The Fair

Might as well write it down to remember it!

Hubby-Eric got a couple of free tickets to the Fair through his work, so we decided to go on the last day. Mostly because we already had another errand we needed to run in town, so we could kill two birds with one stone.

The Fair gates opened at 11am and there was a free shuttle from a local shopping center: so we planned to hit the shopping center sometime around 11, ride the shuttle down, and enjoy ourselves for a short time before heading off to do our other errands. We agreed that if we could find a fried Twinkie, we would share one. Otherwise, we had no particular plans.

The night before was windy. VERY windy, and rainy, which is rare here. The sounds of the wind blowing neighbors' garbage cans down the street woke me, and the changes in air pressure aggravated my fibro. Eric's cold got worse. Both of us woke up feeling miserable. Still, we decided after a slow morning that we could go do the Fair and our errands. We just planned to be deliberate and relaxed about it.

I layered my clothing as the wind was still blowing hard. Churchville was covered in a haze of dust. As we drove up the freeway to town it got a little clearer, but the wind was still blowing strong. We found the shopping center and parked, then waited at the stop examining the acorns dropped by a very young oak. I pocketed an acorn. I figure I'll plant it and see if anything grows. Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

The bus ride was uneventful, and we got into the Fair at a good time. The place was pretty quiet as it was the morning of the last day. We started in the Dome... I haven't been in one since the Kingdome was imploded. This dome is much smaller, but had a better feel to it. Not so empty and echoing as the Kingdome always was. We wandered through the exhibits, stopping at the booth of the local comic book shop (the closest one to Churchville). I'd link to their website, but apparently they have none. We hurried past the Republican booth, and stopped at the Dems booth where I picked up a 2010 calendar. We mostly just wandered, but one booth sitter, desperate for business of any kind, managed to stop us by offering some samples of dips (Cucumber & Dill, Bacon & Cheddar, and Salsa & Sour Cream) on Bugles. Good stuff, but we weren't buying.

Back out in the open air, the wind was still blowing, but the clouds were finally moving out. We wandered the grounds and found a booth selling the deep-fried Twinkies, and so took the challenge. The thing was covered in powdered sugar, which quickly got all over me thanks to the wind, and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. It didn't taste like a Twinkie, but I'm not sure how I would describe it. I'm just glad I only had half.

After the experimental DFT, we went to the animal barns to see if we could find any of the animals owned by Eric's students. I didn't see any from the town he works in, but we didn't visit every single stall. We wandered the rest of the halls and such, and ended up at the gates a couple of hours after we had first arrived. We both wanted to eat, but the Fair fare was WAY too expensive for our tastes, so we headed off to Costco for a couple of hot dogs that together with drinks cost less than a single hot dog at the Fair. Then we finished our errands and went home, exhausted despite not having done all that much.