An evening at the county fair

This post is loaded with pictures so I will try not to be too wordy!
We (I) had planned on going to the fair last night the MINUTE I heard the Gin Blossoms were going to be playing. Now, I'm not a die-hard, follow their every move fan...but they were popular during the time in my life when I was leaving my teens and entering 'adulthood'. So to get to see them for the $10 admission price to the fair was exciting to me. We had a few friends that were going to meet us there. Slowly they backed out, until the very last one cited 'rain' as his excuse. Yes, it was raining. Yes, it got heavier as we got closer to the fair. But, it had completely stopped by the time we got there, and I was glad we didn't let our friends' absences stop us from going.
We spent some time looking at the (few) animals they had...mostly sheep. A couple of them were very curious. So cute!

Then Hubby wanted to wander around and look at the rides. It made me sad because my favorite part of the fair is the rides but I no longer have any riding buddies. Instead, I just got some pictures.
I probably would never ride a roller coaster that is taken down and put back together so many times, but it's got lots of great curves to shoot.
I can't remember what this one is called, but it was 'the scrambler' back at the fairs we used to frequent as children, so that is what I always call it. One of my favorites. The 'tilt-a-whirl' is another fav, but I didn't see it...
I LOVE this swing ride, and I could've gone on it myself, but everything was wet, so I actually lost the urge to ride anyway. You sit in a swing and then the thing spins and you go really high...it's like flying!
The ZIPPER...I will NEVER get in this thing, but I just love to watch it...crazy people ride this one!
The Ferris wheel...a classic. I rode this once, and I think it was even too high for me...and just being up high isn't a thrill for me...

Then it started to rain again, so we waited it out in the 'exhibition buildings' and looked at all the prize winning quilts, cakes, veggies, photos, and so on. We ran into a friend of mine who was not actually part of the 'people we expected to see' group. So, at least we got to see someone we know...it always reminds me, 'this is your home'.

The rain let up and we decided to get some food. The band was coming on in about a half hour at this point, and the bbq Hubby wanted was right by the stage. I couldn't decided what to eat. Maybe it's too many choices and not wanting to get one of everything that made it so hard to decide? We ended up getting onion rings to split and I spotted root beer floats next door and that sounded really good.
And isn't anything with a giant pink flexi-straw delicious??

Just as we got our rings, it started to rain. And then it poured buckets as we stood under the food stand awning, eating and sipping. Once we finished eating, the rain had let up and we decided to find our 'seats' on the lawn.

Everything was mud, so there was no sitting!
This picture doesn't do it justice...the water was seeping it's way up my pant legs and I was wet up to my shins and my shirt was a bit soggy.
As we waited for the band, I looked over and thought how quintessential 'county fair' this stand was. I realized that from the very first fair I went to, some 25 years or so ago, to today...the food stands never change!!

At this point, my camera started flashing it's 'low battery' light. Of course! True to my life, it's already raining, which is my curse...and now, my camera's going to die.

I was able to get ONE picture of ONE band member (the guy in the green shirt). (Sadder than that, I didn't get any shots of how truly and unbelievably soaked we got!)

The band played for about 30 minutes. The rain had stopped just before they went on and began again just as they started to play. It POURED! I was very angry with the people with umbrellas because they kept blocking the view of the people who were actually braving the rain to see the band. Plus, they were still getting wet as it was raining sideways at it's most fierce downpour. So after about a half hour, the stage was getting dangerously wet...puddles almost to the mic stands...so they said they'd try to dry it up and come back out. We decided they would probably not come back out and we didn't really want to just stand in the rain for the sake of just standing in the rain...so, we went home. Luckily Hubby had a few dry shirts in his car, and a towel for me to dry off and sit on.

I had a blast, and am glad to have a partner who thinks it's fun to stand in the rain and see live music.

(sorry, I guess I couldn't limit my wordiness, after all!)