Here's the cheese sculpture! I can't get it to orient right, so I guess you have to turn your head to the right to see it clearly. :) It was kept in a glass-enclosed area so it wouldn't get too warm. There is a lot of detail although it might not show up so well in the picture.
Otter and BF rode a lot of rides. The lines were long, averaged about 30 minutes for a 3 - 5 minute ride. But they had a good time. We bought ride passes, which actually save a lot of money because the rides are not cheap. Ride passes can be used every day of the fair, BF went earlier with his family and then again with us so he definetely got his money's worth. So did Otter, by the way.
There were not as many vendors and exhibits as have been there in years past. But it was still fun. We spent the entire day there. We managed to remember everything we needed to take, with the exception of one very important item: Sunscreen! Otter's got pink shoulders, she had on a tank top. She's been slathering on the aloe vera green goo that we use.
We enjoyed the prize winning displays. The quilts were lovely, the artwork was very good although some of it was decidedly odd. The photograph display has Otter seriously considering entering next year. The crochet prizes have had the same effect on me - the crochet that earned ribbons was good, but not spectacular. I'm considering a prayer shawl or another less common piece. But I'll worry about that next year.
A big thing for Otter is the fact that she's now 18. So she can legally sign petitions. She couldn't get to the Right to Life booth fast enough, she wanted her first official petition to be the one that might help end legal murder. (Legal doesn't mean morally right, by the way.)
The petting zoo was fun, it always is. I took several pictures, but they all have faces in them so no pictures. Otter was a typical girl, going crazy over all the animals - especially the babies, and she would have happily taken any and all of them home. BF was a good sport about it, but I think he enjoyed the rides more than the animals. We fed assorted animals including an emu, a couple of really sweet horses (mama and baby), goats by the boatload (lots of babies!), there was a camel but I'm not sure if Otter fed him or not, assorted cattle and we petted most of them. There was also a tortoise, which caused me to immediately snap a picture on my cell phone and text it to somebody! (Anybody care to guess who I sent it to?).
We avoided most of the food oddities. The fried butter was the big thing that was talked up and publicized prior to the fair, but I never even saw a stand sellling it. There were fried pickles, which sounds pretty gross, fried cheese, fried apples - which were in a cinnamon batter and served with warm caramel sauce & whipped cream and tasted pretty good and probably other fried things that I didn't see. A couple of years ago, fried candy bars were the thing (but not my thing!). There's always the standard food such as corn dogs. My bad food was frito chili pie and it was very good.
By the time we left, it was just getting dark and there were still people arriving. We managed to get a decent parking place, which doesn't always happen. But we were all exhausted, but it was an enjoyable day for all of us. My feet, back and knees were really hurting. I took a couple of motrin last night, I think Otter also took one and she had the heating pad as well.
This is the first year that we can remember where it didn't rain once during the entire 10 day run of the fair. That never happens! Last year, it rained nearly every day but this year was clear. However, we do have rain chances this week.
OK, that's my Fair report! This was the first time we'd been in about 4 years and it was a lot of fun. I'm glad we went this year.
