Fair Enough

It was a misty morning (although the weather ap insisted only gray skies, no precip--it was wrong) when Caelan dropped Graysen off for a 7 a.m. work meeting . . . that was over at 7:15 :) 

Rolling with the early start, we were out the door by 9, filled up with gas soon after, and on our way to the great state fair! We made good time, despite the cloud bursts, until we reached the exit to the fairgrounds. Then we sat for 45 minutes in stop-and-barely-go traffic, hoping to find a spot in the parking lot a mile away. But once we were close enough to see through the rain-spattered windshield, we noticed a large, digital sign announcing, "Fair parking lot full and closed. Go someplace else." That might be my paraphrase :) 

We did go somewhere else; we drove in circles down side streets looking for a friendly homeowner with lawn space to spare. There were none. It was becoming stressful to waste over an hour trying to get parking, and my prayers for assistance became more fervent. Eventually we followed another vehicle into a random lot and saw a man directing traffic down a sidewalk to parking at the side of what appeared to be a refugee community building. He asked for the double the price of the parking I had planned, but I gave it to him gladly. Another quick prayer that he was legit and the van would be there when we returned, and away we went to the surprisingly nearby fairgrounds (we could have been in Narnia at this point).

This was Noah's first state fair, and we basically only went to the food stands tradition requires we must visit each year. With some fair cash distribution assistance from Maga the night before (twenties for everyone!), we ate pork burgers and pulled pork sandwiches, peppermint ice cream bars, a massive apple cider shake (Noah's discovery), mini donuts, two attempts at taffy (they were out of the good flavors), lemonade, root beer, and a nearly two-hour gut-it-out wait for a bucket of cookies in a line that seemingly had no end.

In fact, most of our day was waiting in line. We later learned that we were among the largest crowd EVER recorded in a single day at the state fair, shattering a 30-year record by more than 1,000 people. Yay, us. Ha :)

Here's a little glimpse of the fried Oreo line. I think it was worth it--that's Brennen's happy face?

The weather was pleasant enough, with mostly just that mist and few big splattery drops. We did wander the animal barns a bit and saw the big pigs and the big steer. Mostly though, we just ate our way through the fair, as one is meant to do. Maybe if we go next year, we'll get a little more culture. Just five hours in, everyone was tired, sore, over the crowds, and ready to head home. Praise God, the van was still there when we returned! This was my driving out of my unique parking place view . . . very European!

We arrived home while the sun was still out, which was a bonus for this non-night driver! It was a good day, sometimes stressful, and far too people-y, but I'm glad we went . . . along with more than one hundred thousand others. Ha!