State Fair

Arthur and I went to the state fair today. This is the third year in a row I've gone to the fair, and I've had a great time with each visit. Today Arthur and I left home around 3:00 and drove to the state capitol complex, where we caught a bus to the fair. The $4 round-trip bus fare for the two of us was cheaper than parking near the fair, and I enjoy riding the bus. The person working at the state information center for visitors to the capitol complex gave us incorrect directions about where to catch the bus, but we ignored her directions and went to the place where we eventually caught the bus.

As soon as we entered, we got ourselves an elephant ear and sat down in the Ethnic Village area to enjoy it. When we had finished that, we asked about where we might go to see rabbits, but the rabbit show ended on Friday (this was Saturday), so the rabbits had probably all gone home. Instead of rabbits, we watched dogs. The Purina dog show was going on, so we watched dogs catch Frisbees. We had seen a show like this before, at the Indiana state fair, about five years ago, but Arthur probably didn't remember. We then went to see the exhibition of artists, which I had missed the past couple years. I enjoyed the photography and painting, and there were some interesting sculptures on display. Arthur's favorite work was a computer art image of a dragon attacking an old World War I fighter airplane, I think a Sopwith Camel.

We looked at some livestock and the 4-H building before making it over to the conservation area. We missed the chance to ride in the big voyager canoe, but Arthur did find a nice monarch butterfly caterpillar (Danaus plexippus). After looking at all the exhibits in the large conservation and natural resources area we stopped at the pork patio to enjoy a pork chop on a stick. This was dinner for us. I reflected that this was the first time in about three weeks I had purchased any meat, and aside from finishing hamburgers when Arthur has been too full to eat them, this was also my first meal of meat in about three weeks. But my, it was tasty. Next to the dining area was the Corona tent, and a band was playing a cover of a good Dave Matthews Band song.

Looking through exhibits, I found a place selling good hats at fairly low prices, and found a good-looking black hat that fit me (I'm a 7-and-3/4, which is huge for hat sizes, and usually 7-and-5/8 are too small for me). I'd been looking for a hat that fit me well and wasn't too expensive for years (not looking very diligently, of course). I was so delighted, I bought it, and got a new belt as well. I've lost about 20 pounds since May, and I intend to lose another 20 pounds by the end of the year, so my belts are starting to be a bit big for me.

Finally, we made it to the midway, where I spent the rest of our cash (gee, $50 went pretty quick!) on 22 ride tickets for Arthur. Arthur went on the hang glider ride twice, the frog hopper twice, the bumper cars once, the octopus once, and the two of us went together on a crazy type of fast Ferris wheel.