Old Guys and Old Cars!!!!!!!!!!!

July 17 started as just another cloudy day in Oregon. There seemed to be a lot of those since I had gotten there and the only response that any one could give me was that "this was a very unusual year???" I would say that was a statement for the record books!!!! It is the middle of July and I am wearing a sweat shirt and every one says that this is unusual???? They were not even wearing long sleeved shirts in Alaska at the time so I would definitely say that this is unusual!!!!!!!

But enough complaining. I was going to a Cam Kings barbecue or cookout that day. There is a car club in town called the CAM KINGS that has actually been around there since 1959. This a club for OLD GUYS and their OLD CARS. Some of the old guys I know, some of them I think I know and some of them I am just not sure about. They seem to know me, but then it could be a case of mistaken identity???? {;-/ I hope.....
Off to the barbecue we went. Another old guy who did not have an old car, but he was old and a member I think. The club has this cook out every year at the same persons place, I cannot remember his name, but he has enough property that he has an actual working 1960's gas pump with a small tank underground so he can actually buy gas in bulk and gas up his cars there. So everybody that showed up drove their old car to the cook out which made it kind of a small car show as you can see by the pictures.

The afternoon was a lot of fun. The food was great and I met some guys that were great and met a couple guys that I had not seen since the old MINT FARM DAYS!!! which is another story or actually more than one since they mentioned things that I had done and completely forgotten about or at least tried to forget about!!!!!

Unfortunately there are few pictures so enjoy the pictures and I will go on to the next story!!!!!!
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Relay for Life and EVEN MORE COLD WEATHER!!!

So here we are again!!! Well we are not really here again, but when I wrote this I was here, but now you are reading it and you are here!!!!! and I guess in the grand scheme of things in another space and time we could be together, but that would be in the global sense of thinking because time and space are all relative, but since I have no relatives called time and space I am not sure who's relatives they could be?? and I guess we could have that discussion at a later date or maybe never really have that discussion at all or with all or not at all or maybe with alcohol????

But I wander from whence (ain't that a neat word??) I started and wonder why I wandered or maybe I wondered why I wandered???? Such a PARADOXICAL (hey, another neat word!!!) question to PHILOSIPHISE (I hope I spelled that right??)about?????? I got that word from my oldest son some years back after we had a severe intake of ADULT BEVERAGES, so all credit should be given to him...

Well I guess I ought to tell about the Relay for Life since that is what this chapter, well not really a chapter, more like a series and this would be but one small part of the whole never ending story or series.......

After freezing my @#$%& off in the food bank run that morning I headed on back to Chateau To Go and was able to slip into something a little more comfortable (easy there, you perverts!!!!!) meaning a pair of shorts, I never really figured out why it is called a pair since it is only one item, but that can be a discussion for another time?? and then it was off to North Valley High School where for the next 14 hours I would alternately walk, see some OLD FRIENDS, really old, older than me!!!!! and walk around the track and eat and freeze. Mostly I froze a lot.....

I think this is good time to tell you that the team I was walking for was the ROGUE VALLEY OLD VOLKS AND FOLKS, but then you already saw the pictures. These people are really good people as I probably mentioned when I did the Memorial Day Parade story. Anyway I volunteered to walk not knowing what my SHIFT would be????? So I will tell you what my shift was even if you don't want to know!!!!!! I got there about 1 PM and actually started walking then. I walked about 3 miles off and on over the next 3 hours and then went home and took a nap. I know a nap is for wimps, well before you judge just wait for the "REST OF THE STORY".

So I went home took my nap and went back there around 8 that night. I changed in to jeans and took a sweat shirt along figuring it was going to get a little cool!! but I did not plan on the weather being what NANOOK of the NORTH would not like!!!!!!! and did I mention that my walking shift was from 1 am to 3 am!!!! Now you know why the nap. I guess there were no other people there that were dumber than me so????? I walked my two hours and agreed to stay until the camp was torn down and ready to go, not knowing that around 4 am the temperature dropped to 40 degrees!!!!!! So here I am standing on the edge of football field with all of us huddled around one of the propane mushroom heaters and of course nobody likes the cold!!!! and me I am not even close to being a HAPPY CAMPER!!!! and just for everyones edification (another one of those big words) and/or information I walked a total of 11 1/4 miles!!!!!!!!

So when 6:30 am came and we had finished breaking down the camp I told everyone I would see them later and headed back to the CHATEAU TO GO and a warm shower, some heat and a warm bed!!!!!! and more adventures to come!!!!!!!!
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A 70 mile Poker Run, well actually 67 miles????

So after an exciting day the previous weekend at Pottsville I decided it was time to get involved and do some civic duties. And why and what civic duties would that be you ask??? and even if you don't ask I am going to tell you anyway since I am the one writing this!!!

Apparently the county where I was staying, that would be Josephine County named after a lady named Josephine Rollins who was the first white women to live in this county after traveling the Oregon Trail. The reason I know all this is because when I was in college I wrote a paper for English composition third term about her life. But enough about Josephine as that was several life times ago!!!

So on to the story at hand, well not really at hand, more like on the computer where it can be sent out around the world, well not really around the world since I don't really know that many people, more likely maybe across the street??? or maybe across the country, but then that is really stretching it some....

So Saturday morning, June 25,2011 I woke up at 6:30 AM to the sound of the coffee pot brewing and a temperature somewhere below the freezing mark of 60 degrees!!!!!!! Actually it was around 40 degrees which in my mind constitutes below freezing!!!!!!!{:-( But there was a slight breeze outside so with the chill factor that would constitute FREEZING in my mind!!! Of course my mind being what it is that would leave a lot of room for discussion about what exactly the weather is or should be.....

So instead of wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt which is what I would have much preferred??? I put on a t shirt, sweat shirt, hooded sweat shirt and after several cups of coffee and filling up my traveling coffee bottle, I jumped into Mr. Blue, that would be my hummbug, well I did not really jump in as it is a lot easier just to sit down, but I tried to make it sound exciting when actually I was freezing my
@#$%& off!!!!!!!! I had no gloves so my hands were already showing the first signs of frostbite but I was determined to do this whole POKER RUN and not WIMP OUT due to the less than desirable weather conditions!!!!

At exactly 8:15 AM, well it might not have been exactly 8:15 am, but it was close I started Mr. Blue who by the way reacted violently to the cold just like I do!!! and journeyed off to the city park for registration... (see the first picture) I thought maybe as it got a little later in the morning it would start to warm up?? WRONG!!!!!!

At promptly 9 AM I put my food in the donation box and paid my 15 bucks, got my map and proceeded to say a small prayer that I would not drive off the road due to the freezing weather!!!!!

And then it was off on a 67, actually it was more like 70 plus miles, to go to all EIGHT stops on the poker run.... It actually got so cold that I was driving with one hand and had my hooded sweat shirt tied together to stay as warm as I could. Now this is with the sun shining brightly and my sun glasses on!!!!!!

So over the river and through the woods to several places through out the county I went with others in the run following me because they were not sure where to go!!!! Talk about the blind leading the blind!!!! I am so used to somebody telling me where to go that this was just a completely exhilarating almost ORGASMIC EXPERIENCE!!!!!!! Finally at the last stop around 11:30 that morning I was able to pull off the hooded sweat shirt at the last stop and even start thinking about being comfortable. So back at the park you turn in your stamped card, (this poker run you only got rubber stamps on a card and then got dealt 8 cards back at the start/finish line.

Well as luck would have it or in my case not have it I drew 8 cards that made absolutely no sense so I thanked everybody for the fun and freezing run and then headed home to change clothes and go to the RELAY for LIFE!!!!!

The pictures are of the poster, two of the stops, and two of the motorcycles that were actually driven on the poker run!!!!!

THe POTTSVILLE tractor pull!!!!!!

The first picture is of the 86 year old feller who owns that tractor and after each pull he would come down the pull track and scrape and level with the old tractor in the picture.

All tractors are classed according to their vehicle weight. The classes are under 2000 pounds, under 3000 pounds, under 4000 pounds and so on. Well it is fairly obvious where the next two big boys went!!!! In the over 20,000 pound class....... I have no idea what the weight class was that the other two tractors were in, but for a complete fun day as far as I was concerned I had a great time!!!!!!!!

Old Machinery at Pottsville

The first two pictures are of an antique HAY BAILER which even though it shows the rust is or could be an operating bailer.......

The last picture is of an antique road grader of the tow along style. That they actually use out there every now and then, but the tires are kept flat to dter a theft as much as possible....

The Pottsville Tactor Parade Part 3

The first 2 pictures are of that monster iron tractor that runs on steam. This thing is actually steered with a giant steering wheel and two chains hooked to the front axel. It is really something to see when it is coming down the road!!!

The thrid picture is of a HUBER tractor which I never heard of and the fourth picture is of a CASE tractor, but of a model and style I have never seen before??? There were a lot of tractors in the parade, but unfortuately space does not allow for all of them, but I GOT PICTURES!!!!!!

More machinery and the tractor pull to follow........
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Pottsville, Oregon Part 2

The equipment shown is this segment was all operating the day of the show. Actually if I heard the announcer correctly. You are not allowed to display anything that cannot be operated, and as you will see some of this stuff is way
OLDER THAN ME!!!

The first picture shown is of a 1920's model tractor and dirt roller. The feller that drives this tractor is 86 years old!!!! He has been driving this tractor since he was old enough to be able to drive it. His daddy bought it brand new and he has had it since then. When I get to the tractor pull segment this tractor was the tractor that actually leveled and packed the dirt after each pull with the old guy doing the driving!!!!!

The second picture is of a FARMALL tractor with IRON wheels. I have no idea what year it was?????

The third picture is of an actual well drilling out fit and that day they were actually drilling a hole in the ground to show how the machinery worked.....

The last picture is of an actual working ditch digger from, back in the 1920's or 1930's and though they did not dig with it, it was started up and moved around and the digger was operated just to show that it all worked.
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Father's Day and POTTSVILLE, Ore

Well, it has certainly been a while since I last wrote, but due to unforeseen circumstances where I was which is not where I am now and won't be for a while my computer decided to go on a MINI-STRIKE which means that I was limited in what I could write and how long it would take to send it and how long I could remain on line??? It seemed to work good when I first got there, but after a while it decided to not really work at all???? My best guess would be that it just did not like where it was?? I am now in a different place trying to write about things that happened a while back and just trying to use me memory gives me a severe headache!!!!

So on to the story about POTTSVILLE, a little known area between Merlin and Hugo,Oregon....... A long time ago.... I know this sounds like a fairy tale, but it seemed like the best way to start this one so that is why you are getting this little bit of a PREFACE. Not sure exactly what that word means but I have seen it in a lot of books at the front so I will put it in the beginning of this story???????

So as we PRESS AHEAD. A long time ago in southern Oregon there lived a feller named E. D. "Debbs" Potts who was famous in this area for just about anything and everything, but mostly for being a state senator. Well as time went on Debbs as most everyone who knew him or did not know him but knew the name started a museum/area for meetings, gatherings, picnics and other such falderall..... and eventually the OLD FASHIONED TRACTOR SHOW and ANTIQUE TRACTOR PULL was started, developed and turned into what it is today.

It is an annual event that happens on Fathers Day weekend with a huge antique tractor show, an antique tractor pull, all kinds of vendors and a GIGANZO FLEA MARKET with a lot of really neat antiques and some other stuff too.

Since I can only show 5 pictures at a time on the blog I will split this story in to 3 parts or whatever it takes to show the pictures and give the explanation.

Now remember as you are looking at these pictures that all these tractors are real and fully operational!!!!!!!!!

The first picture is fairly obvious as this is the entrance to the grounds area. The second picture is the sign describibg the third picture. The fourth and fifth pictures show a monster tractor that was described in the parade but had no printed information so I have no way of telling you how old it is other than it is REALLY OLD!!!!

Now it is on to part two for more pictures!!!!!!!!!!!
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