Shabbos was pleasant and it wasn’t too hot.  At night, two mice ran by Trish in the living room, so we put out our collection of traps.  By morning, both mice had succumbed to our traps.  The kids decided to bury them:

After homeschool, B polished our Shabbos candlesticks:

This morning we drove into Cottonwood for the Antique Engine and Tractor show at the fairgrounds.  Many vintage tractors were on display:

This tractor is spinning a 1929 Case threshing machine using its PTO:

At the tractor pull, drivers compete to drag a weighted sled the farthest:

The sled has a water filled reservoir that slowly moves from the wheeled rear of the sled to the front of the sled, putting more and more weight on the sled plate until the tractor can drive no farther:

The massive engine on this 1959 Farmall 560 had no trouble pulling the sled all the way to the end of the course:

Dozens of antique engines were on display, most of them hit-and-miss engines like this 1903 beauty that produces 19 horsepower, which doesn’t seem like much for an engine weighing 6,000 pounds:

This engine was used in Paris to drive a water fountain:

A portable 2 stamp mill:

This is one of two known 1910 Gibson model F engines in existence today:

A tractor from 1905ish:

Indoors, there were various vendors, including this fellow selling cottonwood bark sculptures:

The local model train club had a couple tracks set up:

Tractor toys made from old sewing machines:

This hand cranked machine turns 16 strands of floss and a center core material into braided rope:

This 1/6th model of a hit-and-miss engine runs on white gas:

An antique fan operated not by electricity, but rather a propane powered Stirling Engine:

M tried the kiddie tractor pull:

Around noon there was a tractor parade:

In the afternoon, we drove to Sedona and visited the upscale Tlaquepaque shopping village.  We visited dozens of shops filled with stuff we don’t need that we could buy with money we don’t have:

On the way back to the RV, we visited the Coconino National Forest visitor center.  The red rocks of Sedona were visible in the distance:

Smokey gets no respect:

Trish has been working on beading around cabochons she made with polymer clay:

Good Shabbos from Forest Service land near Cottonwood, AZ:

This morning we saw a hot air balloon go floating by:

After homeschool, Trish and B went out for another Tour de Simcha training ride:

Looks like we might be in for a bit of rain:

In between homeschool subjects, B worked on a new beading project:

M found somewhat less constructive ways to spend his time:

This afternoon, we had a bicycle repair clinic focused on flat tire repair.  Each of us had a flat tire to work on:

At 5pm or so, I set out to ride from the RV to the town of Jerome, which involved a roughly 1500 foot climb.  I arrived 15 minutes before sunset:

On the way down, I was treated to sunset on the red rocks in the distance:

Trish and B went out on a Tour de Simcha training ride:

Tonight, M’s assertion that “close is good enough” is a valid concept in mathematics led to a discussion of the Pentium FDIV bug.  Ironic that this conversation would happen on Day 586, no?  Of course it is.  So ironic.

Shabbos was pleasant here, with temperatures only reaching 80 or so. We went for a little walk and played Settlers of Catan in the afternoon.

Continuing their study of France in Geography Through Art, the kids today learned how to create medieval-era geometric stained glass windows:

The awning rail was detaching from the wall of the RV, so I applied Loctite to the screws and re-inserted them.  I also added half a dozen new screws.  Once the awning was not at risk of pulling away from the RV, I installed our new patio shade in the awning track to see what effect it would have on keeping the RV cool:

It’s been more confortable here than in the Phoenix area, with highs just reaching 80 in the afternoon.  In the distance, the red rock of Sedona beckons:

B used a balloon in Science class to explore static electricity.  B and M both blew up a balloon and wrote on them.  The idea was that when the balloon was deflated, they would have tiny writing on the surface of the now-small balloon.  M chose to write out the Star Spangled Banner:

The sunsets here aren’t half bad: