Long day, early morning tomorrow. So let’s jump in and write quickly!
Very fun Fair day! I didn’t take a lot of photos, as Rob and I just sort of wandered around, chatted with friends, ate, and did the 5-hour afternoon shift in the Gazebo. Although the day started off a little hectic, it unfolded slowly and was a lovely day. YAY!
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| We watched the jumping doggies practice! Dogtown is one of my favorite places to rest in the shade and watch something Fairish! |
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| We found this little guy at the bottom of a recycling box in the Gazebo. He's not a Beanie Baby but he became a prize anyway. He was adopted within minutes! Have a great life, little hedgehog! |
By the time we left the house at about 10:30am, the Gazebo volunteer
schedule had changed three times. Hence the pre-Fair hecticness. My brain is sort of
fried, despite getting normally adequate sleep, so I also had a bizarrely
challenging time doing some social media posts. Our drive to the Fairgrounds
was punctuated by sighs of frustration. But all was good by the time we waved
at the smiley parking lot people (SO much better than last year’s fiasco of a Parking Directing Company! YAY new Parking Directors!).
We chatted with our friend Smasher Stan and his crew, caught
up with our friend Tosha in the Raclette booth, and had a commiserating Fair
Exhaustion conversation with our neighbor who is learning the Superintendent
ropes for the first time this year. And yes, I have noticed that a number of my
Favorite Fair Friends are food vendors.
Our Fair Exhaustion Convo was held at a table just outside the 4H Kitchen, where our neighbor was supervising but not judging. The mom of the 14-year-old who was preparing a meal for a judge in between her 4H Goat duties quickly joined in the tired commiseration.
Seizing the Goat Person In the Know opportunity, Rob and I asked the Goat Mom to please explain all the goat departments on the Fairgrounds because they are rather confusing on our Passport to Fun spreadsheet. Meat goats, Boer goats, pygmy goats, dairy goats, open class vs 4H vs market. Sooo many goat categories! I’m not sure our spreadsheet is totally accurate yet, but we’re a lot closer now thanks to Goat Mom!
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| Round table goat convo in the 4H Kitchen arena. Although not even a White Ribbon winner in the Photography competition, I love how FAIR this photo is! Fair map, Fair schedule, two Smashers, Clark PUD water cup, covered bowl of leftover judged baking, and people gathered to share their Fair experiences. Not a boring picture if you look closely enough! |
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| We haven't checked them out yet, but there are some woodworkers next to the 4H Kitchen. Yeah, we don't get it either. The 4Hers are doing LOTS of dusting this year. ANYway...Karoline baked the wood guys some bread. The little spinner was a pre-bread gift to Karoline. The larger bottle with a spinner top is a post-bread gift. Welcome to the Karoline Fan Club, Wood Guys! |
Our afternoon Gazebo shift was largely uneventful, except for the very annoyed grandma who thought the Fair’s Facebook page should have announced that the animal barns would be closing early today due to the half-way-through-the-Fair switch over (the pigs are coming, the pigs are coming!). We were all friends at the end, with apologies extended all around, and grandkids happy with their Union Jack Beanie Baby Bears. Eventual Fair Joy!
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| Bye-bye, 4H Llama! We loved watching you from the Gazebo! |
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| Hello, Open Class Llamas!! Can't wait to pet your fluffy selves! |
We also were SO excited when Curly the Camel’s Dad (officially named Jeff but I doubt anyone calls him that) dropped by the Gazebo to find out what the Passport to Fun program is. He keeps seeing the fans and kids keep asking him if he has a stamp.
Curly's Dad totally wants to participate! Music to our ears! Rob and I had actually stopped ourselves by the Horse Arena earlier today as we were heading over to see if Curly wanted to be a part of the Passport program. Rob and I suddenly realized we didn’t really have that authority, so we planned to mention the idea to Marketing Assistant Jenny post-Fair for next year. When Jenny dropped by at the end of our shift, we filled her in about Curly's Dad’s interest and she was as excited as we were! So with any luck, Curly and his Dad might be stamping Passports tomorrow! Yay, Fair Joy!
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| Curly just turned 21! He's a local celebrity and a FANTASTIC addition to the Fair! YAY, FAIR JOY! |
After a late dinner, we caught Tyzen’s hypnosis show again and had
a chance to chat with him afterwards. Super nice guy who is really enjoying our
Fair and the nice mix of people who show up willing to participate in his show.
We once again had some deep belly laughs to end the night. I miss Jerry, but I
am digging Tyzen. Fair Joy!
Tomorrow morning will be an early one for Rob, as he is
arriving before the Fair opens to help Marketing Assistant Jenny open the Gazebo.
We realized that the latches on the window coverings are breaking
off because it isn’t inherently clear to the volunteers how the coverings should
be installed and removed. So, Rob will be helping out Thursday and Friday until
Marketing Intern Trevor returns for the Final Fair Weekend. I will be arriving a little
later tomorrow, once an overnight Amazon delivery arrives. Because we had a brainstorm
and want to put it into action ASAP. Stay tuned!
The weather forecast for tomorrow is rain. More rain than we’ve
seen all summer. I overheard (because of my mad eavesdropping skills) something
about plans to install temporary gutters overnight on the various outdoor
exhibits and vendors. Tomorrow night is Demolition Derby. I am really curious
what that looks like in the mud! Should be FUN!
FAIR FOOD FEAST COLLAGE!
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| Top Row Left to Right: Twisted Orange Strawberry Smasher! A new combo for me. I liked it! It had a slight orange creamsicle flavor. Very refreshing! Chicken Smashed Potato from the Raclette booth! I wanted to redeem the mushy chicken from last night's Hawaiian thing and this did the trick! Much better chunks of chicken, lightly flavored, with veggies and lots of oozy cheese. The Italian one is still my favorite, but I like chicken again now! Tiny bits of what remained of neighbor Karoline's cinnamon bread entry for her 4H Kitchen cooking project. This young woman is a rock star! The bread was moist and cinnamony and the cream cheese frosting was homemade and delicious. There were only bits left because judges from an earlier competition were lurking around the 4H Kitchen while Karoline was baking so that they could eat her leftovers. Karoline's Fan Club is growing! Bottom Row Left to Right: Greek Salad from the Raclette booth. They fed me today! Really tasty! Lots of romaine, fresh veggies, feta cheese, a tangy Greek dressing, and hummus! I LOVED the hummus addition! Super refreshing, filling, and healthy! It occurred to me mid-salad that black olives would be a great add, too. And to the Italian Raclette. I'll have to ask Tosha if they have any olives hiding in their booth! Raspberry Caramel milkshake! A combo recommended by the cashier at the milkshake barn and she was not wrong! SO good! A great balance of sweet and tangy. Would totally get this again...but now I'm suddenly intrigued by adding caramel to other flavors. Hypnosis corn dog! A nice light dinner while the 8:30pm hypnosis show was getting started. From the booth across from the Lions booth in the Food Court. Hit the spot! |
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