It's the Fair!! ~ Day 7

It was such a promising day.

Demolition Derby Day is always my favorite day of the Fair. For whatever reason, this year they moved Derby Day to Thursday instead of Friday. While that was sort of annoying -- one fellow derby fan who normally has Fridays off switched around his work hours this week specifically so he could attend both derby shows today -- I was willing to go with it. I wasn't about to understand it but I was also willing to accept the possibility that my county is much more Tuff Truck Country (Friday's main attraction now) than Demo Derby Country. At least I still had my Derby even if the schedule changed. So it was with great anticipation that we headed to the Fairgrounds today in time to grab lunch and get to Grandstands in time for the 2:00pm show.

Wow, what a disappointment!

Bigger and more troubling than the schedule change: the company organizing and promoting the derby was different. And not for the better. The 2:00pm show was, in a word, lame. The arena was tiny so there was hardly any room for the cars to get momentum. And even if they had had the room, the track was sprayed down so much water, the mud slowed them down considerably.

There was a total of eight cars competing in the afternoon -- four in two rounds. The winner of each advanced to the evening show. The eight cars were all decorated basically the same and shamelessly advertised a local painting company. Not a car painting company; a house painting company. It showed. It really felt like the afternoon show was simply a commercial for the painting company with some boring demo derby as the cover. The infomercial...I mean derby... was over in less than 30 minutes. We all looked at each other and wondered why we had bothered. To put it in perspective: a Geo Prism almost won the first round. A GEO PRISM! As a demolition derby car?!? That had a decent shot at winning?!? Good grief, people!

Stunned and disappointed by what we had just witnessed, a brilliant plan was hatched. We could see more traditional, independent derby cars in the parking lot, getting ready for the evening show. Rob and I and the friend who had taken the day off meandered over to chat with a pit crew. They told us that the promotion company had indeed changed; the one from all the prior years had disappeared, maybe gone out of business. We asked about the size of the arena. They rolled their eyes and said they had almost put their car back on their trailer and left when they saw how small it was. But they had been promised it would be enlarged for the evening show. They were also annoyed by how much mud was on the track. "I can't put on a good show if I can't get speed."

So it was with some wariness that we arrived about 45 minutes early for the evening show. The Grandstands filled to capacity by the time the show started. Last year there were three rounds of 8-10 cars each with survivors crashing it out in the finale. While the crews worked on repairing their cars, we were highly entertained by a truck round and a small car round. So about 30 cars, plus maybe a dozen specialty vehicles, in a show that lasted at least two hours last year. When we left the Grandstands last year...and all prior years...we left amid a cloud of smoke that smelled of exhaust and busted radiators, with our ears ringing from all of the engine noise and roar of the audience. The finale was held under the stadium lights since it was well past sunset, the darkness lending an ominous tone to the crashing.

Tonight? Lame again.

The arena had been enlarged by about ten feet in each direction but it was still much smaller than prior years. There were two rounds. Two paint sponsor cars were back with one seemingly independent car joining in for the first round. The independent car stalled early. It was a derby of two sponsor cars. Whoo hoo.

The second round was comprised of actual derby cars like what we expected. However, instead of 30 of them, there were five. Yes, five. Total. No point in a finale.

We watched as the five cars slid around in the mud and tried to build up some speed. One engine caught on fire. That was exciting. But then that car was out, reducing the field by 20%. Somebody eventually won. I don't remember who. I sadly didn't care. No money prize was mentioned. Perhaps that's why so few entries bothered to show up?

As a new draw, there was a bonus round of RVs. This sounded like great fun. Our gang of about 20 friends and friends of friends were very excited. Our bad.

Three RVs -- again painted by the sponsor -- entered the arena and lumbered about. Within about 30 seconds one stalled out and was done. The announcer was disappointed because that was the one being driven by his brother. So it was now a derby of two. Whoo hoo.

Admittedly, it was amusing and interesting to see how campers fall apart. Gaping holes emerged and then an entire roof came off and then one ended up looking mostly like a flatbed truck. But the speed was slow, and with only two to watch, there wasn't much action. Much like the combine demo derby Rob and I saw several years ago, the RVs were fun once for the novelty but not terribly satisfying to seek out a second time.

When it was all over, I looked at my watch. One hour almost exactly, including the national anthem, the Fair Court introduction, the Win-a-Jeep-Frisbee-Throw-Challenge, and some words from our sponsors. As people were exiting, the automatic stadium lights came on. The sun was just starting to set. There was hardly any smoke. And no engine smells were making my nose itch. Where'd my derby go??

As if the Demo Derby wasn't disappointing enough, I found out my beloved deep fried Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are no more.  BOO!!!! I tried to get one on Opening Day but the woman working the stand said they didn't have them yet. So I held off, deciding one would be a wonderful post-Derby treat tonight. So imagine my angst when I learned that the stand had run out of peanut butter cups and no, no more would be coming. And no, I could not provide my own; everything has to be counted and checked and some such bureaucratic something or other. I asked when they had run out. "Monday." So apparently they ran out of them in just two days...in a ten day Fair. What the heck? Come on, people! If you've got a winner after just two days, get more! What am I missing here? Obviously, a deep fried peanut butter cup that I have been waiting a year for. I might cry.

There were a few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing day.

One was that Rob's plant life is blue ribbon stuff! We checked on his grapevine and his grape cluster, both from the plants in our front yard that might finally allow us to make "estate" wine this year. Both were awarded blue ribbons! WHOO HOO! We now have confirmation that Rob is a better gardener than I am a photographer. While this should be annoying since I am a bit competitive, I am actually just dang proud of him. And now I'm even more eager to see what wine comes...finally...from those plants he has been tending wineless for nearly six years.

The other highlight of the day was hanging out with Rojo for a bit. He's an Open Class llama, meaning he doesn't participate in 4-H stuff. So he was busy working during the first half of the Fair, visiting schools and senior centers and Alzheimer's facilities. But he is now at the Fair for the duration. I was calmed and soothed as I hugged him. He's really good at that . But my spirits especially soared when I saw some dear friends who had heard a lot about Rojo but had never met him. I was thrilled to finally introduce Rojo to both Andrea and Margie. Margie is 90 years old and just about the sweetest heart you would ever have the honor of knowing. Seeing her smile and laugh and hug Rojo and look at me with the instant and full understanding why I spend so much time with him put all the Demolition Disappointment in perspective. Rojo, you rock. As usual.

Today's walking mileage was only 2.67 miles. We spent a good chunk of time in the Grandstands getting good seats. Our bad.

I ramped it up a bit on the Fair Food Parade today, trying to make up a bit for yesterday's meager buffet. I have no idea yet how much weight I have gained so far. But I do know I have gained the weight of one pretty impressive chin zit. So attractive on a woman in her 40s. Oh, well, at least I've earned it the fun way!

Here's what I ate today:

Free sample of pink lemonade.  Very refreshing.

Chipotle Fondue from Bella Casetta.  Very tasty and the bread was homemade focaccia.  It was a great snack but it didn't quite make a meal.

So I continued my search for the best corn dog.  This one from the Deep Fried Heaven Truck's cousin was good but it was $4!  Yikes!  With that added in, the corn dog from the place across from the Lions Booth is still the winner.

Pineapple and Green Apple Hawaiian Shaved Ice for the afternoon Demo Derby.  OK but I still like lime better.

Triple Chocolate shake (chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup, and smushed Oreos) = YUM!

My traditional Pad Thai with Rooster Sauce for the evening Demo Derby.  It was the best part of the event.

Pre-hypnosis show deep fried Snickers bar.  It was OK not great...probably because I really wanted a deep fried Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  Sad face.