Annual firetruck muster

This firefighter's helmet weighs a lot more than you'd think.

This is the second year that we've ridden down to see a few dozen fire trucks and emergency vehicles gather to show their stuff. Kids of all ages climb into seats, try on equipment and cool off a bit from the spray of the water that is always abundant around such vehicles.

This truck pumped out a couple thousand gallons of water in about a minute.

The Flight for Life helicopter was impressive, but it's a lot smaller than you'd think.

One of my favorite emergency vehicles was this early 1960s Chrysler station wagon, which was some sort of support vehicle. With about eight feet of cargo room in the back and a full-length roof rack, I can imagine how the civilian version of a car like this would've been a great family camping mobile. Perhaps my interest stems from the fact that in the old days my family only ever had two-door muscle-ish cars and never a practical wagon.

The car version of a Big Dummy.

Sleek relic of the space age.

I know this is a bike blog, but I admire well designed machines, with or without engines, based on their own merit. Apparently there are other mechanically like-minded people out there, as the Big Dummy was admired by several, mostly older guys who enjoyed examining how I was able to carry my daughter and her bike aboard without difficulty.

With any luck, we'll be back for more next year.

Beware of the brush axe!

On the toasty ride home, looking forward to a cold drink.