5-30-09
Bucking Horse Sale Days

I have been having a lot of problems with my fiber optic line that comes up to the doghouse. I have it rigged up with an wireless router so I can just open up my laptops and connect to the internet with blazing fast speed. It was working wonderful, but every five days or so it would quit working and I would have to call the company and they would send out a ‘fix it’ guy. This is one of the regular ones that came out. I think they finally got it fixed as it has been working swell for about two weeks now. I still have my fingers crossed and I am sure the fix it guys have theirs crossed too. They might even have theirs taped in a permanent cross. I seemed to be the only one on this new service that was having this problem…… I told them I was the customer from hell….. hee hee….  I was going to put up a sign down by the highway that said it was the road to hell and back….. It is too bad Toby has his eyes closed here.

There are some of these days in the spring that really make you wonder if spring will ever get here.

I camped with Keith last year and he was using his new tent and it sure looked like a nice one and it gave him a lot more room inside than that little tent I was using. I figure if I ever need to sleep two in my tent I better get a bigger one. REI was having a sale on tents and I went ahead and bought one like Keith has. It is a Black Diamond and supposedly sleeps three but two should fit perfect and be long enough for me to stretch out full length. I don’t have the rain fly on it here but as you can see it is a nice big tent.

The third weekend in May is Bucking Horse Sale days in Miles City and there is always a nice big parade. This year was no exception and there were lots of nice old cars and western stuff to look at.

I really like the old unrestored ones and this one was just so simple and relaxed as it waited its turn to make a run down main street.

I guess this is the new wave in three wheel motorcycles that I suppose we will be seeing more of now.

The local mortuary has this dead wagon that they use quite a bit to haul the old cowboys and ranchers out to the graveyard.

Terry Hanson in his 49 Merc that was just loaded with friendly ladies. I’m not sure if it is Terry or his Merc that is a chick magnet.

Ya don’t see many old classic cars pulling trailers in parades.

Dad and daughter choppers

A propane powered Minnie

One of the old original stages that was used around this area

The Muggli’s

This is Ben Muggli who bought the collection of McCormick Tractors so he could get all his family all in the parade. That is a proud boy driving that tractor.

These are the horses that are my neighbors. It is always nice to see them out roaming the hills.

Nice jewelry on these horses.

A nice working ranch wagon.

These Cats sure make a lot of noise as they rattle down the pavement.

This is an interesting car. It is actually a 1980 Model A Ford. In 1980 Ford made this replica of a Model A and put a Pinto running gear under it. It is fiberglass but looks just like an old one.

This old rust bucket really grabbed my attention. It is powered by a 6 cylinder Cummins diesel engine. He would raise it up (like it is here) or dump in down on the ground. It is truly an amazing car. I noticed a website sticker in the window and here is his website… http://welderup.com/   If you look around the website you will find lots of pictures of this one plus videos of it burning out as well as a few videos of it running in a drag race. It sure can blow out a cloud of smoke and zoom down the track.

This team was coming down the street at a pretty good clip when all of a sudden it just whipped around and almost turned over. Evidently a control line broke and fortunately the helpers that they always have walking along side the outfit ran out and stopped the horses and somehow fixed the line and then proceeded on with the parade.

Another Stockman Bank outfit. This is what they are doing with my money that I have stashed in their vault. I sure hope that they have some left when I need it…….

I just love these big old tractors. They were simple, strong and could work all day out in the blazing sun/dust and freezing cold….. with NO cab for comfort. That is way clothes are for eh?

One of the first four wheel assist tractors.

John Deere had some big money rigs on display.

More my size.

This Republic truck always makes the parade run.

This is a Waterloo Boy which became John Deere

A Rumley Oil Pull towing a threshing machine.

The last tractor in the parade every year is this old Case Steam Tractor. Jim Michel had it hooked up to the air compressor that it is towing this year. A person has to have a steam engineers license and have the steam plant inspected to be able to operate this tractor. It was just so much of a hassle to do that that I guess he just decided to run it on compressed air this year. These old steam tractors need to be inspected and certified safe because when they blow up, they could really take out a bunch of people along the parade route. It sure wasn’t as much fun this was as it wasn’t blowing a cloud of smoke and he wasn’t blowing the whistle like with the steam.

Down at the fairgrounds I saw this Airstream Bubble like I have. (the pod). I stopped in a couple of times to see if I could talk with him but never caught him ‘home’. I looked at the serial number on his and I think it was 258 and mine has a serial number of 269 .

I have been working on my cement recycling project and I like how it is coming out so far. The ‘stones’ need to settle in and I need to do a little leveling on some of them but it sure is a lot nicer than that mud that was here before. I can actually just walk in the doghouse now without taking my shoes off.

It really is a history of concrete in Miles City area. There is a wonderful difference in colors, textures and wear on the pieces. I went up on the hill and found a place where there is a place where the scoria is all broken up in little pieces like gravel/sand. I am using that to fill in the cracks and that gives more color differential too. I may end up using mortar to fill in when things settle down.

My motorcycle mechanic Bob Clement and his wife Anne came by after a trip to Wisconsin in their ‘new’ Miata. Bob gave me a ride in it, but I don’t fit with the top up. I think I could do ok in it with the top down and then I could look over the windshield like a motorcycle. It sure looks like a fun car though IF you fit inside.

This is the last day of the cows mowing my lawn. It has been fun watching the calves play in the evening and always amusing to see them ‘learn’ about the electric fence. They have done a nice job of mowing the pasture and I don’t think they have hit it too hard. A little rain sure wont hurt though.

I have been needing to get out on a bike and do a ride now that the weather has turned somewhat more like spring/summer. I decided to pack up the Fat Dog and make a run out west with it. I have never ridden it any distance before and am sure looking forward to it. I packed it up with most of the stuff I am taking and made a run into town to see how it handled. Ahhh, it is going to be a sweet ride I think. This bike has a 11.5 gallon tank and those big aluminum panniers that should keep my stuff dry if I hit rain, which I probably will, out on the coast.