There was a trace of light in the sky as we came home tonight. "I'm a total slacker!" I confessed to Rob, feeling as though I short-changed the Fair today by leaving a little early due to an intense need for sleep. Rob agreed (sarcastically) that I should be ashamed that I only spent 8 hours at the Fair today instead of my standard 10-ish. Yes, when it comes to the Fair, my perspective is a little whacked. But love does that.
Today's Fair Highlights:
Kids Riding Sheep! I had never heard of Mutton Bustin' before moving to Clark County but now, of course, it is one of my favorite kid-watching activities. For the uninitiated, mutton bustin' is basically bull riding for kids where the bull is replaced by a fluffy, wooly sheep. The kids are decked out in protective gear and then hang onto as much fluff as they can for as long as they can as a sheep runs through the dirt arena. It is adorable and most of the kids seem to love it. There are always a few who understandably panic and tears can be shed. Can't say I blame them. They sure are cute, though.
Today's mutton bustin' competition was one of the better ones I've seen in a long time. There were over 30 competitors and there were some long rides along with some hysterically short ones. Interestingly, girls seemed to do better than boys this time. The ultimate winner was a 7-year-old girl who was just about as tall as her trophy. She rode with confidence and determination and walked out of the arena with a swagger. Rock on, cowgirl!
Kids Riding Other Animals, too! A new feature with this afternoon's Mutton Bustin' competition was basically a kids' rodeo. There were kids riding small bulls and small horses. I thought it was going to be more for entertainment, but it was a serious rodeo with some serious action. The same 10-year-old boy ultimately won both the bull riding and bucking horse competitions. His first name is Dawson but I didn't catch his last name. Nevertheless, I suspect he will be a well-known name in the professional rodeo rings well before he can vote, probably even before he can drive.
Men Riding Angry Bulls...And Not Necessarily On Purpose! The evening show in the Grandstands tonight was Bull Riding. This is one of my favorite events even though my back spasms in sympathy as the guys bump and jar and get airborne and eat dirt in the name of their sport. As long as the bulls are treated well and nobody gets seriously injured, I'm a big fan.
Tonight's show was pretty exciting. Nobody got to ride in an ambulance, thank goodness, but there were a couple of close calls, at least by my eyes. The men in the bull riding world are a tough, stoic bunch. And I'm not just talking about the riders.
The scariest moment of the evening came when a bull was still in the arena after a ride and he was spittin' mad, literally. He was charging around the dirt while several wranglers tried to get him to exit the arena. All of a sudden, the bull started banging into the shoot gates and one of the judges got in the way. I was terrified as I watched the bull goose the judge and pick him up between his legs and toss him in the air against the metal gates. The judge looked like a floppy doll with a clipboard. The arena was nearly silent as the dust literally settled. Finally, the judge emerged, mostly upright, and signaled he was ready to get back to work. I watched him throughout the show. He moved like he was in some pain but not nearly as much as he should have. Did I mention dumbfounded?
Another scary moment came when yet another bull was stomping around near the shoot gates. This time the announcer was in the way. The announcer had climbed up on the gate but the bull charged his cowboy boots, causing the announcer to double over into the pen. He didn't fall in but his hat did. Apparently that was a prized hat (not realizing his microphone was still on, the announcer shared that it was a $150 hat and he really wanted it back). The hat was eventually retrieved and after a few moments of mourning, the announcer plopped the dirty, bull-mangled hat on his head and wore it the rest of the show. He also summoned a horse and did the rest of his announcing from a safer, higher distance.
Ready to Answer (Most of) Your Llama Questions Another portion of our day today was spent working at a booth about llamas and alpacas. Every year, the Fair People choose a different commodity that has a financial impact on Clark County and that commodity is featured in a special exhibit. Prior years have focused on blackberries, honey, and horses. This year it's all about camelids.
Given my years of hanging out with Rojo and his buddies...and of dragging along the quick-study Rob to a number of special llama events... we have both picked up enough information to easily fake our way through manning a Fair exhibit about llamas and alpacas. Or so I thought.
Our two-hour shift went by really quickly. It melted my heart to see how well Rob got kids excited about llamas and alpacas (he's picked up a lot of info, too, since I often volunteer him for special llama events). And we came up with a fun way of using hand gestures to explain the difference between llamas and alpacas, so that was the source of some fun giggling. (Think...or Google... "quiet coyote" and you've got the gist.)
We were moving right along, feeling very proud of ourselves and our extensive camelid knowledge -- including answering vital questions such as "Which barn are the sheep in?" And then people started asking us questions about crafts. Like "How do you spin the fiber to make thread?" and "Do you have to card the wool first?" We are not crafty people, and honestly, "carding the wool" sounds like some sort of euphemism a bar's bouncer might use. So we did the only thing we could do in good faith: we passed the buck and suggested better people to ask. So much for being self-appointed experts.
We have another shift on Thursday afternoon. Hopefully I will have more confident craft answers by then.
As for the fun hand gestures, be sure to break these out at your next BBQ and be the life of the party!
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| Llama. Note the tall, pointier ears and longer face. |
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| Alpaca: Note the shorter, more triangular ears (use your imagination) and the shorter, rounder face. Yeah, I know, but the kids were loving it. |
Fair Food Feast Parade!
Well, today's parade is kind of pathetic. I took some sinus medication this morning and I didn't respond well. Then my lunch choice ended up being terrible so food just didn't sound good for awhile. I was honestly rather panicked for a spell. I am very hopeful, though, that with some good rest and regrouping, I will be raring to eat again tomorrow. My 2.69 miles today might have actually off-set a fair amount of what I ate today. I'm not sure I'm happy about that. What was I saying about a warped Fair-induced perspective?
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| Cherry milkshake. It was very good but I should have trusted my gut and had it with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. |
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| This salad sucked! Cuban Salad from the Food 4 You both. It had mushy, icky pork and canned pineapple. The dressing was orange and looked like the Southwest dressing that comes with Wendy's southwest salad. This salad was so awful, I grabbed some nearby BBQ sauce to see if that made it edible. Nope. I ended up tossing this away and waiting a few hours to be interested in food again. |
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| Finally ready to give food a chance again. Lime and Grape Hawaiian Shaved Ice. Reliable and tasty. |
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| Comfort food. I've never had pizza at the Fair before. I mean, why bother since I can get better pizza other times of the year. Although industrial, this Hawaiian pizza from the Food Court was better than I expected and it was exactly what I needed to settle that awful salad. |
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| Pina Colada and Strawberry frozen slushy from the guy that charges half-price for refills if you keep the cup. Very tasty combination if you like coconut. |
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| Excellent Green Curry with Chicken from the Pad Thai vendor. Thank you, Kelsey, for reminding me I like this! |
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| Crazed with satisfaction with this Klondike Choco Taco ice cream bar. It is vanilla ice cream in a taco-shaped sugar cone, topped with hard chocolate. From the nut vendor near the Columbian Community Stage. It was just the right size and amount of sweetness I could handle to end the night. |
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