Relative Something

Just as I suspected, getting there required the first long wait in a queue for an express bus ride to the great Minnesota State Fair. There would be more lines to come but none of them ended up becoming unbearable waits and they always came with a good reward.

Not having to drive through traffic and pay a high price to park made it well worth the approximate half-hour wait for the bus ride.

We were able to bypass the LONG line at the front gate to purchase an entrance ticket because we bought ours online in advance. The nice young ticket checker was able to tap my phone for me to navigate to the e-ticket barcodes. Saved me the embarrassment of trying to do it myself.

If I could post just one picture for our day at the fair, this next one would be my choice.

Breakfast of champions. Cyndie asked, “Is it too early for cotton candy?”

We’d been inside the gate for a mere few seconds. “No,” I answered.

What could I say? We were at the State Fair! She was going to need the sugar buzz to survive a LOT of walking in the hours ahead.

What else should we eat?

There went my sugar quota for the day. Look at how many you have to eat just to get the cover on to save the rest for eating when you get home.

Biggest highlight of the day for me was chatting up the DNR folks for information and ideas about caring for our fields and forest. We have a lot of ash trees in our woods and they most likely won’t survive another decade based on the odds of emerald ash borer infestation. As a result of the warming climate, we should consider replacing them as they die with trees that have historically done well in the growing zone just south of our location.

Moose picture. Just, well… because, moose! And a really big one, too.

Speaking of art, fine art at the Fair is always fun.

It occurred to me that some visitors from rural farm country might be experiencing museum quality art displays for the first time in their lives. It’s a gas seeing the mix of humans from every walk of life mingling in the wide range of “neighborhoods” at the Fair. From the Fine Arts building to the hog barn feels like a world away.

Some streets were wide open and food vendors there required little in the way of wait times. A few blocks later, it was an elbow to elbow mass of people trying to walk in multiple directions. We bought deep fried cheese curds from a booth on a less-crowded block. The greasy goodness was just as satisfying as if we’d gotten them from the busiest corner of them all.

We never did find the 4-H kid who was showing a cow that spent much of the summer on the field next door to us, but we did get to see some kids who really love their livestock. The young man in the photo above was taking a little rest with his prized porker.

There was this large array of feathered coyote food in cages. Since that was my first thought, it is my opinion that I’m not ready yet to go back to having those sweet birds roaming our land again.

I forgot to take a picture of the incredible pork schnitzel sandwich that was probably the best thing I ate all day, but a chocolate malt from the Dairy Building was photographed in the nick of time before the cup got emptied.

Of all the days we picked to attend, Tuesday is not a good day to see horses.

The horse barn was closed all day. Really?

It took until we were about to leave before I finally came upon a person I knew. Friend, Mary Jo, from the Tour of Minnesota bike trips, was helping one of her friends who had space on the second level of the Grandstand selling things from a store she has near Rice Lake, WI (I think it was). Another highlight of the day.

We had a fabulous time at the Fair. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to stop eating everything in sight and get back to normal.

Whatever normal is.

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