We really didn’t do much today. We just wandered around, talked to friends, soaked it all in hoping to make the Fair Glow last just a little bit longer.
Chatting with friends who were also at the Fair pretty much every day, I realized it is an alternate universe for all of us Fair Freaks.
The Fair is an escape from reality. The rest of the world and life stops for ten blissful days. The employees and vendors and entertainers become very familiar faces if not friends. Fair becomes a verb. We Fair every day from when we wake up to when we finally collapse at night. We pause to do laundry because we have favorite Fair clothes but otherwise, if it doesn’t happen at the Fair it doesn’t exist.
I never went to summer camp – aside from a week-long day camp on an island in the San Francisco Bay which I’m pretty sure doesn’t count. I think Rob nailed it a few days ago when he described Fairing as my version of going to summer camp each year. There are traditions and people and a culture that define the Fair experience. I long to return each year to capture and relive the sweet, wholesome, escapist life in a bubble.
So with that back drop, it should not surprise anyone that I sat on a bench near the Dock Dogs at about 6:00pm tonight and started to cry as the stage was being dismantled.
And teared up in the Food Court as I was thanking Rob for Fairing so willingly and so supportively with me all ten days.
And wiped more tears away while waiting in the milkshake line for the last time. I was overwhelmed by the simple delight of being surrounded by Fairing. I listened to teen girls giggle about boys and smiled as families negotiated treats and watched an array of game prizes saunter down the midway in the glow of the sunset giving way to neon lights. All through tears of sadness and joy, gratitude and exhaustion.
Most years I just cry in the car as we are heading home – which I did, too – but for some reason this year the tears came early and often. I haven’t been able to tease apart yet why this year was somehow different. Perhaps some sleep and sensible calories will give some insight.
The Goodbye Parade
My wistful mood was also fueled by seeing icons of the Fair leave for the last time. Seriously, next year I need to remember to bring Kleenex on Day 10.
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| Bob and Cathy leaving the Llama Greenway |
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| Dave and Linda heading towards the Green Gate |
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| Magician Adam the Great disappearing through the Blue Gate |
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| Dock Dog Champion Conchiti and family sprinting for the Blue Gate |
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| Our friend John (who's wife Michelle made the glorious banana bread. I've mentioned her banana bread, right?). John's van usually has an awning. The fact he's topless suggests it's time for John to go home. |
The Fair Court Farewell
Dedicated readers might recall that my Day 10 Fair Recap historically includes a summary of the day’s competition for the next Fair Court.
In the past I have attended the contestant speeches; evaluated the naturalness of modeling dress-up horsewoman outfits and answering spontaneous questions; judged the warp speediness of the rodeo-hand-wave-while-on-a-horse skill every Fair Court Princess must possess; and otherwise made a completely uninformed and totally novice decree about whom I believe should be the next year’s Fair Court Princesses and eventual Queen.
Over the years I have assigned myself the role of Fair Court Enthusiast and Benevolent Stalker. I’ve become friends with some of the adults in charge so that they know I truly am safe and benevolent and not nearly as creepy as my enthusiasm and photo taking might suggest.
This all advanced to an entirely new level last year when one of my favorite teenagers whom I have watched grow up in our church competed for the Fair Court and eventually became Queen. WHOO HOO QUEEN MADDIE!
Over the year, I’ve had a chance to check in with (stalk in the pews) Queen Maddie to try to get a peek into the real world of Fair Court Queen Life. Let me tell you, it’s a whole bunch more work than it looks. And it looks pretty busy.
It was a life of very early mornings in rollers, lots of horse trailer hauling, multiple wardrobe changes, lots of smiling, and presenting a much more girly, feminine image than any of the three young women were used to. All of them have grown up with brothers and horses; acrylic fingernails and eyelash extensions and soooo much hairspray were never part of their worlds.
Maddie and the other two girls on the Court were going pretty much non-stop during the ten days of the Fair. It is the busiest time of their reign…but reportedly also the most fun. Which probably made it a little hard to say good-bye and see it all end tonight.
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| Maddie is the crier of the group and thus was using her purple envelope to fan her eyes to try to keep the tears from streaming too hard. |
I asked Queen Maddie about her plans for her non-royal life. Within the next several days she is getting her rodeo queen hair cut quite a bit shorter, the nails are coming off, the lashes will molt in their own time, and she is scheduled for a massage on Tuesday. Also, as of 5:30pm tonight she was allowed to have a boyfriend. Fortunately, a nice guy named Austin just happened to be nearby and eager to fill the role.
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| They look pretty cozy for only dating for 8 minutes. |
Having been personal friends with a Fair Court Queen, I realized I probably wouldn't have the same enthusiasm for future Fair Courts. I kinda feel like I got to peek behind the curtain with Maddie…which filled my stalker heart with such joy you don’t even know.
Then I found out that the Fair Court Contestant Speeches and Modeling would take place today right in the middle of church (yes, not many but a few things do take priority over Fairing).
After much mulling over some yakisoba noodles and a Smasher, I decided the time has come to close the chapter on my Fair Court Stalking. It has been super fun, I’ve made some fantastic friends, and I’ve gotten some pretty fun photos.
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| No, I do not have a radiation burn. I was waiting under Stan's red tent for my Smasher when I realized the Fair Court was signing autographs right behind me. Score! |
Thanks so much for embracing my quirkiness over the years and not reporting me to the authorities, Fair Court People! You ROCK!
STATS
Number of miles walked: 3.1 miles or 7,506 steps. Rob’s step tracker says he got 3.5 miles. I’m guessing the extra mileage came from all his work helping to move the llama obstacles to the trailer when it was time to start breaking down the Llama Greenway. Seeing the obstacles get packed up didn't make me all that sad to be honest.
Re-entry stamp animal: A delightfully happy little dancing pig with a curly tail that was a smear of blue by the time we got home.
Number of friends we saw: 20 including the entire Royal Family: Queen Maddie, her parents, her three brothers, and some grandparents. Maddie is very well supported and deeply loved by her subjects.
Number of times we saw Dave and Linda: 3
Best freebie of the day: I’m not sure why or how I’ve acquired so much free stuff this year but I’m not complaining. We were sitting on the benches near the Dock Dogs after the final dog had made the final jump of the Fair. The announcer was starting to disassemble his booth and collected a stack of t-shirts that hadn’t been given away. Not wanting to pack them to the next fair, he wandered around the area where some of us were just lounging and handed out shirts. I’m thinking it will make a great pulling-weeds-and-dead-heading-roses shirt.
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| Two years old from an event 125 miles away? Free is a very good price. And the graphic is cool. |
THE FINAL FAIR FOOD FEAST PARADE
This happens every year and it confounds me. Somehow my stomach and appetite know that the party is coming to end and they start to close up shop on Day 10. I was just not as hungry today and really wanted a salad or a fruit smoothie.
This is why I love doing my 10 Days of No Food Rules; by the end I am reminded that my body likes my rules and I’m really not all that tempted to break them the other 354 days of the year. But August 3, 2018, watch out!
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| Teriyaki rice bowl from Sweet Al's. Soooo much better than the awful rice bowl from several days ago. I should have added more teriyaki sauce to this but I didn't want to miss the horsey show. |
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| Grape and Cinnamon Hawaiian Shave Ice. Sooo tasty! The Ice Jockey said she had never heard of this combo until today...and I was the second to order it. |
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| Celebratory Deluxe Elephant Ear from the Malt Shoppe next to the Milkshake Barn. Strawberries, ice cream, and whipping cream on sugary, cinnomony fried dough goodness. Epitome of The Fair and our traditional Last Day treat. Rob ate it with me. Not a crumb was left. |
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| Farewll NW Berry Smasher. Good golly, I'm going to miss these. Great news is that Stan said he had a very good year here with all the heat so he will be back next year! |
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| My Last Supper: smoked mac and cheese with bacon from Big E's BBQ. I had it earlier in the Fair and quite enjoyed it. However this version was clumpy and mushy and the bacon was little remnants like Bac-o-Bits. I only ate about half of it. Rob and I have concluded that getting food at the Fair on the last day after 6:00pm is a gamble. Many of the vendors are trying to get rid of stuff and starting to prep for leaving so they might not put their best effort into the food. Boo. |
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