Well, we've reached the half-way mark of the 2014 Kansas State Fair, and boy, was it a windy day in Kansas! I had to hold my hat onto my head quite a bit while I traversed the fairgrounds. I was also deathly afraid that the wind might rip the food items I had bought right out of my hands! I began the adventure with an order of cheese curds. I give the taste an A. Many years ago, I bought an order of them, and they were disgusting! It was the only cheese curds I had ever tried, and, being a true Garrison Keillor fan, I gave them a shot. Ick! I was under the impression that cheese curds were disgusting. However, several years ago, I saw a friend from our church at the fair, and he offered me one. I didn't want to be rude, so I took one. It was great! I told him about my bad experience with them, and he told me that maybe I had just gotten a bad batch. Now I order them every year! However, the portion size this year was pitiful. The chunks were smaller, too. I give value a C. The cost of the cheese curds is $6.00, and an extra $1.00 of you want a side of ranch dressing for dipping. I give cost a B. I had originally planned to eat just cheese curds and be done, but the serving size had me craving more. So, I headed to the Elephant Ear stand. There are 2 elephant ear stands there. One is located across from the Swine building (Thanks for the heads-up on that, Lorraine!), and the other one is on the midway by the Freak-Out ride. Since I was closer to the Freak-Out, I picked that one. There is a reason they call it an elephant ear! They are huge! An elephant ear is a large slab of flat bread dough that is deep-fried, and then topped with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. They gave it to me on 2 paper plates, it was that big! They are $6.00, and an extra $1.00 if you want a fruit topping on it. I give everything an A. They were really nice, and they made it up hot and fresh right there. For the record, I have been checking my blood sugar levels every night, and they are coming up normal. I make it point to eat early on in my visit, and walk it all off during the remainder of my time there. So far, so good!
I decided the visit the animal birthing center and check out what was going on there. There were a few baby calves and lambs, but not much else. They had an interactive display, a type of calf-pulling simulator. Calf-pulling is where the person reaches into the...er....and pulls the calf out. They asked me if I'd like to try. One of the vets even volunteered to hold the camera while I did this. I had the option of a simple procedure, or on that was more complicated. I figured I'd better stick with simple. This isn't something I do every day. It's not something I've done ever! I slipped my big glove on, and went to work. The calf came out easily. "It's a boy," I declared to the listening audience. It was certainly a different experience!
I had an interesting chat with a gentleman who was wearing a KU shirt. Not entirely out of the ordinary, except that he was standing at the KSU booth (which was giving away notepads....yes, I took one). I told him he was asking for trouble, wearing KU at the KSU booth. He looked a bit awkward, and said, "I know." It turns out that their home is a divided one. His wife was chatting with the KSU people and picking up literature. She had done the same for him, standing in her KSU while he frequented the KU booth. I thought it was a sweet gesture on both of their parts.
If you are in the mood for a small snack, but don't want to shell out the cash, here are some helpful tips: In the Meadowlark Building (the big commercial one), there is a stand that offers free samples of flavored dips. Just grab a pretzel and sample a crab dip, onion, jalapeno, or a dozen other options. It's really pretty good! If you have time for a sales pitch, some of the cookware demonstrators will offer a small snack cooked right there in their pots and pans. In the 2 smaller buildings next to it, there are samplings of chili, Granny's Mustard, flavored coffees (wonderful), and breads (even better!).
Tomorrow is Wednesday, and the jury is still out on whether or not I will make a fair visit. Since I will be going from job...to job....to AWANA....I don't know if I'll have to energy to visit. A lot of it will depend on how I feel, and the weather. If I don't visit, I hope you'll understand and won't feel cheated. Another iffy day is Saturday. We have family coming into Salina, and we'll be enjoying family time on Salina that day. I may be able to squeeze an evening fair visit in that day, but we'll have to see.
Thanks for reading this evening, and I'll talk to you soon!
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