UNDER THE BIG TOP.....

Who doesn't love a fair or a circus?  Ok, I'll admit I wasn't looking 100%

 forward to going to the fair, not so much the fair itself, but the 2 1/2 hour drive there and the 2 1/2 hour drive home!  The fair part was ok, even though I knew I'd want a Diet Pepsi, after-all, its not like I was gonna hang out in the beer gardens or wine taste, it's just a simple diet pepsi. But hey, I found  the strength not to engage in that since it was Day 3, without it, and I can do this!  Back to the fair...my mother-in-law (for those of you who know her) had made up her mind we were going to this fair....Huel Howser featured it on his show and she wanted to go try one of the sandwiches and footlong corndogs he talked about on the show.  Being that Huel had passed away, greg tried to explain to her, that the show was probably a few years back and probably will find the corndogs but can't promise the sandwiches!  We did find a fajita booth and that was our late lunch/early dinner.  I'm going to try to keep our fair experience in somewhat of the order we proceeded in. 

 

First of all, a pretty drive up Highway 80 (actually I slept most of the way, but since I was in charge of directions, I woke up just in time to be able to say "take off here, Highway 49"  The next 20 miles or so were very scenic and lots of redwood trees.  Actually pretty booming city, saw several Starbucks, a home depot, Les Schwans, and mini shopping centers.  After this turn and that turn, the cars stopped...something was happening...yep, the opening day of the Nevada County/GrassValley fair.  Parking lot after parking lot were already full.  We turned into parking lot #4...we asked if we could drop Mona off close to the gate and then we would park.....our lucky day, they kindly let us park in an open "fair official" spot! SWEET!  2 adults and 1 senior later, we're in. 

 

First building...quilts...you guessed it, I found another hobby I'd love to pursue, but since I cant even figure out how to thread my bobbin (my brain must be the size of a pea) I've realized I will probably never be a quilter, just have to enjoy other peoples art pieces.  Next was looming, maybe that's what it's called, like with wool and a wheel, we even got to vote on our favorite displayed item.  As we exited this building, it took us right to the mid-way.  Rides that stood you on your head, spun you around, jerked you from here to there and made loud music to drown out the screams!  The scrambler, the tilt-o-whirl, merry-go-round and yes a ferris wheel---no thanks!  There wasn't a ride one that was tempting, except it was fun to try and talk Mona into at least just one ride.  How about the zipline through the redwoods....it's only 10 dollars , I'll treat...she looked and contiplated, yet the final answer was still "NO".  Wait...is that an elephant I see?  By gosh, it is and it's only 10 dollars...again "NO"  Looks like there will be no mid-way rides for us (which was perfectly fine with me!) 

 

With the smell of Bar-b q, Chinese food, deep fried onion rings, and Mexican food, we decided on a beef fajita...good choice, except I think Mona worn more than she ate:(  We joined a couple as we enjoyed our fajitas....Why us?  No, they were nice, but it was an hour visit, talked about or should I say we listened to him talk about his childhood, spending time in Manteca at the water slides, his jeeping experience, his belief in firearms, meth addicts, the elephant ride protestors standing outside of the fair, and the wine tasting booth the were working on.  Once he stepped off his soap box, we kindly thanked them for sharing the picnic table with us, and politely excused ourselves....

 

next building....a little bit of this and that....thought of my dad though....Mona said had he been there with us, he would want to sit down and listen to the demonstration on this cook ware....he's always been intrigued by gadgets.

 

and the exibits of characters made out of fruit and veggies...very clever!

 

naturally, I would find the building of flowers, plants and arrangements...love me some sunflowers!

 

now this looked like a lot of fun!  I wish I was little enough, I would of so done this.  You are in a large clear beach ball, and you relax, jump, squirm, do summer salts or try to run, all while floating in a large pool of water.  So intriguing...

 

barn time.....being in the feed business for 70 plus years, we cant not go through the animal barns, watch 4-her's, FFA'ers show their pigs, lambs, goats, cows, rabbits and chickens. 

loved this picture...it just made me wonder if cows could talk, what is being said here, appears to be a pretty serious one sided conversation...

 

next was the goat barns....this poor little momma goat, it looks like she was gonna have her baby or babies any minute.  She looked absolutely miserable and didn't move... this barn brought back so many memories from my childhood..... I have to share this with you,.....

 

yes, i'm a country girl at heart, I have experienced most country things there are to experience...irrigating in the middle of the night, throwing cow patties at each other, feeding pigs, being chased by geese, chopping a head off a chicken, to boiling and plucking its feathers and eventually eating it, making home made dill pickles, feeding a baby lamb, riding horses and being bucked off, reaping what you sow in the garden, swimming in the irrigation ditches, talking to someone through the cyclone fence sitting on hay bales,  and having my first "real" job.  Thinking back, I think this was abusing child labor! just kidding, but I really did milk goats at the goat farm located across the road from us.  I would sit on my wooden milking stool, bucket in hand and go from goat to goat and milk them by hand, as flies swarmed us, the goat would try to kick me off and try to kick the milk bucket over, the smell was horrible and the middle of the night milkings were the worst!  And I got paid a whoping 5 cents a goat!  I knew from that day on, I would go to school and never milk goats again!  and never drink goat milk or eat goat cheese!  I couldn't resist taking this picture and texting it to my dad so he could enjoy my memories with me....if I got paid 5 cents a goat, this girl has it easy and better be getting like a penny a goat!

 

I've never been to a fair quite like this one...It was very relaxing and very enjoyable.  I mean how could it not be perfect....pinecones and pineneedles coving the ground, the smell of pine trees, bar-b-q, a nice cool breeze, the giggles of little ones, the moo's of cows, clucks of chickens, bahaha of lambs and goats, people in wheelchairs, walkers, strollers, and the taste of Italian ice (strawberry/banana), samples of carmel corn, GrassValley American Idol contestants singing from a stage at the other end, and all the other fun that happens "UNDER THE BIG TOP"

 

All in all, a great fair experience, brought back a lot of memories and felt extremely blessed to be a part of all of this, and I believe its all "BECAUSE OF HIS AMAZING GRACE"