When in Rome…

Roam and roam and roam. That's been the last 64 hours or so. On Sunday morning our group of more than two dozen traveled together one last time to the airport where we parted ways. The majority headed back to the States while five of us ventured to Italy!
We had a busy time of trying to see all the sights and we didn't get to all of them. Italy is certainly on the list of places to go again. We saw the highlights and this shot is one that caused several hours of roaming yesterday. We stopped to see the ruins, which is bigger than you could have imagined. Not just the stones, but just the park in general is also rather large. I slipped up to a hilltop to grab this shot through a chain link fence. After that I zigged when I should have zagged and lost the rest of the crew. After a long day of roaming around Rome, we all met back at the hotel within 15 minutes of each other.
Today is my first day to post in what really feels like ages. No internet access for me in Italy so I'm typing this after a long day of wandering airports. It's after 10pm in Washington DC, and it sounds like my flight may be delayed due to more rain.
It's back to work tomorrow. I'll have some follow up stories to pass along over the next few days too, so the adventure is not over.

Say it isn't so!!!

Caffeine is the friend of many, especially while traveling. We have early mornings, late nights, travel and meetings in between. That means caffeine is a necessity. I put away my fair share of caffeinated, carbonated drinks, though I promise I'm cutting back when I return. My caffeine drug of choice includes the wonderful little carbonated bubbles that tickle when you drink..ahhhh.. Great, now I really am thirsty.... Over the past couple of weeks I've encountered a problem in Europe. I prefer a fountain soda with over a chilled can or a bottle. Why, I'm not sure, but ice seems to be an under appreciated addition to beverages. You order a soda and receive a bottle and glass. Sounds nice yes, but I need ice too, something to slide down the glass while I take a drink and bop me in the nose. Without it, it's just not the same.
Aside from the lack of ice, on occasion there has also been a lack of beverage, with the exception of coffee. I don't drink coffee and I don't count pumped up hot chocolate, aka, cappuccino as coffee. However, I had no choice this week.

An early morning drive preceded by a late night and followed by a morning meeting means drowsy Janet.

My ALOT co-adventure taker Aubrey was in the same predicament so we made the leap. That's right; our first ever real cup of coffee, doctored up just a bit. You might notice the remnants of added ingredients. You should also know two sugar cubes and a chocolate cookie were sacrificed to this new creation of wonderfulness. Yhea, I'll admit it was tasty, but so was the saturated cookie that I added for a hint of chocolate. Years ago mom said you'll drink coffee when you're a grownup. I think that statement has led me to avoid the stuff out of denial. Now that I've made that step, geezz I already feel the pressure building.... Thank goodness I only drank half!!
So the journey that has led to so many adventures over the past couple weeks is sadly drawing to a close. Tomorrow we will enjoy a little time of relaxation before flying out on Sunday. Most of the group is heading back home, but a few of us will take a couple vacay days to head to another country....No meetings, no lessons, no "homework," no schedule and lots of fun! I'm so excited!!

Roughin It!!!

On the road you never know what kind of adventure you'll encounter, even where or who. That's the best part of adventures but when you don't plan ahead for some adventures, things can be less pleasant. For this trip abroad, something I didn't plan for… toilet paper.. That's right, I said it and now the world knows we've been roughin it for a few days. So what exactly do I mean… In the Czech Republic, it's not 2-ply, there's no aloe for soft skin, there's not even a hint of softness to a half ply. What there is.... brown colored hand paper towels on small roll disguised as a roll of toilet paper. A little bit of texture has been crimped into the paper, but there is not denying the course, rough, brown paper truth.
I realize it's not a dramatic adjustment, but it does make me feel very spoiled to know how special that roll at home is…

Guest Blogger Jesse

This morning ALOT Class XII member Jesse Heimer put some thoughts together about one of our daily adventures this week. Jesse is an agribusiness owner and pork producer from Taylor, Missouri.
When we departed the University I was expecting to arrive at a Czech farm that commercially produced rabbits for meat consumption. On this day, the surprise when our bus arrived was definitely for the good. Within our first 20 minutes at Rabbit, it was very obvious that we were bellied up to the table in a corporate boardroom where big decisions have been made to completely “close the cycle” in several sectors of Czech Agriculture. Rabbit is the second largest Agriculture Company in the Czech Republic that counts pork, poultry, layer, rabbit, dairy and crop production as sources of income in a company with four primary shareholders. Crops such as clover, wheat, barley, corn, and poppy seed dot the landscape of thousands of hectares and much of their production is used as feedstuffs for large-scale livestock production. While the fluid milk produced from 3,500 cows is sold to the market before bottling, 50% of the pork, chicken and rabbit products are sold direct in more than 150 retail stores – owned by Rabbit – across the State.

Our visit began with a quick video orientation of the company and was followed by an up-close and personal tour of one of their chicken slaughter facilities. Like many of our experiences in Europe, there were stark contrasts between our tour of this facility and our tour last year of PSF in Milan…and the contrasts don’t begin and end with one slaughtering pork and the other poultry. For starters, I’m referring to loose reigns on security and safety as we meandered through the shackles of chicken. For the first time in all my experiences of touring slaughter facilities, we were allowed to take photos and many occasions we didn’t need zoom. At PSF, every square foot was occupied by assembly lines, processed meat, packaged good or at the very least, employees. During our tour today I was amazed at the amount of unused space in all facets of the facility. In addition, a large percentage of the chicken was finished for retail sale at this facility which resulted in several meat products we don’t see in America.

We didn’t stop at poultry. Our next stop was at one of several dairy farms within the company where a DeLaval milking ‘robot’ is used to milk cows with precision. We observed what many feel is the future of milking as the laser lined up each cup I was impressed. More was to be learned about dairying at another stop so we stepped into the adjacent wheat field and fired questions at Rabbit’s director of crops. When asked about GMO’s he replied, “If everything is perfect with regard to fertilizer, etc, we don’t think we need GMO’s” but in the same breath he stated he would like to use GMO’s but cannot. Perhaps the starkest contrast to America with regard to crop production is their disregard for soil conservation. We haven’t seen a terrace since arriving in Europe and its very obvious when looking at the direction they’ve planted corn, the average farmer here isn’t concerned.

After several kilometers of poppy seed fields, potatoes and of course wheat, we arrived at the largest dairy farm within the Rabbit system where more than 1,000 cows are milked. This particular farm has a new free-stall barn which resembles an American barn in type and nearly in size. The stalls are bedded with recycled manure that is generated by an on farm separator. All manure on the farm ends up at the separator which sends the liquid to an enormous storage tank and the solids are left to heat naturally until the bacteria is killed and is ready to be used as bedding. Arguably the most impressive sighting on the farm was the silage pile. This wasn’t an ordinary silage pile and everyone who touched it agreed…it was the most packed pile of silage we’d ever seen. A true farm boy enjoys the aroma of silage and this group from Missouri spent plenty of time admiring this work of art.

Our tour ended back where we started and we were treated to a delicious lunch which included Czech beer. In fact, all meals here include Czech beer and the calorie overload continues. The centerpiece of lunch was a chicken kabob that is sold in Rabbit retail stores and in this writer’s opinion, its worth buying for another meal. After lunch another question and answer session ensued with none other than the Director – or equivalent to CEO – Mr. Jandejsek. He spent his entire day with our group and we were treated like royalty. With the translation help of PhD student Jan Hucko, our appointed translator and tour guide, we asked questions until we were too full of food and information to ask anymore. He explained that Rabbit was acquired because rabbit meat, the only animals grown and processed then, was a way to reach Western markets and take advantage of higher currency. In the first year, the company employed 23 people and had gross sales of $1.5 million. Today, twenty years later, the company employs 2,000 people with gross sales over $350 million. Sitting around the table many of us listened and watched with admiration as a humble man explained his vision for Czech Agriculture, yet I couldn’t help but realize we’ve seen this before. In America, we’ve seen integration in all facets of agriculture and most often it’s ridiculed, downgraded and beat up at the coffee shop and in the press. But here in Czech land, Rabbit is prospering with a ‘closed cycle’ and their future looks bright.

This day was the perfect experience for a group of agriculture enthusiasts from Missouri. We were exposed to all aspects of Czech agriculture, all under one roof as we’d say in America and it was truly enjoyable. We all left with something learned and for this writer, it was exactly what I hoped to see half way around the world.

We had a little free time over the weekend to take in the sights and sounds of Prague. Aubrey Famuliner, a farmer from Carrollton, and I felt it our duty to help the local economy with a little shopping. Part of our group left the dorms for another adventure and we decided that a couple independent girls can figure things out in a country where we don't speak, read or write the language. We took off for the bus stop with a little bit of drizzle coming down. With the bus stop quickly in view, the drizzle became a heavy sprinkle. During a 15 minute wait we decide it's a good time to document our adventure. When the bus arrives, we consider that it may be on the wrong side of the street but it's raining, it's the right number, the bus is dry! We agree the passing scenery does not look familiar but the bus turns into a loop to head back the other direction.
What a relief… that is until the bus driver motions us to get off with the rest of the passengers…. Looking at each other with a little concern we stay put until the bus driver turns off the engine.















Janet: "It'll all work out"

Aubrey: "We're screwed!"

Aubrey hustles to the front to have a conversation with the very nice Czech-only speaking driver who appears to chuckle. You can't help but hear his thoughts of crazy American girls! Through the global gesture of tapping his watch we realize it's break time.
Whew! So, about one mile away from where we started we wait for the break to end. Finally more people board, the bus starts and off we go down the road past the bus stop where it all started.

Go East ALOT Crew

So now we are in catch up mode because Friday we spent in the airport jetting off to another land, that land…. The Czech Republic. That's right, due east of France on the other side of Germany is where we woke up Saturday morning. We are staying in the university dorms in Prague. Not the fanciest digs we've seen but a pillow and a shower so no reason to complain. The university works a lot with the University of Missouri. In fact, we've seen several students from MU here on the college exchange program. Seems like a great opportunity for the young folks to expand their horizons. In hind sight, would have been an intelligent move while I was in college. I didn't take the opportunity then, but thankfully I've had the chance to experience other cultures through my career in broadcasting.
Saturday we spent the day on campus visiting with university professors about the Czech Republic and the country's ag industry. We pulled together some interesting details too. As you can tell, Jeremy Hayward, an agronomist with MFA, Tim Coppage with Cargill Grain and Glenn Cope, a cattle producer from Southwest Missouri were all paying close attention.
According to Professor Cibulka, there are several interesting differences between the US and the CR. For example, in Czech pork is the number one product on dinner tables and coming in second is poultry. It also turns out that fresh water fish production is very popular. According to Cibulka the top fresh water fish in the country is actually Carp.
Another example, sheep are not used for wool production in the CR because wool is a cheap import from New Zealand and Australia. Instead Czech farmers use sheep primarily for milk production which is then used for cheese. So the next big question, where's the beef? Apparently the cost of beef is so high it's not on the top list for dinner plates in the country.
We did get to tour around the city a little over the weekend. Like France, the place is full of history and amazing architecture. My camera pooped out on me but I did get a couple shots in beforehand.











































Now for other comparisons.. In France last week the cost of food seemed crazy high. Of course the US dollar is weak compared with the Euro. That has some impact on food prices, but the food in France just in general is more expensive. If you were just paying for the food in US dollars without any conversion it was still much higher than the US. In the Czech Republic, although they are a member of the European Union but they don't use the Euro. Instead they still use their own currency which is referred to as Crown. The dollar is stronger than the Crown and, for many of us, our exchange rate was about 13 Crown to 1 US dollar. That sounds good when you get a large number of bills to fill your wallet, but over the weekend we noticed the cost of food and some other items in the Czech Republic are still more expensive than the United States. For example, yesterday we wanted a little taste of home so we had a quick stop at a fast food chain found that can also be found in the United States.
Two pieces of chicken, two sodas, and two fries, averaged about $17 US dollars. In addition, they wanted an additional 60 cents to add ketchup for the fries.

We chose not to have ketchup just because it's wrong.

A Day on the Farm...

From Marsaille we traveled up to the Aix-en-Provence to visit with representatives of the Agriculture industry including President of the National Farmers Union. In the meeting they shared information of how the country deals with farm subsidies. Our first speaker was Claude Rossignol is the Vice President of the Chamber of Agriculture and President of the Regional Farmers Union.

According to some notes from the meeting here are a few things jotted down…
Farmers in France receive 17 Euro's per cubic meter for water. By some rough calculations that's about 201 gallons.
On average, it's about 20,000 Euros for a hectare of tillable farmland with no improvements to the land.
The average farm subsidy is 300 Euro's per hectare.
The average income for farmers in Provence is 29,000 Euros, and 5000 of that is subsidy payment.
Another point made, in the United States, a large portion of consumers can purchase food by choice, i.e. a family who only eats organic products. In France the food purchase is based on price.
Following the meeting we climbed aboard the bus and traveled out of town to an olive farm/winery. Prior to this visit I knew very little about olives except that I don't like to eat them, but we had a very interesting tour and now I even know what an olive tree looks like.
Turns out the olive tree is pretty common in landscaping throughout the area. According to Haccuria, on average an olive tree will produce 180 kilo of olives and generate about 30 liters of olive oil. In 1996 when they created their own olive mill they were converting 100 lbs of olives to 10,000 liters of olive oil. In 2008 the farm will convert 1000 lbs of olives into 100,000 liters of oil through the olive mill you see here.
It takes about one hour to extract the oil from the olive and the by product of seed hull and olive skin is reapplied to the farm acreage to use as fertilizer.
On the Château Virant farm they also produce wine. Like the olive trees the grape vines are located only steps away from their processing facility. Christine attempted to give some insider grape production tips to ALOT members Jay Chism with the University Missouri Extension and Dan Devlin, a row crop producer from Edina, Missouri.
Another little note about wine production, grape harvest begins around August 10th with the same crew they employ for olive harvest. The grapes are slowly squeezed to the juiced can be extracted from the fruit. Once the grape has gone through the necessary process, the product will be in a vat for 10 to 12 hours. For red wine the time in the vat is three weeks. That allows the color of the grape skin to affect the color of the wine.
When you're on a farm, no matter what the commodity, John Crawford with Hamilton State Bank proved farmers still like to check out the farm "toys".

You can take the farm boy out of the "country," but you can't take the country out of the farm boy!!

I'll be back...

Since it's a weekend I'm trying to play catch up. We've jetted off to another location but there's still more to share from France before I reveal too much about today.
On Wednesday morning we hopped aboard the 125mph Bullet train to head south. Train travel is very common throughout Europe and with the view and the comfortable roomy ride I can understand why. Our trip to Marseille, along the southern coast of France, was another brief visit. When we arrived I had 10 minutes to send in a report and change clothes so that explains why there were no pictures. Right away we enjoyed an hour long guided tour around the city. OOhhhhh and what a city it is! Before I get started on pictures, I'm using two different cameras and I seem to keep forgetting which camera I used on which shot. The problem with that, one is digital and the other is 35mm. There are more images that I'd like to share, but I guess not until they are developed.
Just along the coast the group bailed out of the bus to enjoy the breath taking view.
What appears to be the city's highest point is home to another beautiful church. We climbed the zillion steps to enjoy the view and hear the history of the landmark from our tour guide.













The church has been through extensive renovation in recent years. After several million dollars, it's beauty is comparable to the scenery that surrounds it. Inside the church you'll find detail in every inch with gold plated features and mosaic tile everywhere. By the way, every piece of mosaic tile used on the floor, walls and ceiling was no more than a half inch each. It's so finely detailed it didn't even look like mosaic.

















And we all soaked in as much of the view as possible. Here's Janine Darby, a grain and hay producer from Madison, Missouri.









I would say, "Mom, send me money, I'm not leaving," but they've already hauled me to another location and it's a long walk back. Following our tour of the city we visited the Marseille Chamber of Commerce, the first Chamber created in the world. It's very active organization that strives to increase the awareness and success of this gorgeous region. The chamber is located in a large beautiful building overlooking one of the main city streets and it's just a block from the marina. In 2013 they will host the cultural center of Europe, so they have a great location to welcome guests.












This is one of the beautiful rooms on the top floor where we enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres (some were delicious, others had anchovies…. Need I say more?).
The gentleman on the right is Charles Goemaere with the Chamber. I don't have her name, but the young lady is an International Attaché for the US Embassy and standing to her right is William Peterson, an International Lawyer and President of the Mediterranean Business Network. Taking in the conversation is ALOT member Rebecca Townsend who works for Dow Jones Newswires.

Oh, Sweet Paree'

France, what a beautiful region. It's been an amazing week experiencing the French countryside, agriculture industry, interesting people and gaining knowledge of a region I know little about. As I type this I'm sitting in the airport in Marseille, France along the Mediterranean coast. Time has been tight the last couple days so I still have photos to post of Paris!!! We had a very short time in the city of romance and fashion, but it was a neat place to swing through. This is just one of the many amazing Cathedrals that are located throughout France.













In the media we hear quite often that the European countries are environmentally friendly and the rumor appears to carry some weight. There are a lot of roofs that have trees and plants growing on them… not in pots but as a roof. The front of building had just about every plant you could imagine covering the wall all the way to the top. Not only environmentally friendly, but it gave the building an unusual texture and color with flowers and shades of greene.

















Just down the street was the giant piece of architecture we were looking for. The Eiffel Tower proved to be even more massive than I ever imagined.


















I would guess at least four large town squares could fit in the base of the tower. We chose the less ambitious route for getting to the top. They have a large tram like thing that about 40 people could fit in. You have the choice to go to the first deck or the top deck. I went to the top deck to soak in the sunset...










You know Paris is a big city, but when you are that high above the sky and can't see the city limits, you know they're lot of people. To prove it, here's a look to the east...













And when we finally came down, it was getting dark...






As I have previously mentioned, the blue lights on the tower are reported to be in honor of France taking over the Presidential position in the European Union.
I love to take pictures and when I travel I also like to catch a shot of the hotel rooms I stay in. I failed to do that the last couple of times, but I did take this picture outside the window of our magnificent room in Paris…














And looking the other direction...








That's Carroll County farmer Aubrey Famuliner who was in the room next door. We didn't lean out the window too far. It's the fourth floor!
The following morning we packed up again and left town on a Bullet Train to southern France. Everywhere you look, what a view!! I'm a little behind on the pictures, but we've relocated to another country where I should have regular internet access. I can't wait to share pictures of some of the meals we've had. Yes, David I know you'll appreciate that!!

By the way, thanks so much for your comments. I apologize for not sending notes back but please know I love to hear your thoughts!!

Heading South

We've covered thousands of miles already and it's only day 3. Of course many of those miles were on a plane to get here in the first place. Tuesday we made the trek back to Paris and had the unique opportunity to visit the US Embassy in Paris, but we were not allowed to take any pictures. I saw a lady get in trouble for taking pictures across the street, so between that and the guns the guards were carrying, I decided not to risk taking a photo.
During out visit we me with Elizabeth Berry, Administrative Counselor for Ag Affairs at the US Embassy. We had an interesting discussion with her about trade between the United States and France. For example, each year the United States imports $2.3 billion in goods from France. On the flip side, France only imports about $700,000 in goods from the US each year. Quite a difference that I'm sure France does not mind. According to Berry France has come up with several reasons to keep our products out of the country, but of course none grounded on scientific basis, but lame excuses and delays. The prospect for change does not seem ideal because France just took over Presidency of the European Union July 1st. Needless to say, that gives the country and little more muscle to flex.
Moving on to more fun topics, Tuesday night we had the chance to do what everyone in Paris should do…. Climb the Eiffel Tower. Well, we didn't climb so much as ride the tram to the top, thank goodness. The pictures do not do it justice but I'll try anyway.

Following our trip to the top, many in the group took a boat ride on the Seine River around many parts of the city. While they did that, the rest of us took a hike to the Arch De Triumph. According to ALOT class member/tour guide Johnny Veibrock, Napolean built the massive piece of beautiful architecture for his wife.

It rains ALOT here too,

The ALOT Class XII adventure continues in France. Yesterday we were on Omaha Beach. This is another photo of La pointe du Hoc where the bomb craters and German bunkers were located. Several ALOT class members have gathered in a bunker out of the rain to listen to our guide.


By the way, thanks for the notes. It's great to know someone is reading and checking out whats going on. Keep me posted and I'll do the same!!

Over the edge of the cliff is Utah beach where soldiers first landed on D-day. Those cliffs were only one of many obstacles they had to overcome.













And many of those who lost their life in the battle were laid to rest here in France. Following the war, the land for the cemetery was donated to the United States.













One thing we have learned for travel sake, bring your umbrella. On each tour the sun was out until we were a hundred yards away from the bus. That's when Mother Nature would cut loose with a little rain and wind. As you can see Garrett Hawkins and Dan Devlin were looking very fresh following our rainy hike.


Later in the day we traveled east to Reams, France located northeast of Paris. We learned a little about the Champaign Industry in France and how they are trying to protect the Champaign name. I'll work on posting the audio so you can take a listen to the report instead of writing everything out.
Following Monday's lesson, today we visited one of the well known Champaign companies for a tour of the Champaign Caves where they age 100's of thousands (if not millions) of bottles of their delicious product. I say delicious because they insisted that we try their Champaign. Being the grateful and obedient guests that we are, we were happy to oblige. Te he he…hiccup hiccup..

This is ALOT Class member Vance Keaton. As Vance was holding the bottle we learned its value is somewhere around $15,000. They were preparing several of these large bottles to be shipped to the purchaser located somewhere in Dubai. That's Jeff Case overseeing things and trying to figure out how to get that thing home before they notice.

A New Adventure

As I type this message, we are driving down the road taking in more of the French countryside. I'll first say the buses are not too easy to type on, due to lack of legroom and the fact we're driving down the highway. We spent this morning on Utah beach, where US troops landed on D-Day at the start of World War II. Following that stopped we moved over to the cemetery where soldiers who lost their lives during the battle are buried. There's about 175 acres that France turned over to the United States Including the Cemetery memorial and the memorial that has been erected at Omaha Beach. I'll try and post additional photos later. My computer does not seem to speak French either so we are having issues. This is a photo of Utah beach. The German soldiers used these bunkers for protection and firing weapons. The lumps in the ground you see are where bombs fell around them.













Now for a couple observations I've made, starting with the flight into Paris. The farmland from the coast into France appears to be in very small plots and that appear rather choppy. Most of the acres were not squared off either. However, as we flew close to Paris, each field dedicated to agriculture production was larger and a little more similar to the U.S. Midwest. Another observation of the countryside, it really is kind of what you might expect. Many of the homes are stone with red roofs. Not all of them are red, but many of them are and it's kind of an interesting sight. They also appear to love flowers and tree. Along many roadsides there are young trees lining the shoulder. Every house is surrounds by beautiful flowering bushes in the yard with window boxes draped in pink red or white flowers too.

Happy Independence Day!

Every family has traditions, most often surrounding the Winter months but something I remember as a child may be a little different. In the Ozarks this time of year, combines are usually rolling. Not for corn or soybeans, but fescue, the perennial crop that a lot of people use as grass seed for their yard. My dad and brother logged many hours in the combine taking in another fescue crop. Each bin would be dumped into Greeny, the ol dump truck. At the end of the day we'd drive Greeny to town to unload and wait in line for our turn. From the top of the hill I could see the fireworks from the fairgrounds 5 or 6 miles away north. Every 4^th of July I think of those days. I also think of mom's lemon tea, a mixture of lemonade and iced tea, which, come to think of, I've not had in years. I know what I'm going to drink tomorrow!!

And the fair tries to draw to a close… Sunday August 19th

Rise and shine, it’s time to load things up. While packing I call Mike just to confirm that he has the missing golf cart. That's a no. I look around the trailer, another no. Now what do I do about my missing, borrowed golf cart?

While my friend Brad and I drive around the campground in search of the cart I realize this is not going to be easy. Do you know how many white two seater golf carts exist? Exactly! I don't usually get too worried but its time to call in the professionals. For cryin out load the thing could be on the way to Mexico!

As the State Patrol pulls up, Mike calls. He’s at the Red Radio and there’s an abandoned golf cart 20 feet away that could be ours. My first thought, I know that I didn't spend much time in the Bud Tent, so I DID NOT leave it behind.

Mike checks it out and thankfully it is our golf cart. Now who played this little prank? While racking my memory, I continue loading my stuff. On the last bundle, my neighbors (who helped put the awning down) ask if my golf cart was stolen. They were enjoying the evening of fresh air around midnight when a couple guys zipped by on another golf cart. Ten minutes later the two walk (stagger) back, heading back to the fairgrounds, intoxicated and whispering about their search for another cart. When the two notice my neighbors they try to casually walk away. Within minutes one of them comes from the other side of my trailer jumps on the golf cart and zooms away. Not very subtle huh?

So did my neighbors see who it was? Do I know who they were? No!

According to my friendly neighbor, "it was a cowboy and a midget cowboy!” (I'm sorry, it's not politically correct)

Just to confirm I understand things, you mean a tall guy and a short guy, or a tall guy and………Wizard of Oz size guy?

Friendly Neighbor: "Seriously, Wizard of Oz” No Way!!

That sums it up, I don’t know who did it. Later that day I visited with my friend Stacy at the Gerken Dairy Center. When I told her the story she laughed and told me the bandits had been in the dairy center the day before getting ice cream and were part of the set up crew for the concert the previous night!

So here is what my deductive reasoning tells me… thankfully, bandits eat ice cream. Also as part of the set up crew, they entertain themselves during the concert by "borrowing" a golf cart from the fairgrounds and dump it in the campground. Instead of walking back they "borrow" a cart from the campground (ours) and take it back to the concert grandstand when they are ready to call it a night. Just so happens, that's where the radio is parked. Whew, it's time to go home!

So in 2007 State Fair Summary…

A saturated Jeep

An uncooperative Air conditioner

1 written warning on the golf cart

Mike’s car towed -- twice

Mike’s new cell phone… flattened

Janet’s keys, locked up -- twice

Two golf carts -- one busted, one stolen

Two sets of neighbors coming to the rescue

Two cowboys, one average and one vertically challenged

And 11 days of good ol fun you won’t find anywhere but at the state fair….. Priceless!

It's raining, what a surprise...

Another day which means another morning, afternoon, and evening of rain lightening and thunder. Glad I had the fun of fixing the gutter yesterday. Did it work? I don't see buckets of water pouring down in front of the window, but its wet and I'm not stepping out to check it out...

Back to the fair...

Saturday, August 18th

By now, we’ve had several experiences. The past couple days have been surprisingly calm. As I sat in the radio that morning I had a feeling. Somewhere deep inside there is another story in this 2007 State Fair. When, what, who, I have no idea but there is a sneaking suspicion.

It's Saturday night and the last night of the fair. I decide to leave the golf cart at the camper for the evening and enjoy the grounds on foot. By 1 a.m. I'm back at the camper and I realize the golf cart is gone. It has to be one of two options.

a. Mike and his family took it for the evening.

b. Someone is playing a joke and moved it a short distance just to hide it for the night.

Holy House!

That’s how I feel tonight after spending time closer to the skyline. My mom and nephew are here visiting this week. Mom does a pretty good job of keeping busy so that means a lot of things get accomplished around here. My spare bedroom now has a fresh coat of paint on it. I came home from work yesterday and finished up the top part. Mom had an unfortunate encounter with a ladder a few years ago so she avoids those these days.

Tonight I came home to another home prepared meal. After that we stepped outside to tackle another chore. With all the rain my gutters are working overtime and have started pulling away from the house in revolt. When it rains, water pours down from the gutter and it’s found a way into the dark depths of my basement…. Blah!!!

I’ve been trying to sweep the water out each day and hope for things to dry, but before you know it there’s more rain. Tonight, while mom is here to break my fall or call for an ambulance if necessary, I climbed on the house to fix the gutters. After scooting all the way around the house and replacing a few things, we are back in business!! Hopefully that will hold for a while.

The countdown is on for the next big adventure which means I need to wrap up the state fair. Stay tuned and we’ll finish things before we start the next adventure.

Back to the fair…

Thursday, August 16^th

We are back in business now that we have a golf cart again. As we travel the grounds interviewing people attending the event, one of us will be in the Red Radio while the other is on the grounds doing the interviews. We use our cell phones to keep in touch and know when an interview is ready to begin. During one such report Mike is ready to do an interview but realizes his cell phone is gone. After backtracking to where he has been on the golf cart he finds the phone in the road where its been crushed by a truck and trailer. It doesn’t work any more.