YAY FAIR!! ~ Day 9

It was a long, fun, exhausting day and I really could use a bit of sleep so I am going to jump right into today's YAY FAIR!! recap. YAY!! FAIR!!

Blue is blue, right? Today was Fun and Games day in the Llama Greenway. Meaning it was the day Rob and I competed against each other and a bunch of other non-4-H'ers in trying to convince llamas and alpacas to do things they really don't want to do. Most of the competitors are typically parents of 4-H kids or former 4-H kids. Then there are the assorted "hangers-on" like me and Rob and spouses of the former 4-H kids who compete mostly to round out the class and provide some comic relief.

Our competition today was the Obstacle Course. This meant I tried to convince Smokey the Llama to slalom through some poles...BACKWARDS. And step through a ladder, under an arch, over a bridge, around in a circle, shimmy sideways back and forth, and walk through a hula hoop that was really meant for something much smaller...like a 3rd grade human sort. All this while trying to remember how to hold the lead rope and not to touch Smokey and to pay attention to his feet and to be mindful of the judge and all sorts of other things I clearly do not know.

I'm not sure what I did wrong -- I actually thought I might end up in 5th or 6th place. But whatever I did wrong, I did it repeatedly and with gusto because I ended up with a really pretty blue ribbon...a really pretty light blue ribbon. Did you know light blue ribbons exist? I didn't either, until today, thanks to a 10th place finish out of 11 competitors (God bless you, Bob).

As for Rob, well, he and Rojo got a lime green ribbon for finishing in 7th place. I have been hearing about it all day.

Tuff Crowd After standing around with llamas for several hours, I was in desperate need of a seat and a snack, so we caught the evening Tuff Trucks dinner show. The Tuff Trucks event is basically a dirt track with lots of obstacles that pick-up trucks of various types drive through as fast as they can without crashing. At least that is the drivers' objective. The audience isn't so interested in a fast finish time as much as a broken axle or a popped tire or minimally, some truck-flying-through-the-air action.

The crowd tonight clearly wanted to see some fast-paced destruction because they actually booed several drivers who finished the course but went at it rather methodically or had the audacity to use their brakes. The crowd went nuts when one guy attacked the "table top" obstacle -- which was clearly designed to make trucks fly -- and ended up flipping his truck upside down. It was very exciting until the truck's roof smashed against the ground as its tires spun to the sky. I got really scared when the driver's mom came running out on the track and was motioned away. Thank God, the young driver eventually emerged unharmed, fists pumping in the air in victory of having provided the most memorable run of the night.

The bedazzled jar of blackberry jam was worth the wait. It is rather confounding, but it has taken us a full week to look at all of the Open Class and 4-H exhibits in the Exhibit Hall. You know, things like photography and canning and flowers and Lego art and finger paintings and quilts and stuff made out of Play-Doh. We usually browse the exhibits in one leisurely afternoon, but for some reason this year, we have had to do it in bits and pieces. I think it is because we have been arriving in time for a late lunch and have had various activities or shows on our "must do" schedule. Busy, busy, busy.

In any case, we finally made it through all of the exhibits tonight. As a result, I can confirm that I remain inexplicably enthralled with kid art. I am not legally allowed to post any pictures, so just trust me when I say there was the most adorable little lion water color that I wanted to hug, an oil painted zebra that spoke to me, and a construction-and-tissue paper penguin wearing a polka dotted party hat that I would buy if I could...all made by local artists under 8 years old. I suppose it's a good thing we never had kids; we would have been overrun with refrigerators for all the masterpieces.

Fair Food Feast Parade! I walked exactly 3 miles today, some of it backwards. Unlike Smokey. Sigh. Here's what my tummy is attempting to digest tonight:

It was a very late night followed by a somewhat early morning.  I needed to start the caffeine right away.

Soft Taco Supreme with added jalapenos and olive.  Note the sour cream.  YUM!

Drinking my frozen pink lemonade like a pipe smoker.  

After working hard to come in next-to-last in the llama obstacles, I was HUNGRY.  Corn dog from the Gourmet Burger booth across from the Lions booth.

Corn from Young Life.  Mmmm, butter and salt.

Free sample of the frozen strawberry lemonade from Young Life.  Yep, still too sweet.  I'll stick to the pink lemonade.

I hadn't had a full sugared Sprite in a long time.

Finally tried a vendor new to the Fair this year.  Three beignets from the Oregon Beignet truck east of the Food Court.  They were very good.  Light, fluffy pastry covered in powdered sugar.  They tasted more gourmet than an elephant ear.  A puddle of chocolate sauce would have been interesting.

Today's Hawaiian Shaved Ice:  Lime and cherry.  It was really good when everything melted together.  It tasted like a cherry limeade.  I'll have to remember that combo for next year.

I can't believe it took me this long to discover the Lions booth's fried chicken!  It was so good!  Flavorful, not too greasy, moist chicken.  I will definitely get it next year!  My only gripe was that I ordered two pieces and one of them was pretty dinky.

Lisa shared her gummy bears with me.  I like Lisa.

Kaitlyn shared her Twizzlers with me.  I like Kaitlyn.

Rob shared his curly fries from Izzy's BBQ with me.  I like Rob.  And I've now decided Izzy's has the best fries in the Fair. 

Closing the evening with some deep fried cheesecake.  It was pretty good but wow, it was rich.  Too rich and too big.  I couldn't quite finish it.  Some milk would have helped.  Deep fried chocolate chip cookie dough is still this year's favorite.