Nebraska State Fair

Sunday, Aug 27 – Monday, Aug 28…

Sunday: Moving on to Grand Island (NE), where Greg will visit one of his mother’s cousins and we both will visit the Nebraska State Fair and Stuhr Museum.  It’s not a long drive, so no rush to leave early. Staying at the Elks Club in GI – nothing aesthetically pleasing about the location, but we have water & elec hook-ups and a couple nice neighbors (2 women, traveling together but each w/ her own dog and own rig). Greg found his mom’s 99-year-old cousin, who shared several memories of her childhood with Rosalie (Greg’s mom). Later Rosalie (98, and still pretty sharp) corrected some of the details. Other than that, it was pretty much just relax and check out info about the fair, which we’ll visit tomorrow.

Missouri River at Nebraska City

Platte River, near Grand Island. Here, as over most of its length, it's a muddy,
broad, shallow, meandering stream with a swampy bottom and many islands.

Monday is FAIR DAY!  A short drive brings us to the grounds and free parking. Tickets are a whopping $5, which includes probably a dozen performers. Only the midway and big-name evening concerts require separate tickets. 😃  We catch the end of a clogging demonstration, then join a small crowd on bleachers to watch Moto-Mania - 2 motorcyclists & an aerial artist, who eventually end up together in a steel cage, cycles zipping around the young woman standing calmly in the center. 

All about balance.

Cage about 20' diameter. Timing is everything.
(Aerialist hasn't joined them yet.)

The rest of the day includes 4-H exhibits (fabulous - every kid in America should be in 4-H), Raising Nebraska (permanent exhibits relevant to agriculture), the One Man Band & Son, the Birthing Barn (day old piglets and chicks hatching as we watched), a 3000-lb steer, caramel corn ice cream, lots of antique farm equipment, a ride on a (new & huge) combine, 600 quilts, and an accordion concert. Beautiful weather, no crowds (but lots of school kids, each class in matching T-shirts). 

All sorts of crops, lawn grasses & such out here. I finally learned that the "short
corn w/ a big ball of fuzz at the top" we've seen occasionally is actually sorghum.

4-H  Recycling Projects
(turn an unused item into something new & useful)

One-Man Band & Son. The son is
 playing a tubulum, designed &
built by his dad.

The variety of quilts is endless...

The center one was one of my faves (but I had a LOT of faves!)

A ton (literally) of steak...

 tiny chicks....

and a fluffy Angora rabbit.

 TRACTORS...

old ones →

very new ones

and occasionally a very personal one.

Sand artist working in the Raising Nebraska building. 

BlogThoughts... 1. Sometimes I enjoyed the school kids as much as the exhibits. When we were watching the Moto-Maniacs, a boy maybe 7 or 8 years old was 110% into the danger factor. I think I spent more time watching and listening ("Omigosh!" "Look at that..." ) to him than I did the act itself.  2. Inside the Raising Nebraska Bldg there was a free postcard kiosk. Not only were the postcards free, but if you addressed it and dropped it in the box, the fair folks added a stamp and mailed it for you. We sent one to Greg's mom.  3.The One-Man Band was absolutely my favorite thing of the day. He built the 9.1-instrument rig, and how he manages to coordinate leg and foot movements in addition to the guitar and either voice or harmonica is just beyond me. The son (15, I think) has been part of the act since he was 7. His "mallets" are flip-flop soles attached to cake spatulas. They're on the road 6 months of the year and love what they're doing. Check out marcdobson.com for videos and more info.

Postscript Pics from Greg...

(Erica, take note. I imagine quinoa has more fiber. 😃)

(gives you a sense of scale)

Swell lookin' Swine
(Trust me, the real sows we saw in the birthing barn
were not nearly so attractive!)