Survey Says...

On TV tonight is the Celebrity Family Fued. That really has nothing to do with this other than I thought about it after I typed the title. The survey I speak of is the Blog survey. Recently I sent this blog link to several friends to ask their opinion of this blog vs another blog that I set up through another site. This blog was the winner by several votes, so here we are and here I guess we will be.
When I came home this evening I started playing with the digital camera mom gave me. She's upgraded so she didn't need this one anymore. I have shopped around for a new one, but I may try and make this one work to save the cash, I need it for the gas tank. I set out this evening with the intent of learning how to post pictures and it appears I may be on the right track. This is a photo of an Iris from home. Beautiful isn't it?

Another day at the 2007 fair. Wednesday continued……

Later that morning I stop by Don’s Trucking and Towing (DTT) about the golf cart situation. Within minutes a huge, giant, bright yellow tow truck arrives with a very tiny golf cart on top. The cart is not really that small, just in comparison to the truck it’s a midget. The guys help hook up the broadcast equipment and everything is good to go!

Now for a little information on DTT. These guys have worked the state fair for over two decades towing vehicles (Mike’s included, and my own truck a few years ago). They don’t decide what goes, but they do as the parking attendants direct. On the grounds they have a tent set up where they host a couple gatherings throughout the fair.

During one of the events home fried Rocky Mountain Oysters are on the menu. Some people refer to them as calf fries. Let me just say, I’m a farm girl. I was around cattle before I could utter the word moo. Over the years I was there during several “Oyster Collecting” events but I’ve NEVER tried the… delicacy. With a leap of culinary faith I find that… they’re not too bad, tastes like chicken, honestly! I probably won’t go out of my way to try again, but seriously, not too bad!

I’m glad I had the chance to meet Don’s crew and I’m looking forward to more adventures with them. By the way, I asked Don about the 2004 state fair when it rained the entire week and it was muddy everywhere. So, how many vehicles did they have to pull out of the mud? Thousands. Probably didn’t get to have much fun that year.

An Adventure Ahead, and Behind...

A friend yelled at me this weekend, well, not so much yelled but sent me a strongly worded message that I’m behind and I need to update things. She’s right because there is a lot of stuff going on. The 2008 State Fair is less than a couple months away and there are things that need to be finalized. In addition, in less then two weeks I’ll hit the road to regions far away. The plan is to file back reports in a Where in the World kind of way. Now there are a few who already know the adventure, but most of our listeners don’t. I thought it might be fun to share the adventure in the Matt Lauer style of globe hopping. With that said, stay tuned… I leave on July 5^th and will be back in the office on July 24^th. Lots of miles traveled in between. The reason for the trip is my participation in the Missouri ALOT (Agriculture Leaders of Tomorrow) program. To learn more go to www.alotmissouri.com. We have spent the last several months getting to know one another and traveling across the state learning what the Show Me State ag industry has to offer. There have been some great adventures, late nights, enlightening discussions and a several events that we can look back over the years and smile about. Good people I tell you, good people!! Anyway, they’re 26 of us that will set out on the journey and for once, I’m already trying to plan my suitcase. That never happens! Usually I throw a bunch of stuff in that should work then hit the road. With a 2 week adventure I’ve gotten in touch with my planning gene. Now, shall we take bets on what I’ll forget?

Back to the fair…

Tuesday, August 14th

I’m on the trail of a replacement golf cart. A friend who works with the Department of Agriculture has introduced me to Don’s Trucking and Towing (DTT) who agree to loan us a golf cart but it won’t make it in until Wednesday.

Wednesday, the 15th

Shortly after 6am Mike calls from the Red Radio. There’s no audio coming from the Radio and he’s feeding the reports through the phone line because he can’t hear the station. Because he’s doing reports he can’t investigate further. I rush over to see if there’s something I can do. While he's doing the markets, I wiggle wires, pick things up, move things around and finally borrow a screw driver from the Shriners Cook Shack. I take the equipment out of the base unit, wiggle more wires and still can’t find the answer. Finally it dawns on me that there is no audio coming from the headphones which means the problem is not the speakers. In my foggy, delayed, deductive reasoning I look at the front of the stereo. It's set to AM. With a simple push of the button, it’s changed back to FM and we have sound. Whew!! By the way, we’re 100.7 on the FM dial when you pass through north Missouri…. Wednesday to be continued…..

Another Lovely Day!

I love Spring and Summer. The sun comes out and it's warm enough that you can get out and enjoy it. The problem this year..... it's not going to be long enough! While scanning through the calendar over the weekend, things are pretty well booked through the end of August. It's great to have things to do, but when I make it out of the fog of activities this summer, it's going to be Fall. That my friend is only a sneeze away from Winter. I guess that's a good reason to enjoy the day you're in and live it up!! So here's another day from the 2007 State Fair. Plenty of headaches and heat, but it wouldn't be right any other way!

Monday, August 13^th

After letting the golf cart rest for the night, It’s time to get another day at the fair underway. I made it to the street that leads into the campgrounds. Things weren’t sounding any better so I turn around and head back to the camper. Halfway there, she’s done! A couple nice people help me push it back to the trailer where she puttered her last backfire to an untimely and majorly inconvenient end.

During the fair we use the cart so we can broadcast reports from every corner of the fair. Knowing the cart is a necessity, I’ll spend the next 24 hours doing reports on foot and trying to find a way to replace the cart.

That same day, Mike worked the morning shift again. At three in the afternoon when it’s time to leave, there is Déjà vu. His car is gone, towed away, again. It took another couple of hours to get it fixed, but relax, it doesn’t happen again through the rest of the fair.

Hello Sunshine!

What a lovely day we have. A little bit of sunshine, breeze and the threat of more rain. Right now it might be a little warmer than some prefer, but I love it. When visiting with Scott this week we chatted about the weather and how muggy hot it’s been on a few days. I’ll tell you what I told him.. I complain all winter because it’s too cold so I will not bellyache about the summer. All my weather irritability must be reserved for anytime the temperature falls below 70!

Now back to the State Fair…. we’ll make it through sooner or later. The 2008 fair is only a couple months away.

Sunday, August 12.... Day 4

The weekend was pretty uneventful until Sunday night. The girls are gone and a couple other friends (Mark and Aubrey) have come by to visit and go to the Dirks Bentley concert. Following the concert there was a quick but mighty wind storm that blew over trashcans and ripped items away from a vendor’s tent across the street.

After it was finally over we spent a little more quality time at a couple State Fair “establishments” then rode the golf cart back to the campground.

About halfway back the golf cart backfires then there's a loud ker-thud and pop. Hoping/praying it was just a fluke, we drive it back to the trailer to let it rest for the evening.. a good 5 hours will really bring a golf cart back to life…. I hope!!

At the trailer I realize I left my keys in the Red Radio on the fairgrounds. The golf cart is retired for the night so the neighbors to the north who are enjoying an evening of fireside conversation, give me a lift back to the radio…. When we make it back, Aubrey and I sit down for a fireside chat with our new friends. During the discussion I learn that these new friends came to my rescue
once before. The windstorm that came up earlier was whipping the awning on my trailer. Afraid it would tear the thing up they rolled it up for me. That’s the awning I had no idea how to roll up from a couple days ago.

Thanks for the help x2

Back at it

I made my first venture on the golf course this year playing in a scramble tournament with my brother. To be honest, we're not that good, but between the two of us we can come up with something that works on each hole. I started playing a few years ago and have only played three or four times a year since then. Last year at this tournament I won the women’s longest drive off the tee. A had a pretty good run on the drive again this year, but I would have preferred the ball stayed a little more center green.

This was the first game David and I played this year. Because of that, we were both feeling it on Sunday. Golf seems to be a low impact sport, but two days later my right hand is still a little stiff from the game. We were both sore yesterday but after loading up on pain medication and icy hot, we survived and I’m ready to go again.

Sunday was another beautiful day, so not having soaked up enough summer yet, I ventured to the barn and grabbed the saddle. King and I took off on a solo trail ride enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of nature. It’s been a couple months since I had a nice ride so this was long overdue. There's nothing more relaxing than a leisurely stroll through the fields away from the world. Usually we spot a few turkey and deer, but this time, just a couple quail and a worried terrapin.

Now back to the State Fair.

Friday the 10^th was day two.

After starting his day at 6 that morning, Mike finally heads to his car around 3 to go home. Once he arrives at the parking lot, he soon realizes that his car is nowhere to be seen.

So what happened? When you work the morning shift, you get there before the parking attendant. On this morning, when the attendant arrived, they assumed his car had been there all night so they had it towed. It takes a couple of hours, but the issue is finally resolved and he’s able to put the day behind him.

That evening I have some friends coming to the fair for a visit. During the afternoon these three decide my trailer is hot and that unrolling the awning will make it cooler. Knowing that I’ll be stuck putting the canopy away, which I don’t know how to do, I discourage the effort but the girls promise to put it away before they leave.

With the determination of a herd of stubborn goats they set about their mission.

I remain inside trying to clean up some after a sweaty day at the fair. After a few moments I stick my head outside and realize one of my friends is missing, and two others have been added to the mix. Turns out she’s on the roof of the trailer because the sunshade wasn’t coming down as easily as expected. While she’s on the roof, our camping neighbors take pity on us and come over to help. In a few moments the thing is down and we have shade.

We thank our helpful neighbors then turn to go back in the trailer and quickly discover the door is locked. Luckily I have my cell phone. I call the RV dealerships we work with and they quickly come to our rescue. Within 15 minutes, our hero arrives on a golf cart to save the day.