Minnesota State Fair
I’ll admit it… I thought it was super crowded at the International Pathfinder Camporee at Oshkosh. Close to 60,000 people, close to each other… close enough for me. Well, the Minnesota State Fair has roughly 225,000 people EVERY DAY! And even more the day we went! (I’m sure they didn’t count us).
It was great fun, and greatly tiring! Exhibits, Dock Jumping Dog Shows, Lumberjack and Lumberjill Shows, Lots of Carnival Rides, Tons of “Eat only at State Fair Food”, uncountable Animals, and PEOPLE! I’m sure we saw about 5% of what was available, and that took most of the day!
I was told that you are almost required (by tradition) to buy a bucket of cookies from Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar. This Sweetie has three locations on the fairgrounds where you can buy a cup or a bucket of chocolate chip cookies (what other types are there?). Some folks waited 45 mins or more in line to get their cookies! We got our bucket miles from the entrance and spent only 5 mins in line… They make well over 2 million cookies per day!! That’s 200,000 per hour! In the 12 days of the State Fair, they go through 54 tons of chocolate chips and 62 tons of flour! Huge trays come out of the ovens, and while you watch, the workers scoop them into buckets, overflowing the top to dangerous levels! If you do the math, it seems like everyone attending the fair must eat 10 cookies… As you might guess, I tried to do my share. Awesome cookies, straight out of the oven…
Here is my attempt to document our day at the fair:
The next day we decided to watch Rogers & Hammerstein’s movie “State Fair”. You’ve got to love the lyrics of the theme song:
“Our State Fair is a great State Fair – don’t miss it, don’t even be late.
It’s Dollars to Doughnuts that our State Fair is the best State Fair in our State”
Fun with Less People
A little time bike riding (Some with wheels on feet) took us to a nice park, playground, and a small lake.
Home Projects
I had the privilege of helping Kevin with an exciting home project… I’ll show you more when it is finished! We got to use plenty of wood working tools and feel very manly! 😉
I also am working on a couple projects for our Fudge Ripple Home on Wheels. A few weeks ago I installed a water softener, which provides nice soft water regardless of what the water is like where we stop. At the same time I got a water De-ionizer, and a small pressure washer, for cleaning the coach. It removes EVERYTHING from the water (except the water itself). When you wash or at least rinse with De-I water, it dries without any spotting. A great way to keep the coach looking new! The hard part is finding a place to install it! I wanted to use empty space under the hood (in front of the motorhome) and not take up valuable storage space in the basement. I’ve had to move the airhorns, and the windshield washer fluid reservoir, and some other small parts, to make room. So now the pump and tanks are installed, and ALL I have left to do is get water and power to the whole thing.
And so ends another long week…
