Covered in soot, and filled w/ ice cream!
This weekend is the annual Thresheree
http://www.thresheree.org/Reunion/Reunion.html
Went again w/ my dad and the girls, and we all had a good time. The weather was absolutely perfect, partly sunny, 72 deg, light breeze, and the parking lot was as full as I have ever seen it. Fortunately they have large wagons pulled by "new" tractors that pick you up from the parking lot and take you to the main gate. (By new we are talking a lot from the 50's, driven by the owner that maintains his tractor.) Kids under 6 are free (score!) and right inside the gates the girls saw some horses and mules that had just gotten done plowing. They got to pet one on the nose and Katherine was neighing the whole time.
We got there just as the Parade of Power started, which is where everyone drives their tractor along the parade route. Katherine kept pointing to the really old steam powered ones and thinking they were trains and wanting to ride them. You can't blame her, they do look like an old steam train off its' track with really big spiky wheels on it. They spew black smoke, whistle, and make a chugging noise. So many of them that the air quality was rather bad, just walking you get little black streaks on you.
Got a huge ice cream bar to share while we waited in line for the actual steam train. Picked up some train swag too (a canvas bag, some train whistles, key chain, and safety brochures). As we waited Charlotte and I discussed how steam power works, and about how cities used to be filled with soot and coal smoke. The girls were grinning through the train even when the wind would shift and the black smoke blew in the cabin. (The website does recommend not wearing white.)
Had some corn on the cob, lemonade, talked with a wheelwright acquaintance the was doing a demo, saw the saw mill in action and on the way out stopped to share another ice cream bar and a dish of strawberry ice cream. :) Got to support our dairy farmers!! Caught a wagon out to our car and Katherine fell asleep as I was buckling her in. Halfway through the 10 min drive home Charlotte was flopped over and snoring too.
The last two weekends we had fun excursions that really have epitomized summer family fun... hard to believe that C starts school on Wed.
Hope you are doing something fun this weekend!
http://www.thresheree.org/Reunion/Reunion.html
Went again w/ my dad and the girls, and we all had a good time. The weather was absolutely perfect, partly sunny, 72 deg, light breeze, and the parking lot was as full as I have ever seen it. Fortunately they have large wagons pulled by "new" tractors that pick you up from the parking lot and take you to the main gate. (By new we are talking a lot from the 50's, driven by the owner that maintains his tractor.) Kids under 6 are free (score!) and right inside the gates the girls saw some horses and mules that had just gotten done plowing. They got to pet one on the nose and Katherine was neighing the whole time.
We got there just as the Parade of Power started, which is where everyone drives their tractor along the parade route. Katherine kept pointing to the really old steam powered ones and thinking they were trains and wanting to ride them. You can't blame her, they do look like an old steam train off its' track with really big spiky wheels on it. They spew black smoke, whistle, and make a chugging noise. So many of them that the air quality was rather bad, just walking you get little black streaks on you.
Got a huge ice cream bar to share while we waited in line for the actual steam train. Picked up some train swag too (a canvas bag, some train whistles, key chain, and safety brochures). As we waited Charlotte and I discussed how steam power works, and about how cities used to be filled with soot and coal smoke. The girls were grinning through the train even when the wind would shift and the black smoke blew in the cabin. (The website does recommend not wearing white.)
Had some corn on the cob, lemonade, talked with a wheelwright acquaintance the was doing a demo, saw the saw mill in action and on the way out stopped to share another ice cream bar and a dish of strawberry ice cream. :) Got to support our dairy farmers!! Caught a wagon out to our car and Katherine fell asleep as I was buckling her in. Halfway through the 10 min drive home Charlotte was flopped over and snoring too.
The last two weekends we had fun excursions that really have epitomized summer family fun... hard to believe that C starts school on Wed.
Hope you are doing something fun this weekend!