Day Three August 28th 2010

Stella was in bed as I left for my day at the Fair. I decided to spend the day taking pictures of all the stuff we did Thursday so I could fill in the blog, since we forgot the camera! Also Priority ONE was finding the bench! 

I had to get a pic of Mom and I in our pink get ups, I always told her she looked like a Dixie chick in her hot pink with her black and rhinestone crusted Elvis belt!

Dad had to get his walking tour punch card filled so he offered to join me in the quest. We hiked over together, leaving mom to fill the yard with cars. Dad and I decided to start at the Bailey House and inquire, and I was correct as to perimeter of possible bench locations!  The staff of the Bailey house assured us the bench was out there somewhere in it's zone and every night they ride a golf cart and do an accounting of each bench!  WOW that's dedication!  She said if we did not find it she would do a thorough search that night!  Very nice lady!

We began our search heading toward the animal barns for the start of my photo retake session and as we rounded the corner of Judson Avenue.there it was!!!!    It was sitting against the outer wall of the International Bazaar just on the west side of the main entrance!   We were so relieved to find and decided to NOT disturb the people sitting there for a picture, we would have other chances.  We were just glad to know where it was!

Dad called in the "bench report" to the house to alert the rest of the family coming out that day of the exact location!  We then entered the Ag/ Hort building to get a photo of the award winning crop art that was made by a friend!

Dad and I decided that a half a foot long for breakfast was a good idea, so we found a suitable alternate location to purchase said dog on the corner of Nelson and Carnes outside the DNR.  This is the booth  whose history includes the story of "Speedy", the hot dog vendor who sold hot dogs for over 50 years and celebrated his 90th birthday at the fair last year.   It was a good dog, and I spilled a whole GOB of ketchup down the front of me! 

We ran through the DNR garden to get a picture of the beaver and the to the animal barns to get dad's walking tour punch card filled.  He told me the story of the ring tailed twink and the french foreign legion and other great stories of State Fair lore, which I will have to get him to dictate and fill in here completely later!  , We got pics of cows and horses, got to see a ferrier working on a Belgian.  The ferriers  head came up to the horses shoulder!  Magestic Animals!

As we came out of the horse barns I found the deep fried bacon cheddar mashed potatoes, the only new food which might make me rethink my aversion to deep fried things on a stick at the fair!  They come as four little balls of possible nirvana on a stick served with a side of a sour cream type sauce.  I really should only have ONE so I will have to go with someone else who wants to try it and eat the other three!  They can be found at the Potato Man & Sweety booth on Liggett St, just outside the Horse barn.

We wandered through the adventure park and got a picture of the human hamster balls on water( which Stella wants to try)  There is NO way you would catch me zipped up inside a plastic ball of my own volition!

Past the Grandstand and on up the street to the Hamline Dining hall to get another punch which happens to be next to the Bremer bank where we scored  another of the super blue bags with zipper pocket and water bottle holder!  It was about 10:00am and we hiked quickly up the road to the Little Hands Farm for the next punch, suprisingly we were still moving at a pretty good pace, but the grounds were filling up quickly.  I'm sure another record setting day in the making!  We returned by way of the Eco Hall of Tech to see if we could find a friend of dad's working, no luck, so we hiked back down the street to get the last punch at the Creative Activities building.

We wanted to make sure we let the wonderful bench assistant know that we found the bench so she didn't need make a special trip for us. Since we were right back where we started we decided to go and oust whoever may be on the bench and get a picture for evidence! We walked right up to three people eating fries and dad asked them to move so he could get a picture of me sitting on it, they were very gracious and agreed and as dad was taking the picture, all of a sudden two people walked straight up to the bench and said "do you want to make it a family picture? " and Dad, thinking the person speaking meant to have him sit down too and be in the pic said, :no thanks I just want to take it of her"  and quickly realized it was Linda!  It turns out Linda and Sophie had been standing in the near distance patiently waiting for the people to leave so they could do what we just waltzed up and asked directly!  They had been there for 15 minutes and we must have walked right past them not seeing!  So then the gracious french fry eating people who had to stand and witness this whole thing graciously offered to take a picture of us all!  LOL  Then we gave them back their bench !

All day I was attempting to connect with two groups of people, my friend Dawn and her family and a friend from work.  The phone service at the fair is terrible due to the "air traffic" the systems are so slow that every now and then you get a string of texts all at once that had been sent over the last hour,  I learned that it is best to text things like "food bldg at 2" so you tell people where you WILL be not where you ARE so there is a chance of hooking up!  The other family I realized were not even coming out until after 2:00!  oops!

I was getting hungry again around 12:30 and I knew I had to stay through the parade to get the last of my retake series so I decided to return for Gyro #2.  I took my gryo and found a shaded bench near the Bailey House and I just sat there and people watched for over an hour!  Too many girls in flip flops skipping in and then I'd see other girls in flip flops shuffling out  with sore feet LOL    As I sat there I witnessed my first "Flash Mob"  it was a group of kids between the Admin building and the band shell that suddenly gathered and did an "impromptu" well rehearsed street dance. I don't know that I would call it a "mob" maybe 100 kids, but it was entertaining!

The parade came and I took photos of an ENTIRE parade. If anyone has never seen one, go next time!  I realized as I was trying to upload all these pics I could have just done a video.  (I am so technologically challenged!) so here are the floats that Stella and sometime I have ridden!

Stella used to always ride in these until her legs got too long!

climbed over the side of this wagon Thursday!

Always a chance to ride in this one if you know where to be!

It is a pretty good sized parade each day at 2:00!   This was the first parade this year I got to sit and watch!  There were marching bands from Edina, Irondale and The Minnesota State Pipe band, who doesn't love Bagpipes!  The Winona State Cheerleaders were there and Ronald McDonald, who always does the same joke.."want a free shake?"  and he shakes his whole body! Sparky the fire dog, the Go Girl car, Haunted House truck, all the Pro Mascots (Twins, Wild, and Timberwolves) The decorated cars, some crazy chicken and flamingo bikers, the wacky wheeler and Princess Kay of The Milky Way!

We rode this one with Camden & Riley one day last year!

It was hot, windy and getting very crowded so I decided to call it a day.  Even though I had plans to play cards with the girls later I still got my hand stamped " just in case"  (genetic trait!) I stopped on my way home and picked up mini donuts for my cynical friend "unicorns and glitter" and Randy, who has been asking for them every night so far!

I got home and sat on the couch and tipped over for an hour and never did return!

Day Three stats:
Walked 5.7 miles
A little wind burned!
Food Consumed: half a foot long and Gyro #2
Bench: FOUND!
Free Stuff: another Bremer bag
Baby cow report: none
Stuff I still want to see!: Butterheads, Merchandise Mart, Fine Art, Creative Activites, FIREWORKS!