The Fair – 2009

We finally made it to the Fair this past Saturday and none too soon, too. We’d planned on the prior Saturday but rain kept us home. (I know, what would the Fair be without a little rain?) Emily’s posse plans required us to start late so we didn’t get out until the late afternoon. The late start and the beautiful weather meant jammed packed crowds and we had a little trouble parking. But we got there, got through the lines, and set the girls off on their own. Here they are, making plans:

Colorful, no? That’s Emily on the far right.

Rachel tagged along with us. We’d thought those days were behind us but we had this one last year. Who knows what she’ll want to do next time. We did the usual things and saw the usual sights. Something new for us this year: a 30 minute live Wild West styled show, featuring trained horses and cattle and rope tricks and Indian songs and dances. Very nice and an appreciative crowd in attendance. As usual, it’s hard to tell which is more amusing, the exhibits or the people. Ate a corn dog and an Indian Taco. How better to spend a Saturday night?

I didn’t take very many pictures this year. (Here’s last year’s post with more pictures.) But you can’t go on the midway and not be wowed by the lights and think about all those other years you’ve been out here, can you? No, you can’t:

And then the late night trudge to the car passing a surprising number of people who were just now arriving. Everyone happy and full of stories of what they saw and what they did. Another Fair visit for the memory books.

The Fair

We went to the Oklahoma State Fair this year with Emily and our neighbor’s daughter, Carli. (Rachel had a football game to attend.) We knocked off work an hour early so we could get out there and still have some time to see and do most of the things we wanted to do. Emily and Carli were very excited, full of big plans to ride the big rides. Clara and me, heck, we were just looking for a good corn dog. Heard the Fair’s the place to get ‘em.

Off we went:

The Midway’s just full of choices. And people. Every kind of people. More amusement to be had by just people watching than the rides themselves.

The Himalaya can still provide the thrills:

The turkey legs are just as big. If you don’t lose it, you can work up an appetite riding the rides.

You’ll get thirsty, too:

Still, there’s time to contemplate your place in the universe. And plan your next move:

While we were taking a small break, there was some commotion not far away. Shouts. People hurrying along. Gathering into a crowd. Hard to tell what was going on so I raised my cell phone above the crowd to get a picture:

Dang. Let’s try again:

Two horses down. Clydesdales. It looked like they were pulling a wagon and got somehow tangled up with one another and one pulled the other down. By now, the drivers had disengaged them from the wagon and pulled that back and had removed the harnesses and collars and were working on getting the horses back up on their feet. Which they eventually did, to the applause of the crowd. The horses didn’t seem any worse for the wear so we moved on.

We forced the kids into some of the exhibits: the new cars, the animals. They could only take so much so we cut them loose on their own. We kept in touch by cell phone and later caught up to them.

But they had more plans. Big plans. Some us were skeptical:

But the lights of the Midway beckoned.

So, at last, the evening was capped off with some keen competition: Emily vs. the balloons. With darts.

She won a small prize and we were done for the night and for this year’s edition of the Fair.

Always a great time.

Oh, did we find a good corn dog? We did! Though not as good as we remembered. Still, it was a Fair corn dog and you just can’t get that anywhere else. And not with such good company.

The Fair

We went to the Oklahoma State Fair this year with Emily and our neighbor’s daughter, Carli. (Rachel had a football game to attend.) We knocked off work an hour early so we could get out there and still have some time to see and do most of the things we wanted to do. Emily and Carli were very excited, full of big plans to ride the big rides. Clara and me, heck, we were just looking for a good corn dog. Heard the Fair’s the place to get ‘em.

Off we went:

The Midway’s just full of choices. And people. Every kind of people. More amusement to be had by just people watching than the rides themselves.

The Himalaya can still provide the thrills:

The turkey legs are just as big. If you don’t lose it, you can work up an appetite riding the rides.

You’ll get thirsty, too:

Still, there’s time to contemplate your place in the universe. And plan your next move:

While we were taking a small break, there was some commotion not far away. Shouts. People hurrying along. Gathering into a crowd. Hard to tell what was going on so I raised my cell phone above the crowd to get a picture:

Dang. Let’s try again:

Two horses down. Clydesdales. It looked like they were pulling a wagon and got somehow tangled up with one another and one pulled the other down. By now, the drivers had disengaged them from the wagon and pulled that back and had removed the harnesses and collars and were working on getting the horses back up on their feet. Which they eventually did, to the applause of the crowd. The horses didn’t seem any worse for the wear so we moved on.

We forced the kids into some of the exhibits: the new cars, the animals. They could only take so much so we cut them loose on their own. We kept in touch by cell phone and later caught up to them.

But they had more plans. Big plans. Some us were skeptical:

But the lights of the Midway beckoned.

So, at last, the evening was capped off with some keen competition: Emily vs. the balloons. With darts.

She won a small prize and we were done for the night and for this year’s edition of the Fair.

Always a great time.

Oh, did we find a good corn dog? We did! Though not as good as we remembered. Still, it was a Fair corn dog and you just can’t get that anywhere else. And not with such good company.

The Fair

We went to the Oklahoma State Fair this year with Emily and our neighbor’s daughter, Carli. (Rachel had a football game to attend.) We knocked off work an hour early so we could get out there and still have some time to see and do most of the things we wanted to do. Emily and Carli were very excited, full of big plans to ride the big rides. Clara and me, heck, we were just looking for a good corn dog. Heard the Fair’s the place to get ‘em.

Off we went:

The Midway’s just full of choices. And people. Every kind of people. More amusement to be had by just people watching than the rides themselves.

The Himalaya can still provide the thrills:

The turkey legs are just as big. If you don’t lose it, you can work up an appetite riding the rides.

You’ll get thirsty, too:

Still, there’s time to contemplate your place in the universe. And plan your next move:

While we were taking a small break, there was some commotion not far away. Shouts. People hurrying along. Gathering into a crowd. Hard to tell what was going on so I raised my cell phone above the crowd to get a picture:

Dang. Let’s try again:

Two horses down. Clydesdales. It looked like they were pulling a wagon and got somehow tangled up with one another and one pulled the other down. By now, the drivers had disengaged them from the wagon and pulled that back and had removed the harnesses and collars and were working on getting the horses back up on their feet. Which they eventually did, to the applause of the crowd. The horses didn’t seem any worse for the wear so we moved on.

We forced the kids into some of the exhibits: the new cars, the animals. They could only take so much so we cut them loose on their own. We kept in touch by cell phone and later caught up to them.

But they had more plans. Big plans. Some us were skeptical:

But the lights of the Midway beckoned.

So, at last, the evening was capped off with some keen competition: Emily vs. the balloons. With darts.

She won a small prize and we were done for the night and for this year’s edition of the Fair.

Always a great time.

Oh, did we find a good corn dog? We did! Though not as good as we remembered. Still, it was a Fair corn dog and you just can’t get that anywhere else. And not with such good company.