Last Saturday, Nolemana and I drove down to Brooks, Oregon, for the 2014 Great Oregon Steam-Up at the Antique Powerland Museum.  We used to take Nolemana’s dad, Roy-san, there every year, and he absolutely loved it.  Being an old farm boy, he’d actually used many of the tractors and equipment that was displayed.  He was kinda in tractor heaven, seeing all of the steam-powered equipment.

Nolemana and I hadn’t been to the Steam-Up since a couple of years before Roy-san, and this year we decided to go in his memory. We got there about noon; we wanted to make sure we got there for the big parade at 1:30.  The parade is where all the old tractors make their way along the track to the outside of all the displays, and it’s pretty amazing. The first thing we did was to find a friend of mine from Ravelry; her husband had a cool display in their area. We’d packed our own lunch, and after we ate, Nolemana wandered around for a bit while E. and I had a chance to talk for awhile.

But I wanted to see the tractors and stuff, so when Nolemana got back, off we went.  As we started around, I was overtaken by tears for a bit, tears that Roy-san wasn’t with us.  Total surprise. I wasn’t expecting that. I just stayed with those feelings for awhile, and soon I felt grateful for the times we’d been here with him, and funny thing, I kinda felt like he was right there with us.  And it felt good.

Everything is steam powered. This water pump, for one thing.

Nolemana took this photo; I’m not sure what it did, but it was ‘way cool. One thing I love about the Steam-Up is the putt-putt sounds of all the steam powered equipment!

This one, too.

My own papa-san gave me such a love for old cars, and my brother Kaniela and I share that love.  I can’t resist an old pickup!

1931. And it looked almost new.

You can kinda see what the grounds looked like. Everywhere we looked there was a different display of all kinds of steam engines.

This wahine had a steam engine that made small hay bales. It was fascinating to watch; but unfortunately, we both forgot to ask her what they were used for!  Lots of the kids there were wearing ear protection, but we didn’t think it was too bad…except for the very loud steam horns on the big tractors.

Well, it’s a scale model of an 1800’s hay baler. Duh. Open yoa maka, Moki!

It was pretty fascinating to watch, especially because we see so much hay getting baled around here.

Some of these steam engines have been around for longer than we have and are still in great condition.

This was one of my favorites.  I’ve always been pretty mechanically minded, and I just loved watching them work. The Steam-Up has really grown over the years; it’s a lot bigger than when we used to take Roy-chan.

This is a steam-powered corn grinder! That would be pretty labor intensive today, but back when it was invented, I bet it was a real time-saver.

This is a McCormick Deering Corn Sheller, which removes the kernels from the corn cob.

The variety of steam engines all around the grounds was just wonderful!

One of the things I loved watching was the old time farmers and ranchers checking out all the pieces of equipment.  I tell you, these guys really knew their stuff. Sometimes when we were all looking at the engines we’d get into a conversation with them.

Another cool old pickup with its trailer.

Okay, I can see that I have ‘way more photos than will fit into one post.  So I’m gonna make this pau Part 1 and will start a new one with more cool stuffs.