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County Fair Fun!
Jul. 21st, 2008 02:11 pmThe Dane County Fair is held 5 blocks from my house and less than a mile from my old apartment. But for some reason I had never gone. Yesterday I changed that. Hao and a couple of friends and I went to the fair.
Our first adventure was getting into the fair. It's designed to be entered by car from the side of the grounds opposite my neighborhood. We walked in from the neighborhood across the area where they must have had a concert the night before. And then we hit a security fence blocking the path, and of course this is on the area they call "Willow Island" and there's water to either side of the path. The youngest, pluckiest guy among us found his way around one end of the fence. Then Hao realized that the fence was held up on a removable spike that's only 8" long (like we used for parties in college). So he lifted the fence up off the spike and we squeezed through. Then we made our way across lots and lots of parking lots until we finally found an entrance. Some kind gentleman who was leaving for the day gave Hao a pass that included a free guest, so we got in for nothing!
We walked through the livestock barns and saw pigs, goats, and sheep. We found the food and rides section and started off with cream puffs. They seem to be a specialty of Wisconsin fairs, so we had to try them. The cream puffs were so good! They were quite large, the size of a large man's fist. And filling enough that we thought we'd better go look at more exhibits before trying the carnival rides. We saw the 4H baking exhibits, some very lame commercial booths, and then Hybridfest. I admired a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle that looked like a European 2-door hatchback while Hao talked to the University of Wisconsin engineering team.
And then we hit the rides. This was one part excitement, two parts nostalgia. We rode an eggbeater-style tiltawhirl ("The Tornado") which was a blast! The guys rotated our section as fast as they could and we laughed and squealed and shouted and generally had a really good time. Then three of us rode the Ferris Wheel. Ferris Wheels are supposed to be tame, sedate rides, but my fear of heights kicked in and made this a lot less enjoyable. If I had been strapped in, I'd have been able to enjoy it, but I was clinging to the center pole and asking my companions to sit very still so the gondola didn't rock too much and tip us out. Lastly Hao and I went on the bumper cars. We regressed to about 10 years old and had a wonderful time crashing into each other and everyone else!
After the rides we got a funnel cake and then looked at the arts and crafts exhibits. Those kids are really very talented! Our way out took us past the arena where equestrian events were still being judged. We went in and watched one round of judging. I'm not sure many of us understood what was going on, but it was nice to sit quietly and watch the horses for a while. By this point we were hot and tired.
Once we got home we grabbed cold drinks and our friends went home to their air conditioning. Hao and I, lacking AC, headed for the hammocks. It was a good day.
Our first adventure was getting into the fair. It's designed to be entered by car from the side of the grounds opposite my neighborhood. We walked in from the neighborhood across the area where they must have had a concert the night before. And then we hit a security fence blocking the path, and of course this is on the area they call "Willow Island" and there's water to either side of the path. The youngest, pluckiest guy among us found his way around one end of the fence. Then Hao realized that the fence was held up on a removable spike that's only 8" long (like we used for parties in college). So he lifted the fence up off the spike and we squeezed through. Then we made our way across lots and lots of parking lots until we finally found an entrance. Some kind gentleman who was leaving for the day gave Hao a pass that included a free guest, so we got in for nothing!
We walked through the livestock barns and saw pigs, goats, and sheep. We found the food and rides section and started off with cream puffs. They seem to be a specialty of Wisconsin fairs, so we had to try them. The cream puffs were so good! They were quite large, the size of a large man's fist. And filling enough that we thought we'd better go look at more exhibits before trying the carnival rides. We saw the 4H baking exhibits, some very lame commercial booths, and then Hybridfest. I admired a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle that looked like a European 2-door hatchback while Hao talked to the University of Wisconsin engineering team.
And then we hit the rides. This was one part excitement, two parts nostalgia. We rode an eggbeater-style tiltawhirl ("The Tornado") which was a blast! The guys rotated our section as fast as they could and we laughed and squealed and shouted and generally had a really good time. Then three of us rode the Ferris Wheel. Ferris Wheels are supposed to be tame, sedate rides, but my fear of heights kicked in and made this a lot less enjoyable. If I had been strapped in, I'd have been able to enjoy it, but I was clinging to the center pole and asking my companions to sit very still so the gondola didn't rock too much and tip us out. Lastly Hao and I went on the bumper cars. We regressed to about 10 years old and had a wonderful time crashing into each other and everyone else!
After the rides we got a funnel cake and then looked at the arts and crafts exhibits. Those kids are really very talented! Our way out took us past the arena where equestrian events were still being judged. We went in and watched one round of judging. I'm not sure many of us understood what was going on, but it was nice to sit quietly and watch the horses for a while. By this point we were hot and tired.
Once we got home we grabbed cold drinks and our friends went home to their air conditioning. Hao and I, lacking AC, headed for the hammocks. It was a good day.
