OLD GAS: Had a BLAST!

This old beauty was marked $3,200. How I would LOVE to have it!

Mid-Michigan Old Gas Tractor Show & Pull

& Flea Market

& Chicken Dinners

& Midway
& Fun, Fun, Fun!
Oakley, MI

We went to the show and pull last Sunday morning, as is our tradition, and this year it was just he and I, a rare day out, just us, together. We enjoyed every minute of it. Back home we came to a busy week, full of surprises, some good, some not.

The morning was gray and drizzly but the closer we got to the showgrounds, the drizzle cleared off and it wasn't a bad day overall. (This weekend is just as gray and rainy!) I got to smell some tractor exhaust, and all the yummy food on the midway, it was worth it.

I wanted to post some photos to show you~I have lots of video of tractors pulling but I thought I might bore you with all that. I have to say, that I prefer the sound of a Farmall hands down over the sound of a John Deere. John Deere goes pop, pop, pop....and I prefer the fuller sound of the Farmalls. For the day, Farmalls came out on top in all the pulls we watched.

I'm off to say hello to a whole bunch of tomatoes, I think they may become another batch of salsa.

XOXO
Joni

An artist working in the sale barn, loved his work!

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

I couldn't resist showing you this pink Farmall, it seems a travesty, but then some guy could have done it for his wife who was a breast cancer survivor. (Hey, get a load of the way that guy is giving me the evil eye/death glare as I'm snapping this shot!)

Little, big, bright and shiny, or dirty and worn, they're all here. It's their weekend and they all have their chance to shine!

I just had to snap a picture of this cute little guy, he hopped up on that seat and started pretending to drive, making his tractor sound....

This big old steam engine tractor was giving rides that day. And it had a whistle like an old train engine. It was really something to see the ruts this machine left behind in the dirt! AMAZING old piece of history and it's still moving!

I like to watch the old timers and think about what might be going on in their heads as they watch all the tractors pulling. I think about the memories they've got stored from days gone by and the excitement they felt as they drove their own tractors over the years. On this day, you see a whole lot of work boots, and a whole lot of jeans and hands that have worked hard and realize that THESE are the people that built this country and that those that run this country are too far removed from the real world and that the connection with the dirt is what might be missing. I'd like to see an arrogant, pampered politician try to stand in this arena where these tractors pull and try to sell their latest load of bull to good, hard-working Americans like this.

Isn't this little grandma cute?

I thought the paint job on this one was exceptional....click on any photo to enlarge!

This fella had to back out because his machine stalled and they couldn't get it cranked again. He finally did get it back into the pulls at the very end. Don't you like his "weights"?!?

What a pretty Oliver!

This was like the tractor we had at home...lots of good memories with that riding on or behind it on an old car hood in the snow!

Waiting in line for the famous chicken dinners they serve there.

Cooked outdoors on a huge grill with a large crew of men basting and turning them, they are half-birds, deliciously charred! Mmmmm....

Now we're talkin'!

A cute little girl in a little red wagon.

While we ate, we watched the women in a log-sawing contest. They used old two-man saws and they were lots of fun to watch!

I love this old road-grader, it reminds me of the ones used to make our road when I was a little girl.

Old steel wheeled Farmall!

The steam-powered sawmill, chugging along!

I hope you enjoyed seeing all the tractors, and if you have a chance, go to one of these shows and appreciate the machine that replaced the draft horse in all its forms!

This is what I brought home; I found it in the "quilt" barn (and what's wrong with me, I should have taken pictures!!?!) and it's the perfect rag rug for my kitchen, don'tcha think?