FAIR 2024 - Day 6!

Rob and I were planning on Fairing yesterday but, well, we found ourselves dragging around in the morning with things like achy body parts and vertigo. When I couldn’t handle putting in contact lenses, I realized perhaps it would be a good day to call an audible and stay home to rest. So, much to our surprise, Rob and I approximated fully grown, mature adults and stayed home to allow our middle-aged bodies a chance to recover a bit. It worked! Because we woke up raring to fair this morning!

We also had LOTS of motivation to make sure we were ready to fair because we had a special guest joining us today. My mom!!

Milkshakes with Mom!

My parents moved to the area last Fall, so my Fair is now their Fair! My dad wisely decided the terrain of the surprisingly hilly and uneven fairgrounds would be all sorts of frustrating for him, so he stayed home as Mom and I both texted him photos throughout the day. Hopefully there was some vicarious fairing happening from his comfy recliner.

Fairing with my mom was a blast! She was once a 4-Her who grew up on a farm. She raised Ayrshire dairy cows and sewed (far as I know, she never combined the two). She loved seeing the various animals my beloved Fair has to offer. We wandered through the cow barns and pig pens. We said hello to the goats and bunnies and chickens. We chatted with some llama folks. She got to pet an alpaca. It was the Full Fair Animals Experience!

These little alpacas were only 
1 year old! Super soft!

It was quite amusing – and a touch bewildering – to Fair with an extrovert. My mom does not know a stranger. She will talk to anyone and everyone, happy to ask questions and get to know what people are interested in. She chatted up the pig lady, a 4-H pig kid, the gal in the Bee Barn, the folks in the sewing area, the young gal selling baked potatoes. It was so NOT me and so fun just to watch and listen! I seriously think the nice pig lady would love to be BFFs with my mom now!

Chatting with the nice teen in the 
Potato Booth that is staffed by
Job's Daughters. Mom was a 
Jobie back in the day.

The three of us wandered around the Big Air Conditioned Building, admiring the paintings and quilts and flowers and plants and closely guarded Legos. I loved being a tour guide, pointing out areas I have written about for years and introducing Mom to friends and hopefully helping her fall in love with her new Fair. I even offered to teach her how to can so she can enter jam or salsa next year and win ones of dollars!

The Titanic in Legos.
No wonder it sunk.

Very proud mother-in-law taking a
photo of Rob's award-winning
Walla Walla onion. This was 
before she was gifted it to take 
home for dinner tomorrow. 

I was SUPER impressed with one stop on our tour. The Small Animal Barn ROCKS this year! I hadn’t yet toured it and actually circled back to compliment the Superintendent while my mom was busy petting a black rabbit named Sarah.

We have a black cat named Sarah who
absolutely would not stand (or sit) for this.

I told the Small Animals Superintendent how fun the barn is this year. It is colorful, lively, well-decorated, and much more interactive. There’s a small stage for presentations, an area for super fun arts and crafts, and plenty of opportunities to pet soft and fuzzy animals. There were even pigeons that she told me are on loan from a zoo in Oregon and she built the large cages herself just to add some interest to the displays. The barn just had an energy about it that I don’t ever remember being there. WELL DONE, SMALL ANIMAL BARN PEOPLE!

So much stuff to do in the Small
Animal Barn!

Rob and I watched both shows of the Demolition Derby, with Mom only joining us for the afternoon show. They were both great shows. Apparently the crashing arena was made bigger this year upon request. The evening derby had 19 cars in the arena at the same time! It was pretty epic, with a couple blown radiators and one fire!

Mom wasn't prepared for the full
audio experience of Demo Derby
in the metal Grandstands!

Rob and I have another shift in the Gazebo tomorrow. We are the morning shift, meaning we have to set an alarm and, Lord willing, will actually get to the Fairgrounds in time for a real breakfast instead of a mid-morning milkshake. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But some griddled scrambled eggs and bacon sound really good. 

Speaking of the Lord...
(Will clearly thinks very highly
of his wife)

FAIR FOOD FEAST COLLAGE – DAY 6!

 

• Irish Sundae (baked potato) with The Works (butter, cheese, sou cream, chives, bacon, and sausage). A staple of the Clark County Fair! Very satisfying and I do appreciate the sausage being something I'd also enjoy on a pizza.
  
  
• My favorite Smasher: Strawberry Mango!
  
  
• Milkshakes with Mom! She and I both got Chocolate Strawberry. Highly recommended! After her first sip, Mom said, "OH! There's real strawberries in here!" Yes, Mom, there is.
  
  
• Snacking on some hush puppies from the Daddy D's BBQ place in the Food Court. Last year, the puppies were the only thing I liked from the booth. They were once again nicely cornmealy and crunchy with a nice seasoning. A great snack to share!
  
  
• Chicken strips from the Lion's Booth with a side of Sriracha sauce borrowed from the red Yakisoba stand. Chicken was pretty moist and the breading had mild, enjoyable flavor. They needed a dipping sauce, though (ranch dressing also available).
  
  
• I was craving a root beer, as I often inexplicably do while Fairing.
  
  
• Still working on the Red Rope licorice from Day 4! I do love that little candy truck!