2014 Fair!! ~ Day 6

Wow, what a day!

I woke up to nausea and Michael Buble and am ending the night with what I think is a deep fried hangover. It was bound to happen eventually. The hangover I mean.

We set the alarm this morning so we could scurry to the Fairgrounds to enter some plant life in the second set of competitions. All entries needed to be there by 9:00am. We made it with four whole minutes to spare. Go us!

Today was "Prime of Your Life Day" which means there was lots of grey hair on the premises. I have come to love this day each Fair because the pace is so much more relaxed and easy. The crowd shows up early and leaves early. There are lots of wheelchairs and scooters and walkers and canes to navigate around, but that's no problem since I am rarely in a hurry at the Fair. Unless I am hungry. In which case, I can out run the Prime of Your Lifers and get my corn while they are still deciding if they are hungry or not.

Another great thing about "Prime of Your Life Day" is all the free stuff. All sorts of companies set up tables and give away bags and pens and water bottles and fans. Granted, they are all advertising Medicare Supplements and Assisted Living residences and such, but hey, free is free!

I got more free pens for Senior Day than in the Exhibition Hall.  That seems wrong.

I also enjoy the more targeted entertainment. Rob and I were among the youngest in the audience for a Swing Jazz Band playing '40s favorites. Well, youngest except for the breast-feeding mom who decided to whip one out for a highly visible snack. That was awkward. But hey, free is free!

More highlights:

Winner winner frozen dinner!
I kept seeing people carrying around what looked like green canvas picnic baskets. I assumed they were from one of the commercial vendors so we went in search of them since we didn't see them on yesterday's tour.

Much to my surprise, we found them at the Washington State Lottery desk. No wonder we didn't see them before. I have never played the Washington State Lottery...until today.

For just $20 in lottery tickets, we could to take home a nifty collapsible cooler. Much more useful to us than the presumed picnic basket, it is a great replacement for the "all temperature" bag we keep in our trunk for grocery shopping. (Have I mentioned that Woodhaven is in the boonies and we sometimes run the risk of cold items warming too much on the way home?)

So we bought our Seattle Seahawk-themed Scratchers and then had to read the tiny directions on them since we really had no idea how to play.

And...$15 in winnings later, we happily trotted our $5 cooler out to the car for safe-keeping. Gosh, we should play the lottery all of the time!

"So I scratch off the numbers?  All of them?  And then what?  What am I looking for?  Wait, I won?  How?  Oh, OK.  Cool!  Playing the lottery is always like this, right?  You get back 75% of what you pay in?  No wonder so many people play!"

More scoop on milkshakes
I worked my second 2-hour shift in the Milkshake Barn today! And I got to wear another Cow Apron!

Although angels sang again when I put it on, I think I wore today's apron with a bit more confidence. I still was very reluctant to allow any ice cream or fruit to soil it, though. After all, it is a COW APRON from the DAIRY WOMEN MILKSHAKE BARN.

The crew was a different set of women, no Barn Boy this time. They had a different flow and groove than the other crew, which I found fascinating. It is sort of fun being an interloper.

I worked the spinny thing again, although this time it was the messier one. I think it whirrrs faster? I had been warned away from it on my first shift; this time I felt like an old pro who could handle anything. Well, anything except the soft-serve cone dispenser. I'm not sure I'll ever advance to dispensing twists on a cone. That is an art and a talent right there.

Somewhere in the midst of the milkshake chatter, I heard someone mention Mr. Wiggles. My ears perked right up because Rob and I have spent a good chunk of the last two days looking for him.

Mr. Wiggles is a ginormous bull with an adorable name. He's my favorite. I looked for him last year, but he went home before I found him. This year, I was determined to have better timing.

So imagine my utter (udder?) delight when I realized that I was making milkshakes right next to Mr. Wiggles' owner! I almost lost control of the peach milkshake I was blending.

"So you own Mr. Wiggles??" I asked breathlessly but so very casually.

"Well, we used to but we had to sell him."

"So he's not at the Fair this year?" I asked, heart sinking.

"No, I'm not sure where he is."

The world and my milkshakes sort of stopped spinning for a moment as I processed this troubling information. I eventually gathered myself together to ask a few more questions.

It turns out that Mr. Wiggles was getting old (7ish) and wasn't really good for breeding anymore. (Yikes, that was an image!) So my milkshake buddy's husband decided they needed to sell Mr. Wiggles. Some younger family members are still sad. She wasn't sure exactly what Mr. Wiggles' fate was.

"He might be in a pasture or in someone's freezer," she explained with some resignation. I once again quietly marveled at the matter-of-factness of people who raise livestock for dinner.

Deciding I wanted to ignore what she had just revealed, I distracted myself by asking how Mr. Wiggles got his name. She said his prior owner had named him that because whenever they gave him a bath, he would wiggle. Awwwww! Now that's an image I'll be happy to remember.

I'll be back in the Milkshake Barn on Friday from 12:00pm until 2:00pm...with the cutest Boy in the Barn I know. Whoo hoo!

Mr. Wiggles, Fair 2012.  Enjoy your pasture, buddy...wherever it is.

Blue Ribbons all around! Almost...
Our early morning serenade by Mr. Buble was because Rob needed to go into our garden and pick fresh specimens to take to the Fairgrounds for judging. Not much of a surprise to me, Rob was officially recognized by women with clipboards as a pretty nifty farmer.

He got blue ribbons for some cherry tomatoes (still green, but a very pretty shade of green); a section of vine from our Riesling grape plants in our front yard; and a cluster of adorable little grapes from those same plants that we are salivating will be wine in just a few months. Yay, Rob!

He also entered three beautiful jalapeno peppers. They were so pretty, it almost broke my heart to dedicate them to the Fair instead of some salsa. The peppers should have gotten a blue ribbon but...as is the theme of this year's Fair...the tag got mixed up and they were entered in the "Red Pepper" division instead of the "Green Pepper" division.  D'oh!

Rob and I have both agreed that I, being somewhat anally detail-oriented (yes, I hear you friends snickering at "somewhat"), will henceforth be in charge of all Fair Exhibition Paperwork.

Everything is so green here!

She busted those muttons!
Always a favorite event...and the one time every year I wish we had kids...today was the Mutton Bustin' competition. Yay kids riding sheep!

Billed as "the only legalized form of child abuse" -- which is getting fewer and fewer laughs every year -- mutton bustin' is adorable and fun and actually pretty competitive.

The afternoon started with 44 riders who were winnowed to the top ten for the evening competition before the bull riding event. The ultimate winner got lots of applause and a huge trophy. Cool!

One notable rider was a girl who decided a new perspective on the sport was needed and rode the sheep backwards. It was actually pretty effective but I'm guessing perhaps a bit stinky.

Gotta admit, the sheep looks confused.  Not a bad strategy.

Another memorable buster was the girl who ended up winning. Kelsea Bomke's evening ride was so epic, she never left the ring afterwards because it was pretty obvious she was going home with the trophy.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Kelsea's ride because I was too busy cheering. She rode the charging sheep all the way across the ring into a pack of sheep that had gathered to commiserate on how glad they were that was over. Then, instead of getting or falling off her sheep, Kelsea held tight as her wooly transport joined in as the heard dashed for a gate. In my notebook I jotted, "New Indian Name for Winner: Rides With Sheep."

I later met Kelsea and her trophy on the Midway. Her mom told me Kelsea won last year's competition, too. Impressive! I asked for Kelsea's picture and she handled her new-found fame like a pro. In fact, her self-assuredness and confidence on the sheep, in the ring while being awarded the trophy, and then with me and my gushing fandom and camera...well, I kinda want to be just like Kelsea when I grow up.

Look how casually she's standing there with her kick-sheep trophy.  It's the foot crossing that kills me!

Fair Fans Unite!
While I was making a pit stop before heading home, Rob started chit chatting with the guy manning the Oregon's Mt Hood Territory information booth. I'm not sure how the conversation started, but by the time I joined it they were talking about the best fairs around the country, especially in terms of food.

Twenty minutes later, I now have two pages of notes, an email address, a website, a lead on a super cool convention I need to figure out how to crash, and a Wish List of state fairs I must visit before I am diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.

John, Mr. Mt. Hood Territory, was my people. He grew up in Minnesota and confirmed all the superlatives I have heard about its state fair. He spoke about it with such love and enthusiasm, I am very seriously thinking about taking some Minneapolis friends up on their standing offer to host and tour us around their fair.

So who knows, maybe one of these years soon, I'll take this Fair Blogging hobby on the road and come at ya from some of the best state fairs the mid-west has to offer. Sounds delicious, doesn't it?

Stats
My 2-hour shift in the milkshake barn added 0.31 mile to my total of 3.77 miles walked today.

The Flavor of the Day in the milkshake barn was Chocolate Blueberry.

The re-entry hand stamp animal was a dog.

Rob shared his Diet Coke with "Pat" and I shared my Coke with "Tony."  Ending vowel issues will continue to plague me the rest of my life.

As of moments ago, the first gastrointestinal aid (Gas-X) has been consumed. By Rob. Me, I'm still holding steady. Yes, my stomach is amazing.

Today's Fair Food Feast Parade was a bit light even with the early start. I blame the large breakfast...and the filling shake.

Breakfast!  Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, toast, and lots of ketchup and Tabasco.  It was very good and very filling.

Early morning calls for caffeine and sugar.

Post-shift milkshake:  chocolate strawberry.  I made it myself!

It's hard to look dainty while eating a corn dog.

Brick-o-fries from the Jumbo Burger place.  Rob and I shared them...and finished the entire brick.  Pretty tasty; some bricks are too greasy but this one was just right.

Lime and Tiger's Blood Hawaiian Shaved Ice.  I didn't like it.  They have 2 booths.  The owner works in one and he isn't nearly as generous with the syrups.  It tasted mostly like ice.  I will be visiting the other stand exclusively from now on.

My favorite candy when I was a kid.  Mmmm, cinnamon.  I am something of a candy fiend but I don't let myself eat it very often.  During the Fair, on the other hand....BRING IT ON!

Old fashioned strawberry lemonade.  Just right.

Free grape sucker from the Metro PCS people.  They gave me 3!

Late-night deep fried Oreo Cookie.  Erik reached for the Cookie Dough when he saw me.  I'm a regular!!  As for the Oreo, it was good but a little too much dough.  Or not enough Oreo.