BeetJuice! BeetJuice! BeetJuice!

For the bus’ virgin voyage after the in-chassis overhaul we went to see my friend Justin in Asheville for Labor Day weekend. Finding a campsite on that particular weekend is usually nearly impossible, and we thought we were going to end up camping in Justin’s apartment parking lot. After being turned down at Lake Powhatan, we decided to try our luck half an hour up the parkway at Mount Pisgah campground, where we started our big trip last year. If you remember, Justin got lost last time and didn’t make it, so this time we came full circle! The tanks and toilet and back room weren’t assembled yet, but it was still a comfy adventure. There was gathering of wood and cooking of food on the fire, and plenty of beer and wine amounted to a festive weekend. The doggies were very happy to see Justin because he’s their dogfather.

Justin enjoying a beer at the picnic table. No flaming goats this time.

Our first real camping experience in the bus!

After a fun-filled weekend we returned home and struggled to beat the clock as it sped ever closer to the drive to North Dakota. Up to the last minute we were packing, installing black and grey water tanks, backup cameras, the back deck, and tail light wiring, and building a goat pen for Rosie and George the rabbit. The drive from Statesville, NC to Drayton, ND is over 1500 miles and takes 25 hours of driving time going regular highway speeds in a car. The bus tops out at 59 and averages about 50. Dan and I drove for 48 hours straight, only stopping for food, gas, and two two-hour naps. We were also learning to drive a 35-foot long 27,000 lb. bus that has loose steering. When we finally got there and slept for the night it still felt like we were shake, rattle and rolling along the interstate. 

Intense concentration.

Drayton is a small town of about 500 people. Lots of people live there for only a few months out of the year to work the beet harvest. Along with the nice pay we were also given a free campsite to stay in with water, sewer, and electricity and a bath house with hot showers and wifi. There was a large field by the bath house that the dogs and goat enjoyed romping around when we had some free time.

Juno's a lunatic.

Dan likes this picture because he's hiding his face.

American Crystal Sugars beet processing plant.

Our job was to receive beets by the truckload on a giant machine that put them in piles 30 feet high. We worked night shift, 12 hours a night, seven days a week, for two weeks. A couple of days we had off because of bad weather. The reason so many people do the job is because of the pay. You can expect to make over $1000 a week. When paired with a free place to camp, it’s a great deal. It is very hard work, however, and most of the 300 temp employees quit before the first week had finished.

At the end of a long cold night you can see the piler still in operation.

Truckloads of beets came in 24/7 because the day shift worked the opposite 12 hours. The trucks would enter the machine two at a time, empty their beets into an end dump on either side of the machine, and then pull forward under the dirt conveyor to retrieve the dirt that was sifted back out of the beets in the machine.

This is a beet pile. It’s about 30 feet high, 100 feet wide, and ½ mile long.

Dan worked on the ground at the foot of the pile. His job was to direct trucks into and out of the machine, keep the ground free of mud and beet chunk that fell out of the machine, and shovel any major beet spills. He also had to retrieve sample tickets from the trucks and bag beet samples to be shipped off to quality control for lab testing. The farmers are paid by the weight and sugar content of the beets. I started out at this job and only lasted a few days before requesting to be trained as a machine operator to escape the freezing weather.

As a machine operator I controlled the conveyor belts and hoppers of the piler machine. I was responsible for ensuring the safety of the 4-6 ground workers as they worked around moving parts. I simultaneously controlled the directional light box (tells the trucks when to dump), the end dump doors, the side and main conveyors, and the return dirt conveyors, and moved the machine backward when it was time to extend the pile. Another ground worker controlled the swing of the boom conveyor and the distance of the arm from the pile to create a nice even crescent-shaped pile. This is important because piling the beets in this way is how the beets are stored to prevent freezing and thawing and damage or rotting of the beets inside the pile.  Hard hats, safety glasses, reflective vests, work gloves, and warm winter clothing with multiple layers were essential.

In addition to all these button controls I had a set of eight levers to push and pull.

This is the view from the operator cabin. You can see the main conveyor with the boom swung to the left at the top.

Nap time!

After the initial rush of the first few days we had lots of down time for naps. I sat in the floor of the cabin with my space heater and woke up when I heard a truck pull up. There were nights near the end of the harvest where we would only have one truck every half hour all night. The lovely ladies at the scalehouse often made desserts and crock pot dinners for the employees to help keep us warm and full. The operation has eight pilers working to store over 11 million tons of beets for sugar processing. Some days we would pile over 8000 truckloads of beets in 24 hours. It takes 10 lbs. of beets to make 1 lb. of white sugar. Each beet can be as small as a potato or as large as a human head! In fact, most of the beets weighed at least a few pounds.

One night we had to shut down and clean the machine. Dan took this picture when he had to put on a safety harness and climb up onto the boom to clean out the hopper.

Sunset from our campsite. This view meant it was time to go to work. Every day at 7:40pm we caught a ride with our neighbors to work. A few times we had to walk the mile to the factory.

 

Cottonwood trees lined the field beside the campground.

With $4000 in our wallet we quickly moved on to warmer Southern pastures when the hard work was finished.