My wife, Pax, and I along with Melissa and Mark Oira all headed out this morning to the Minnesota State Fair! We drove for the first time in a very long time since Park & Ride‘s are very convenient (so long as you don’t have a baby and all the things babies need with you).  Our excitement grew as we pulled into our grassy lot spot near the northern end of the grounds.

However, the moment we opened our doors, we realized we were in for a sweaty trip. Heat infiltrated our A/Ced auto quicker than you can say “_____”.  Quickly, we slopped on the 50 S.P.F. ‘screen and were on our way into the entrance of the fair.

With hopes higher than the giant slide we got our gait on and, oops, I realized I had left the group in the dust because I have such lengthy legs I seem to walk at the speed of light. Thinking about fair food along with anticipation from planning that went beforehand seemed to have boosted my pace and to keep myself in check I had to frequently look over my shoulder. So here we are at the fair, walking past the familiar John Deere lane with hundreds of green and yellow tractors and lawn mowers and looking down the vehicle-vacant roads at the hundreds of heads bobbing up and down in the distance. Families, friends, fanny packs, Hover Rounds and strollers intermixed into one giant weave of Minnesota fabric. Ahhh, same old, same old.

Actually, one of the things I don’t like about the fair is that everything is always the same. Some tradition is nice, but I think after going for so many years in a row all the tradition becomes blah and boring. I see the same vendors, the same foods, the same everything. The only big new items at the fair seem to be one or two new food vendors selling something on a stick. I think it would be most refreshing if the fair had a major overhaul of all the vendors, minus maybe some staples like the giant slide and the cheese curds in the food building.

Now we’re waiting in line at the first stand for the day–Mark is getting walleye fries at Giggles campfire grill–and we’re discussing our itinerary which goes from 9-12ish because the heat index is 110 degrees today. We need the food-building cheese curds, a poncho dog (not the pronto pup, as the poncho dog has corn bread as the breading) and a soda immediately and set off as soon as Mark receives his golden walleye nuggs. The morning temperature was a decent 87 degrees.

The temperature continued to rise until we were a sweaty mess. Full of liquid sugar and half-digested meat, my pace had slowed to a zombie crawl. We slashed our itinerary to the final necessities and bee lined to our 400 degree ride home. Somehow Pax made it through the day okay, probably from the misting fan we had on him the whole time. The rest of us were in need of a serious cool down and a nap, followed by Culvers amazing concrete mixers.

The day’s damage from Ang and I: 3 Poncho Dogs, 1.25 Footlong Hot Dogs (the .25 thanks to Mark), 40 oz. of soda, and of course cheese curds. Also added to the list are two very cute wooden car toys we got for Paxton made by the special craftsmen of Greg’s Toys–find them in the larger building of Heritage Square.