State Fair!

(NC State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC)  Hi 87 Lo 61 -- Today we went to the State Fair for some downtime, fun, and junk food. But first we took mom's small TV from her apartment to her new home and hooked her up with cable TV. We knew she wanted it, even though she would say she didn't. We're trying to provide the most comfortable life we can, so instead of listening to her we try to judge her "real" feelings about things.  She was thrilled once we had her TV up and running. We also had a painting hung on her wall that my daddy had painted many years ago. She really liked that. I'll get some pictures of her room when everything's done.  We left there about 1pm and got to the fair around 2:30. We walked from our campground, so we were able to save the $10 parking fee (and the time it takes to find a parking space). We took lots of pictures, and what follows are some random scenes of the fair. (Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

The crowds were amazing, considering it was Monday. Many people take a day off work and take their kids out of school to go to the fair.


We were starving, so we had one of our favorite lunch foods, gyros.


And Al’s French Fries, which we got twice today. They are the best french fries in the world... cut on site from fresh potatoes, fried, and sprinkled to taste with a wonderful seasoned salt. We have them everytime we go to the fair.



We watched a juggler while eating our fries. He was pretty good. He did a few magic tricks too.


This was different, we’ve never seen a man-made duck pond at the fair.
 

I grew around a farm, but I’ve never seen chickens like these.




This was unique. He was making wine slushies. They looked yummy! I’m sorry I didn’t get some, but it was only demo so I didn’t stick around.


This lady was showing off a screech owl. He's looking directly at her so you can only see one eye.


The 4H area is always a favorite of mine. I was in 4H for years. This is the food exhibition section. Everything looked so good.


This whole house, with a pool outside and furniture inside, was made from a cardboard box. The window trim and decks were made from split popsicle sticks.


The petting zoo. Zebra, camels, goats and other little creatures.


You go up and drop down real FAST!


I took pictures of lots of flowers, but this was neat with mums (I think).


The crowds about 4pm


The King Action Sports Stunt Show. There were BMX bikes, a rollerblader, and jumping motorcycles.






It was now time to eat again. Not necessarily because we were hungry, but at the fair you're supposed to eat at regular, short intervals. (Right?) Jim had a hot dog and I had a chicken pita. I liked the gyro I had for lunch a lot better.


Besides Al’s fries, another place we always head for at the fair is the "Howling Cow" ice cream booth. It's run by NC State University, and the ice cream is made on campus from milk produced at their University Dairy Farm in Raleigh (home of the world's most well-educated cows!).


The ice cream is so good that the lines are always the longest of any eating place at the fair. NC State students work the booth and they’re very good at keeping the line moving.


When the sun started going down, the lights started coming up. We've never been to the fair after dark, so it was so cool to see the transformation. It just seemed to get more lively and festive.




Some of the games on the midway. There's wasn't very much action at most of the booths. I think people have wised up to some of the tricks they use to keep you from winning.




More rides.








I started the Runkeeper app on my Droid phone and it showed that we walked 4.25 miles in about 4 hours. We’re both exhausted. Jim is watching his Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football, and I’ll be in chat and catching up on Words With Friends. We had a wonderful day. Tomorrow is back to more work at mom's apartment to get ready for our sale on Thursday.