On State Fairs, and General Weekend Madness

I really can't believe that today is Sunday, and in September. Time goes by too fast- it only feels like the beginning of of August. Its a long weekend, longer because I took Thursday, and Friday off.

I ran some errands on Thursday, and even opened a savings account with my bank for emergencies. Yeah Me! Friday I went to that Great Minnesota Get Together- The State Fair- The weather was absolutely wonderful, and I had a lot of fun. The best thing I had to eat all day was the Australian battered potatoes with ranch dressing, and cheese, Yum! My friend tried the hotdish on a stick, and I got to taste it. It was okay, although not great. I got a pronto pup, and cream puff. I believe I had a shaved ice too. I got a bucket of Sweet Martha's cookies for my gimpy sister (she had ankle surgery recently), and got a glass of milk.

The exhibits were pretty much the same as years past, although I don't know how the people with the high absorbency orange towels get to have three booths, in three separate buildings. I do have a critique of the U of M building. A few years ago they got a building all to themselves. Okay, fine. Makes sense. Sell some gopher tickets to unsuspecting people, maybe sell a few hats but they don't even have a presence in the education building, which is where most high school kids and parents go first for information about higher education in Minnesota! but the worst part is that the other colleges in the U of M system were not even present, besides a sign on one wall of the building- It was all U of M Twin Cities, and Gophers. NO Bulldogs, NO UMD, NO Morris, No Nothing! WTF! As an alumni of the UMD (that's the Duluth Campus for those not up on school nomenclature) I am offended! Doesn't my school count? What about those from Morris, or Rochester? If I wasn't familiar with the school system, I wouldn't know that these schools existed- The U of M state fair committee really needs representatives from the other schools when designing an exhibit like this..

There are two things that tied for Coolest State Fair exhibit- The Kashi Cereal Company was giving away free Cereal with Milk (well vanilla soy milk- but it was really good) After those greasy Australian battered potatoes, It really hit the spot. Kashi was also sponsoring informal yoga classes- Which was very cool. Montevideo really needs a yoga class. The other cool thing was the Eco Building- it used to be the Wonders of Technology, but now it is about living in a environmentally friendly way. I really like the rain catcher thing. The gutters of a roof funneled the water onto a piece of chain with square boxes that caught the water. The box would fell up, and overrun into the one below it. It had a gorgeous design, and slowed down the water. When I get a house, I will have one of these. The whole Eco exhibit was the coolest thing of the whole fair.

Well, I spent my Saturday running to Eden Prairie to pick up my cell phone which is where I left it. I stopped at the Local Yarn Store there, and got more yarn, Lamb's Pride, which is just awesome. Better than Pattons, and Better than Cascade. All the cars in the yarn store were either of the large SUV variety, or of the Lexus variety. I really couldn't afford most of the yarn in that store. Although, I loved all of it! The lamb's pride was reasonably priced. As for the yarn I bought- I'm hoping to turn the yarn into a hat and scarf, with possible mittens for the silent auction at the Winsted Library Book Sale. I started the hat yesterday, and even came up with my own simple pattern. I think I'm going to have a hard time giving this set away.

On Saturday, I also went out to eat with my Mom, and Grandma at Carlson's Apple Orchard. They have this little cafe type place, with only a few items on the menu, all very tasty. I got the roast beef and tomato pesto on foccacia bread, with chicken wild rice soup. Yum. Its really sad that its only open a few months out of the year as since this is really the best place to eat for about twenty miles around. My only complaint, is that its not quite apple cider season yet. I love Apple Cider. I can go through a gallon in about two days.