Wow...I really can't believe that I am this far behind in posts. I still have Sharks games to edit and post!! That's what happens when a major shakeup happens in life. So my "diary" - which I vowed would never be posted out of order - is now going to be crazy, messy, and -- out of order.
Especially since my photo cd's are lost in the thousand boxes I currently have littering my home and the storage unit I had to rent. Which reminds me...need to pay my storage rent...ok done. Thanks for waiting.
Hopefully I will be able to get my shite together soon and find my photos which are precious to me. But in the meantime, here is the latest in the out of order events of my life.
After working in the morning and then prepping for the adventure by taking a nice nap, Adie and I headed to the fair at about 2:45 p.m. The plan was to arrive just in time to see the fmx demo...but traffic and stupid parking rules/lack thereof dictated otherwise.
We arrived at the end of the demo, just in time for some backflips...but not in time to get in a good position for photos. Happy to see that the riders were still two of the old standbys - Tommy Clowers and Myles Richmond. And a "local" whose name I did not catch.
It was pretty hot, so we quickly headed for the indoor exhibit buildings. We don't do too much on the midway...Fair time is usually all about the exhibits, horses, shows, etc., as you will soon notice.
We wandered around and looked at the county exhibits. Some were pretty good but you could tell the economy has limited the entries. Worst IMO was San Francisco's which was basically a tri board setup, painted by a 5 year old, which featured the Gnats. FAIL!
Adie hadn't eaten all day and was feeling a bit faint from the heat. You hear all these wonderful things about fair food, but let me tell you....when you get there and actually see the booths, it don't look so good.
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| She's really, REALLY gonna kill me |
We decided to get something that sounded healthy but was definitely not when it showed up on the plate. Chicken/Veggie Kabob with a mushroom/artichoke heart plate. Deep fried of course.
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| Black Beauty and his BF |
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| Percheron vaulting horses |
tortoises,
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra
Gay your life must be.
I didn't sing it that loud. I swear. She didn't even let me sing the last line!
The short visit to fake Aussie land led directly to the Wine garden. We don't drink a lot...Adie hardly at all. But how can you pass up free tastings? While Adie grabbed a seat, I placed myself at the wine bar, trying to look like I knew what I was talking about. Not a chance. I was next to a lady who was very vocal in her opinions. My opinions (not voiced) were pretty much the polar opposite.
First we tasted the Korbel Sweet Rose Champagne. I thought it was delicious! Very sweet. Don't get me wrong...I love sweet. My 1/2 bottle of Husch Gewurztraminer is ready and waiting for the Sharks to win a Stanly cup. So I really appreciated it.
Next the wonderful lady helping us brought out Wilson Creek Almond Champagne. I didn't think it was near as sweet as the Korbel, but the lady next to me insisted that it was. And I must not have a wine palate because the lady behind the counter said a lot of people were saying that. But I know my sweets...and that wasn't as sweet. I took Adie a taste of the Sweet Rose and she agreed that it was sweet and almost worth drinking. That's the best you're going to get from her with any kind of wine.
The lady next to me saw that they had a La Crema Chardonnay so we had a taste of that next (could you tell I was just going along for the ride?). It was pretty good. Dry and smooth which is to be expected from a wine named La Crema I suppose.
Next I decided to treat myself to an expensive red. I selected Coppola Winery's Director's Cut Cabernet. The wine list at the fair put this at $60 per bottle. It was delicious. Of course much more taste and bite than the sparkling and whites I had been drinking, but I would definitely buy this as a red.
Enough drinking...back to wandering. We headed over the The Farm which is a gorgeous area filled with, you guessed it, farm displays! All kinds of farm displays actually. We were drawn to the herb gardens first. The Basil patch was beautiful and amazing!
We noticed the fish farm next. Fun! I petted the Sturgeon which were huge! At least 3 feet long and looking kinda sharkish. Then a nice lady informed me that these are the babies and they grow to be about 9 feet. Yikes!
I stuck my hand in the mostly clear water and touched my first fish. SLIME! I pulled my hand out of the water expecting it to be dripping with slime. But it wasn't. So weird! The fish feel slimy, but they're not. They are smooth and slightly bumpy. No scales.
And believe it or not, they seemed to love being petted. They would swim up to you and roll over slightly so you could rub their bellies. Much like my cats. After washing my hands thoroughly, we saw the rest of the fish and crawdads and then wandered through the orchid exhibit. My photo doesn't do them justice.
There were several varieties of corn, one of which was about 20 feet taller than me! Adie took a picture of me buy it, but...yuck. So just imagine. There were also soybeans which have beautiful leaves and sunflowers.
First we tasted the Korbel Sweet Rose Champagne. I thought it was delicious! Very sweet. Don't get me wrong...I love sweet. My 1/2 bottle of Husch Gewurztraminer is ready and waiting for the Sharks to win a Stanly cup. So I really appreciated it.
Next the wonderful lady helping us brought out Wilson Creek Almond Champagne. I didn't think it was near as sweet as the Korbel, but the lady next to me insisted that it was. And I must not have a wine palate because the lady behind the counter said a lot of people were saying that. But I know my sweets...and that wasn't as sweet. I took Adie a taste of the Sweet Rose and she agreed that it was sweet and almost worth drinking. That's the best you're going to get from her with any kind of wine.
The lady next to me saw that they had a La Crema Chardonnay so we had a taste of that next (could you tell I was just going along for the ride?). It was pretty good. Dry and smooth which is to be expected from a wine named La Crema I suppose.
Next I decided to treat myself to an expensive red. I selected Coppola Winery's Director's Cut Cabernet. The wine list at the fair put this at $60 per bottle. It was delicious. Of course much more taste and bite than the sparkling and whites I had been drinking, but I would definitely buy this as a red.
Enough drinking...back to wandering. We headed over the The Farm which is a gorgeous area filled with, you guessed it, farm displays! All kinds of farm displays actually. We were drawn to the herb gardens first. The Basil patch was beautiful and amazing!
I stuck my hand in the mostly clear water and touched my first fish. SLIME! I pulled my hand out of the water expecting it to be dripping with slime. But it wasn't. So weird! The fish feel slimy, but they're not. They are smooth and slightly bumpy. No scales.
Next to the farm were some goats. A-fucking-dorable! Especially this sweet-faced white goat who was the epitome of "mountain", climbing all over the place.
Suddenly a bigger goat got tired of the sweet white goat getting all the attention and hopped up on the rocks ready to battle!
And all the while a sweet black and white goat stood by me just wanting to have his ears and head rubbed. I obliged.
After washing my hands (again!) we left the farm and moseyed back over to the center exhibits where the main stage is. There they have art, music, and more animals. Saw some Sharks fans in there. And a couple of hockey related art projects...both made by girls interestingly enough.
Adie grabbed some seats for the hypnotist show while I walked over to get a fix of the fmx crew and take a few photos. Most of my photos seem to be of Myles Richmond.
Then back over to settle in for the hypnotist show. They had a lady this year. Not as good as the dude, Terry, that used to do it. The show is basically the same...I guess there's only one way to hypnotize people. But she got distracted too often and wasted time on stupid things before she even hypnotized anyone. And then she did like 3 things and ran out of time. But there were some funny dudes up there anyway.
According to our plan, we walked back over to the horse arena for what would be our last activity, the Mane Event. This has a little of bit of everything. But first I stopped by the stall of an animal I completely fell in love with earlier, the Warlander.
Look at those eyes... I think he loves me too.
First up they had a drill team of lady riders with beautiful horses. My favorite? The paint with unique leopard print appaloosa spots under his mane and on his hindquarters.
Then they had a vaulting demonstration. My daughter used to vault and it is wonderful, and amazing. I'll have to dig out some pictures from her Central Valley Vaulting days. Basically, for the uninitiated, vaulting is gymnastics on horseback. Youngsters start out with the horse at a walk then move up to canter. Here is a pas de deux, duo at the walk. 2nd picture is kur/freestyle at the canter.
After the vaulting, there was a demo of one of my favorite horses...the Friesian. One of the riders was posing with her horse earlier in the day when we were walking around. Magnificent.
However, the second Friesian in this show wasn't really feeling it. He was okay for about five minutes when they came into the arena and started "dancing". But then he said hells to the no and started mini-bucking, trotting, and finally breaking into a restrained gallop with his rider yelling "Settle down!!". We couldn't help but laugh and he did indeed settle down in the end. Here is the sequence:
I love the last photo with the calm horse looking at his friend racing around and that's right about where the rider was yelling "settle down!". ahahaha
The rider who wasn't having a bad night also had a beautiful rare Red Friesian. I truly didn't even know there was such a thing. Pictures are a bit blurry at this point of the evening but it's still worth remembering.
They ended the show with a salute to the military. It was really nice with a different color horse bringing out the flag of each branch of the military. Starting, of course, with the Stars and Stripes and the California flag.
And the last horsey picture is on this gorgeous two-faced horse! I love any paint/pinto, but having the demi face is awesomely awesome. Even if the picture sucks. :-)
After leaving the horse arena, we stopped by the gourmet caramel/candy apple stand to buy amazing and delicious caramel apples. We bought 2: Apple Pie A La Mode (which was the BESTEST!) and the California, which was caramel covered in chili and sea salt. It tasted like tamarind and, I think, would have been really good, but there was a little too much salt. It was like licking a salt slick.
I bought some grilled corn to take home and off we walked for the long trek back to Adie's new car. Here's one last shot as we left because what's a State Fair without the midway?
Adie grabbed some seats for the hypnotist show while I walked over to get a fix of the fmx crew and take a few photos. Most of my photos seem to be of Myles Richmond.
First up they had a drill team of lady riders with beautiful horses. My favorite? The paint with unique leopard print appaloosa spots under his mane and on his hindquarters.
I love the last photo with the calm horse looking at his friend racing around and that's right about where the rider was yelling "settle down!". ahahaha
The rider who wasn't having a bad night also had a beautiful rare Red Friesian. I truly didn't even know there was such a thing. Pictures are a bit blurry at this point of the evening but it's still worth remembering.
They ended the show with a salute to the military. It was really nice with a different color horse bringing out the flag of each branch of the military. Starting, of course, with the Stars and Stripes and the California flag.
And the last horsey picture is on this gorgeous two-faced horse! I love any paint/pinto, but having the demi face is awesomely awesome. Even if the picture sucks. :-)
I bought some grilled corn to take home and off we walked for the long trek back to Adie's new car. Here's one last shot as we left because what's a State Fair without the midway?
xoxo
