THE FAIR 2015 ~ Day 4

Today was so much better! The pep talk and the clown nose continue to work their magic. AND my interest in food is returning. YAY and YAY!!

I’m still not entirely sure about trying the deep fried bacon wrapped Reese’s peanut butter cup (seriously -- Eric has it), but I can at least see a path forward to considering it. And our collective stomachs turn…

It was something of a slow, meandering day. The only plan was that Rob needed to leave early for a meeting, and I was joining some friends for the evening concert. Oh, and the horse barn. A young friend was spending the day competing in various horsey events so we planned to catch as many as we could.


Finally meeting old friends for the first time
Thanks to the magic of Facebook, I have been online friends with a guy named Chris for several years. It’s a convoluted story, but he and Rob’s brother went to high school in SoCal together.

Through some twists and turns we discovered that Chris now lives in our county. Since Chris and I share an appreciation for the Best Fair EVER, I insisted we at least become virtual friends. We have tried for several Fairs to meet up in person but it has never happened.

In the meantime, I have enjoyed Chris's road trips around the Pacific Northwest. I was in on the secret plans for the riverside proposal and cheered when Debby said yes. I had a fantastic time at their destination Hawaiian wedding.  And I love their new house. Ah, Facebook.

While never having actually met Chris and Debby in person, I feel like I know them. So it was hugs all around today when we finally bumped into each other in the Food Court. WHOO HOO!

Hi Chris and Debby!  You look just like you do on Facebook -- how handy!

Taking one for the team
A friend asked yesterday what this Magic Broom thing is in my Fair Day Data list. Right. I should have explained. Sorry!

I suspect your fair has the vendor, too. The broom is actually called SweepA, which makes me sound awkwardly Bostonian when I say it out loud. So I don’t. Instead we say, "Magic Broom."  Unless you are from Boston; in which case, sweepa all you want.

The Magic Brooms have bright yellow sticks, are topped with a black rubber head, and they only seem to be sold in pairs.

Every day, every year, Rob and I see people toting these brooms around like they are auditioning for a stage production of “Mary Poppins.” A Fair Day isn’t complete until we have seen the magical yellow sticks on someone’s shoulders.  Hence the Fair Day Data bullet point.

Dedicated to providing more complete information, today I went in search of the Magic Broom booth to hear the obviously very persuasive sales pitch.  Yes, that's how much I love you people.

I almost bought one. Seriously. I’m still thinking about it.

My friend Fleur – who also has back problems – joined me at The Pitch and was similarly mesmerized by how effortlessly the broom collects cat fuzz and litter from the floor. My friend John at the Mount Hood tourism booth later shared that he loves his Magic Broom and uses it on upholstery. Rob continues to insist that I Google “SweepA reviews." Something about the required short sweeping motions getting rather tiresome after a while. Blah blah blah.

Oh, and the pairs thing? Apparently, if you ACT NOW you can get TWO brooms for the price of one! FREE offer to the first 50 customers every day!! Hurry while supplies last! All you have to do is carry the brooms around all day to be a walking advertisement!! It’s been proven to be effective!

Cheryl, if I buy two when Rob's not looking, do you want my spare one? It can’t be that expensive to ship to Missouri, right?

Look how easily it picks up cat hair!
On tile, on hardwood floors, even your new carpet!

I came prepared
As I mentioned, we have a good friend who rides horsies really well. She is fun to watch. And talk to. Mention “horse” to Maddie and listen to her gallop away!

Her equine love and enthusiasm is infectious enough that I convinced my knee to navigate the ridiculously high bleachers in the horse arena. It wasn’t pretty or graceful but I did provide some momentary entertainment for that pair of teenagers. I had to chomp at the bit not to smile at them and snicker, “Your day will come, my young able-bodied friends.”

Knowing from past experience that there is nowhere less accommodating or appointed at the Fair than the Horse Arena, I lugged in all sorts of amenities to make my stay more comfortable. Seat cushion for the wooden benches, sunglasses for the dust bowl, filled water bottle to swallow down the dirt, and an adorable little fan from the Dollar Tree to help move the hot dusty air in someone else’s direction (sorry smug teenagers with stable knees.  Ok, not really sorry.). I had a choice of a flower fan or a cow fan. DUH.

Insert "when the cow @%*$ hits the fan" joke here.

Oh, and by the way. Maddie placed 6th in barrels last night at about 10:00pm! It is her favorite event and it shows. She and Lady zipped around the plastic tubs, threw dirt clods all around, and made their 15 person cheering section very excited to have endured to the end to see the run. Did I mention Maddie’s enthusiasm is contagious?

Ride (and talk!) like the wind, dear Maddie!

Today’s Moment of Zen
Two tween girls decided their 3-month-old jersey cows had been penned up all day and needed some exercise. So they took over an empty show ring and started running around with Molly and Julian.

All four of them looked so happy! Happy kids! Happy cows! They later invited me to pet Molly. Happy Toni!

Having my own "City Slickers" moment.  She was so soft!

Guess Who had a great time at the concert
Tomorrow’s concert in the grandstands is a series of three tribute bands to commemorate the ’60s (Beatles), ‘70s (Led Zeppelin), and ‘80s (Journey).  When I saw The Guess Who listed for tonight’s concert, I naturally assumed they were a cover band playing hits from The Who. And yes, that heavy sigh you hear is Rob wondering where he went wrong.

I went to the concert mostly because I had nothing better to do. Rob had to leave the Fair early (darn grown-up commitments), so I was solo. I also had a friend who wanted a date to the concert since she astutely predicted that her husband and 9-year-old son wouldn’t last past the first song from one of her favorite bands from her days growing up in the rockster hippy fields of Eugene, Oregon.

Well, guess what? I had a blast!

Much to my utter shock (still thinking about Molly), I knew at least 6 songs from the Guess Who playbook.  Or at least the choruses. “She’s Come Undone,” “No Sugar Tonight,” “These Eyes,” “American Woman,” “No Time.”  I am seriously considering downloading a greatest hits album.  Assuming, of course, we don't already have one (Rob's sighing again).

Each time a song sounded familiar, I poked Fleur’s shoulder and yelled with astonishment, “I KNOW THIS ONE!!” She kept smiling with the satisfaction of someone bringing a friend into the fold.

Despite thinking they were in Vancouver, Oregon (darned Canadians who don’t know their geography past the border), the band endeared themselves to the crowd by complimenting our area as being even prettier than Wisconsin. Yay?

Also notable from the concert: the lead singer was wearing bell bottoms; there was a flute solo that included beat boxing (oh the spit!); a group of 20-something hipster stoners in front of us knew ALL THE WORDS to every song; and the piano solo totally reminded me of Fozzie Bear in “The Muppet Movie” – and that, dear friends, is a huge compliment.

The people watching from the ADA seats was fantastic!
If Fleur has to have a walker at the Fair, at least she gets to score awesome seats.

Fair Day Data:

• Total walking logged on my pedometer: 2.94 miles (I was SOOO tempted to walk up and down our driveway when I got home to get it up to 3 miles but that seemed dishonest)
• Time at which we saw the first set of Magic Brooms being carried around: 2:15pm
• Re-entry hand stamp: cute, happy little pig (as reported by Rob since they were all done stamping by the time Maddie was done running around barrels)

Fair Food Feast Parade!

It's making a come back!  My appetite!  It's mostly back!  I feel like I ate real food today, in appropriate quantities.  Although my hollow leg is still MIA and I still can't seem to drool over the Deep Fried Heaven Truck, I am not without hope.

Today as we made our way to the Fairgrounds, I was actually giddily deciding what I wanted to have for lunch.  That hasn't happened since Opening Day.  So we are getting there!!  With that, here's a toe back into the water of Eating My Weight in Crap Food. YAY!

Strawberry lemonade from Patrick's Hawaiian Cafe.
It sounded good but was boring.  Not enough of either flavor.  

However, Patrick makes a mean yakisoba.  Mmmm, noodles!
They were so good, I didn't really need the puddle of Sriracha sauce
I had on the side.  And yes, I am back to eating hot stuff.  Woo hoo!

Smoking a frozen pina colada/strawberry smoothie.
Much better after I mixed it all up.  Just icy enough
without producing brain freeze.

Very pleased with this basic vanilla ice cream on a stick.
The chocolate dip was fresh and nice quality chocolate.
The sprinkles made for nice chin decor later.

North Carolina BBQ Dog from the Dogville booth.
Nice sized dog topped with coleslaw and not quite enough BBQ sauce.
Best part:  the judgement from the woman passing by in the background.

Root beer!!  I have no idea why, but I crave root beer at the Fair.
This is the first one I have wanted this year.  A great sign
of my tummy finally getting with the program.