest Time
The family farms about 1,600 level acres in this beautiful part of the country. This year’s crop of corn and soybeans may yield a little less due to the severe summer drought. Some of the bean plants were nice and full and tall, but others were thin and short. You have to feel for the farmers and the issues that weather will bring.
These guys, (Dan – the father, Dallas – the brother, and Derek) have a pretty slick system at harvest time with all three driving equipment. They are all “Green” meaning exclusively John Deere. One drives a huge 35 foot combine, while another drives a tractor pulling a deep sided wagon, while the third drives a semi tractor pulling an open topped trailer.
The combine will cut off the plants, remove the beans from the pods and then blow the beans into the hopper in the back. The combine is GPS controlled and has many electronic readouts and gauges providing all kinds of feedback. The enclosed cab is even free of dust and has A/C. Pretty amazing technology.
After two rows of beans, the tractor and trailer is driven alongside the combine and an auger is used to transfer the beans while they are still moving and harvesting. Man, I was blown away with that.
View from the passenger’s seat. 
The next step is to load the semi trailer from the tractor’s wagon and take the product off to market or else to a grain bin for storage.
I was lucky enough to get to ride along with Dallas in the massive combine for a couple of hours. It was a cool view from about 15 feet up. Many thanks to these guys to help this accountant understand more about the farming business.
Wrap Up
We both loved our time down on the farm with this super family. But, it was time to continue our eastward journey to our nation’s capital to see family and take in a few sights. Thanks for following along! Take care and God Bless.