Heather's State Fair Adventures: Bestie Day!

It was going to be another hot one. But today was my day to spend at the fair with Nancy! She and I have been friends from Kindergarten through college roommates and now all our girls are off to college! She recently moved back "home" here to Minneapolis and I am so excited to see her!

I found lots of church friends as I waited on a bench right inside the main gate! Everyone had plans to accomplish as the remaining days of the fair were now numbering five!

Nancy had sent me a message with her goals for the day. "1. Bacon on a stick, 2. Dog Jumping Show, 3.Craft Show. I thought I had a plan!

When Nancy arrived, the real first stop was iced coffee. I always bring my coffee with me, so I followed Mom's advice and took her to the coffee shop right inside the Farmer's Union. It is known for great coffee, but the lines were long, service was slow and there was much confusion and as many people standing around behind the counter doing nothing as people waiting for their orders. A iced latte came up and the name on the cup was "Nancy", but a lady who ordered the same thing and had been waiting longer went for it at the same time and almost spilled it all, and was quite disgruntled! We left quickly, lest a fight break out at the Farmers Union! (glad that I bring my own!)

I thought the dog show Nancy wanted to see was up at the Pet Center, so we made our ascent up Cosgrove, stopping into the Alphabet Forest to get a quick picture!

I also snapped a quick pic of the enormous Evenrude motor...valued at $23,000!!!

We found the dog training show and sat down for a bit to watch. Channel 9 News was there and I shared my aversion to MA Rosko, in my opinion a rather inane reporter of trivial issues. Nancy started describing the show she heard about, and this was NOT it.

I did a "fun finder app" search, and learned there is a Stunt Dog Show at the North Woods Stage. We had time to walk through the Pet Building as see some dogs before the next Stunt Dog showtime. Lots and lots of dogs to see, like this adorable face!

As Nancy & I were greeting and she was getting wet pooch smooches from the "assistance" dogs; pets that are used for therapy in nursing homes and in other ways, a camera appeared on my right and MA Rosko walks up on my left and I quickly backed up as she moved in to interview Nancy. I am not sure what she asked her, but I was laughing pretty hard as MA moved in for her on camera pooch smooches!

We never did know if she made the news!

Not sure what product this booth was selling, but if it was dog hair colors....this might not be the dogs favorite...

We needed some food before the 11:00am Stunt Dog Splash show, so we stopped at Giggle Capfire Grill and got some walleye fries.

Yum! I wanted some ketchup and when I pumped it out, I got a mustard swirl. Yuk!

It was warming up, and there was a breeze, but the seats were filling up so we sat in the hot sun and waited for the show to start. After the merchandise sales and introduction, we finally got to see flying dogs! They are all rescued dogs, mutts and purebreds, and looked like they were having a blast jumping into the "lake". If anyone watches the Rose Parade, these dogs have been featured in it. They are the ones who jump into a pool on a moving float! It was fun to watch! There was a short plug for dog rescue and supporting this organization, but it is quite a contrast to the Pet Center, where it is taboo to mention anything but a purebred dog. They sort of look down at you!

After the Stunt Dog Show, we filled up water at the artful water bottle station in the Eco Building.

We moved quickly through the Eco Building, and headed down the road to see all the kitschy crafts in Creative Activities. I love going through the buildings with different people because I get an entirely different perspective and see things I never would have stopped to look at!

cell phone...where?!?!

why???

hmm....what?!?!

love this glass!

just tardis.

This duck in the tub is made from all recycled objects found at the fair in 2014. read below (if you can)

mmm....shrimp shirt!

We needed to eat some lunch and check a few more things off Nancy's list so we headed toward the Ag Hort building and ran into 3/4ths of this awesome family!

There is a new Food Exhibit in the AgHort with dinner plates and the entrance is adorned with these really large utensils!

We ate lunch at The Peg, one of the oldest sit down places left at the fair. it was nice to sit down out of the sun and be waited on!

After lunch, a quick run through the veggies and bees got us to the Honey Ice Cream!

A new thing at the fair this year is a charging area!

You're stuck here for a bit to charge a device, but its right on a parade route and you never know who you'll see driving in the parade!

We headed over to see the butterheads and Nancy found a treat for her husband Fred. I was a bit dismayed that we could not offer sausages made right here in Minnesota!