I love the smell of gear oil in the morning...

OK, this post is a window into my brain (WARNING: it can be scary in here... peek at your own risk!). Last week I had a new blog post about half-cooked and well on it's way to being served up, but then Friday came barreling down the road before I could finish it and whisked me away for three days of fun. So, just like a good Zachary's pizza, I put the half-baked post in the fridge and will finish it off in a few days.

In the meantime, it wasn't pizza that drew me away from real life for three days. It was my inexplicable love for my 1974 IH Scout. Now, I've always been something of a nonconformist. And I can't tell you how much fun it is to drive around Uppityville (a.k.a. Beaverton) and pull up at a red light next to some $65,000 Lexus SUV-ish sort of thing in my 34-year-old smog-exempt iron beast!

This weekend was the 4th annual International Harvester vehicle show, put on by the Oregon Scout club I'm in! Yes, there's actually enough IH enthusiasts to do an annual show. In fact ours is the best & biggest IH show in the western US, with almost 100 total vehicles on display. I was there all weekend helping run the show with my trusty 10-year-old helper (who was a BIG help), while Amy and Tommy came down for the day Saturday.

Some Scout Show highlights:

Elizabeth was my big helper all weekend, even painting some faces at the Kid Zone!

Lots of very cool Scouts, Travelalls, IH pickups and speciality vehicles:

Two little hicks in the making!

Driving our Scout in the mini-parade. The kids loved waving - and riding in the front seat!

Gooooooood food!!! Slow smoked BBQ pulled pork & chicken with all the trimmings. Thank God for Acts chapter 10!!

Staying in the Stratford Taj Mahal. Thanks to John & Rhonda loaning us their trailer we were able to duck out of the 95 degree heat and into our 73 degree air conditioned accommodations more than once! Very comfy:

Riding the train with the kids - a major highlight for Tommy!