Today was the second Saturday of the Fall Show. I got out of the kitchen today to look around, and I was glad that I did. I was starting to get a bit bored with the whole thing, but getting out onto the grounds brought back my enthusiasm. Every time they have a show here, the car club brings in different, amazing cars.
My favorite? Maybe the candy-apple red 1956 Buick Century.
My all-time favorite machine, the 1914 Steam Roller Steam Engine, was out this morning, working.
It was hooked up to rock crusher by big belts, and it was running, turning the wheel on the crusher, but they weren't feeding any rocks into the hopper today.
I can't help but be proud of the roses; this is the last weekend they need to look nice, and they came through.
Randys' brother Butch came to visit today, bringing his wife Lina, son Michael and daughter-in-law Maria. They arrived in time to take a quick look around before getting good seats for the parade. The parade always includes a few skits; one I hadn't seen before involved the huge D8 Caterpillar bulldozer. A little girl rode her bike on the parade route, was pulled off it, and left bike in the road. Along came the dozer, and crunch!
A D8 Caterpillar bulldozer has a real bad effect on a bike.
One guy actually built a jet engine into a lawn mower; he has the loudest mower in to parade!
Butch was glad to see the Marines proudly represented.
Several young men have bought or adopted old machines here and are making them run again. At this point they have more interest in fixing and less interest in restoring, which I often to agree with. As the T-shirt says, "Paint doesn't make it run"!
And I was glad to see the 1937 Power Horse in the parade again. This is the tractor whose controls could be manipulated with reins.
I didn't see my steam roller in the parade, so we walked over to the Steam Shed and asked about it. The guy running it said that this morning a piece came loose; it might be a simple fix unless the piece broke something else inside; then it would be a big deal. I didn't see the steam engine out the rest of the day, so it might be out of commission for awhile.
After the parade Randy got us some lunch at the Burger and Sandwich shops, then we walked around to see more of the displays. In one of the buildings there are some excellent working miniatures. And there is a 2 cylinder hand-crank diesel engine that was used for Queen Mary life boat propulsions - pretty cool.
Steam Engine Row is a permanent display of steam engines; they all work, and are housed under a protective shed roof, since some are delicate. Some are huge, while others are tiny. This little beauty is a steam powered coffee grinder, made in the 1930's in Basque, Spain. So pretty!
We went through the boneyard and watched blacksmiths work their trade, and then it was time for them to head home. Loved seeing them again!
There is a pot-luck dinner on Saturday night, but we felt like getting out. Randy texted Ken and Patty, and we all went out to Oceanside Fish for dinner. Good food, and you can't beat the view.
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