Carroll County Fair

This week was a little boring, but Karen and I tried to make the best of it. Mom is doing the same and Dad’s doing better with his hip stuff, eyesight really hasn’t changed and the endocrinologist hasn’t called back. Unfortunately I’m not surprised.

Since Karen and I have been out here we’ve wanted to go and do things that we wouldn’t ordinarily do. This past weekend we went to the Carroll County Fair, Karen has never been to a fair and I thought it was about time she attended one. The fair was a good time and quite interesting. We got to see what a county fair is like in the country. Plenty of cows, pigs and horses. Chickens we not allowed due to the current bird flu issues in the area. We spent a good amount of time watching the equestrian events (from the stands) since Karen is terribly afraid of horses. I enjoyed watching the horses and Karen enjoyed the fancy country type clothes the riders wore. I have to admit that some of the riders looked as though they came straight out of a magazine.

Both of us enjoyed the tractor pulls, I haven't seen one since I was a little kid. I think Karen enjoyed them more than me and feels that she’s missed out on something during her childhood. She actually texted her dad and asked why he never got involved in the pulls.

Kids started to pull as early as 10 years old

There were older participants also.

Participants get serious

Very cool but not the winner

One other thing on our agenda was the “Funky Monkey Wrestling”. Both of us were not sure what it was but quickly learned, or should I say witnessed what it was. I have to say it put big smiles on our faces and we watched the carnival version of pro wrestling. It was hilarious for the first 10 minutes but we quickly got tired of the corny acting and fake fighting. I have to say the small kids really seemed to like it and actually would heckle the wrestlers.

Karen wants me to get a pair of shorts like this.

We could only watch for a few minutes.

We were attempting to win an auction for one of several chain saw carvings that were created during the fair but the bidding quickly got out of my price range. It appears that corn and soy beans have been very good to the farmers out here since the bidding quickly went over the $400 mark, much more than I was willing to spend. I’m not saying the statues weren't worth it, just not worth it to me.

The grand finally of the night was the demolition derby. The fair really started filling up as 7:00 came about. Luckily we had pre-purchased our tickets, I believe it was a sellout. The Derby started out with 20 kids driving their little plastic battery powered cars. They had 8 minutes to crash as much as possible. It was great! The announcer stated that there was far less crying by the kids as opposed to the adult drivers.

It was fun to watch the kids. We only saw one child in tears.

After the kids the real demo derby started. I forgot how loud the cars are and was thankful that our seats were 10 rows off the track. We did get hit with mud a time or two but far less than the people in the rows in front of us. The drivers were mostly local but some from as far away as Elgin and Clinton. We both learned that Busch beer is the favorite beer of the derby contestants as the cans quickly spilled out of the cars after each hard hit. Karen was rooting for #173c, the only woman driver in the last event but it was not to be as a 1970s Buick station wagon took 1st place.

The Stars and Bars still fly out here.

Since it was a dry fair we decided to stop in Lanark and have a beer at the Crooked Roof bar before heading home. As we entered we quickly got the “these people aren’t from around here” look. We settled in and got to know the bartender. Plan on going back some Saturday to try their Prime Rib dinner that she bragged up. After a Blue Moon and a Vanilla Rum we were off for a half hour drive our current home for another 20 days.

We’ll be living by ourselves in West Dundee by the end of the month. Hooray! We love my parents, but as my dad says, “The best way to have a good relationship with your adult kids is not to live with them”. Stated very well Dad!