Rob and I had a lovely day meandering here and there. We ran into friends, saw some trucks pull stuff, leisurely looked at all the 4-H and Open Class Still Exhibits (e.g. quilts and canning and photography and Legos and flowers and dyed sheep wool), and ate a little bit of food.
Some highlights:
Not quite so incognito anymore We had just sat down for my first feeding when a Zumba friend waved and came over to our picnic table. “I was hoping I’d see you here!” she said with some excitement as she saw the jumbo taco in front of me. Just last night Nancy, our Zumba instructor, started the class by saying she was happy and surprised to see me and asked me to share with the class all that I have been eating at the Fair (she’s a recent blog reader). This was done with good humor and great fun. Of course, I very enthusiastically shared my gluttony list with the room full of women trying to lose weight. So suddenly I have some notoriety among Zumba’ers either envious or horrified by my annual little hobby.
Then, just as Rob had finished snapping the photos of my first bites of the taco, another woman appeared at our picnic table. “HI!! I’m a friend of Lisa and John’s. I’ve been reading your blog and I saw you taking pictures and I thought, ‘I know I’m going to see that on the blog tonight! And you” …looking at Rob…”you have been out of town! Welcome back!” I looked at the woman and asked with hope, “You’re Pam, right?” I was thankfully right, we chatted a bit about baby skunks and deep fried peanut butter cups, and then said good-bye. As she and her kids went off in search of some milkshakes, Rob just stared at me, bemused, and said, “My wife, the Fair food rock star.”
Earplugs might not have been a bad idea Another new addition to the grandstands this year: Monster Truck Pull. Rob said he had seen this “sport” on some manly cable channel; it was completely new to me. It was basically pick-up trucks and tractors of increasingly ridiculous strengths and roaring engines competing to see how far they could pull a very heavy load. I was disappointed when Rob said it was unlikely that anything would crash or break in the process. Nevertheless, there was lots of noise and dirt flying around to make it worth sitting on the painfully uncomfortable bleachers. The very best part of the show was a souped-up truck a la roadster thing driven by a 75-year-old man. The vehicle was named “Special Delivery.” This 1951 Anglia Thames Sedan Delivery featured a 572 cubic inch Blown Aries motor, with a 14-71 blower. I have no idea what I just typed but it sure sounds impressive, don’t it? Anyway, Special Delivery’s powerful engine roared so loudly, I couldn’t hear my own cheering. As it screamed across the arena, the entire metal grandstands vibrated. My feet, my legs, my butt…everything in contact with the metal vibrated. And I can’t really say it was unpleasant. In fact, if I’m honest, it’s the main reason I returned later for the second show. The full-body vibration was more relaxing yet invigorating than any Jacuzzi tub or acupuncture session I’ve ever experienced. I wonder if Special Delivery makes house calls?
4-H is WAAAY more hip than I ever thought We were quietly admiring the intricate quilts hanging around the Exhibition Hall when I overheard two attention-grabbing words coming from the 4-H Stage over by the Baking exhibits. On the stage where 4-H’ers practice their public speaking by presenting their projects, a teenage girl with a laptop projecting its image onto a large screen beside her was giving her presentation on “Facebook Stalking.” I yelled “I’ll be over here!” to Rob as I ran towards the stage and plopped myself next to a man in his late 50s who looked at me and said, “We’re learning about this thing called Facebook.”
I got there just in time for Cami to show us how to stalk her new love interest by clicking through his photos and finding ones with his ex-girlfriend who was tagged which then allowed us to go look at the ex’s wall and discover that she wasn’t very pretty and had fewer friends than Cami. Cami then took us to Katie’s page. Katie -- according to a newly updated relationship status -- just broke up with her boyfriend. “She was, like, a 6 and he was, like, a 4. I’m kinda glad they broke up because she was settling while he was achieving. But don’t tell her I said that.” Cami adeptly produced a photo and well, she was, like, kinda right.
Sadly, the Fair’s Wifi got all clunky and Cami was not able to finish her presentation. Very reluctantly, I got up and wandered over to an unrelated display pictured below. Man, why didn't I join 4-H when I was a kid?? And where can I find a 4-H for grown-ups??
Today’s Food Parade! Five days into the Fair and I finally feel like I am hitting my stride food-wise. I was pleased with today’s variety and la la la la “I don’t hear you!” calorie count. And I am very responsibly drinking my one liter of water each day. While I fear all that aqua is taking up some valuable stomach space, I learned the hard way last year that dehydration and Fair Food is a pretty lethargic mess.
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| Delicious Soft Taco Supreme with a side of jalapenos. My first feeding of the day and I wasn't all that interested in sharing. |
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| Yummy Lime/Pina Colada Hawaiian Ice. |
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| The most amazing deep fried raspberry cheesecake cannoli that the booth brought back by special request. Upon finishing them, it was the first time in my life where I actually felt weight being added to my hips. Eh. Whatever. I'll worry about that next week. LOOK! FAIR FOOD!!! |
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| Free sample! Jalapeno jerky from a very amused jerky booth lady. |
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| "You know, it's been minutes since I've eaten. How about some amaretto fudge?" |
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| The teenage boys were afraid to try the alligator jerky. They suddenly got brave after I said it tasted hammy. |
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| Dinner! Chicken strips dipped in the kicky Thai rooster sauce from another vendor. MUCH better than boring ranch dressing. Thank goodness for food booths with free condiments. |
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| Some chocolate covered strawberries to go with the Special Delivery Truck Pull |
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| One last treat before the Fair closed for the night. This elephant ear was surprisingly good for being one of the last ones available. Could have had more butter, though. |
3 comments:
Hello, Food Fair Rock Star! We also caught the truck and tractor pull. WOW! THAT WAS LOUD! LOL!
Next year we want tee-shirts! "Fair Food Rock Star Fan" perhaps. I like the composition on the elephant ear pic, kudos to the Rock Start Roadie/Photographer.
IR.DY? -- I think it was even louder than the Monster Trucks later in the week!
Steve, t-shirts would be a hoot! And yes, Rob does a fantastic job capturing all my gluttony. :-)
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