Wednesday GUEST Blog

8-22-12 missing brain

"Sure - I'll let Ann be Oprah" ~Judy

Best Damn Fair In The Land, Iowa State Fair - Part One

Whew! Exhausted after spending two full days and three evenings at the Fair. Yes, I’ve written about the Fair and so has Judy, buy wow I love the Iowa State Fair. Some ask “how do you afford going so many times and what do you do”? Well here’s the answer in a two-part report.

When the 11 day schedule comes out, I make my own schedule to see who’s going to be on one of four free stages, yep you heard me, free music with the price of admission ($10 or $5 after 5 pm). I picked five days I would attend. The budget starts there.

Can you actually go to the Fair without buying a lot of junk food? Yep, did that two days, man what will power. Actually, I’m very frugal to a point of obsession.

Parking, well I could take the $2 shuttle, pay $10 at the gate, $6 or so to park on someone’s front yard or find a spot on the street. Yep, drove the Jeep, so no problem with a free parking.

Other than a few animals, the butter cow, chocolate moose, the beauty cakes and the cookbooks at the Varied Industries Bldg, I saw a lot of great bands and heard some great music. Here’s a pic from singer #1, Dia Frampton. Isn’t she cute? 

Wednesday I saw Dia Frampton, runner up from the Voice – Season 1. She was coached by Team Blake Shelton. She did a great job and I got to meet her. After the show I read her bio, wow, she’s been singing for 10 years. She’s sweet as can be, loves cupcakes and Tom Petty and she kept saying “saddle up” to her lead guitarist when he stopped playing. This pic reminds me of Dia. 

Thursday Judy and I went to the Beatles Band - Strawberry Fields, they were great (I caught them on Wednesday after Dia) and Judy was a sport to stay until 10:30. Here’s a pic from the Sergeant Pepper era. 

Friday I worked at the MidAmerican Energy building, four hours of fun I say that with a smile. I worked the 4 to 8 shift then went home to clean, guests coming for two days.
You would think I would be tired after three evenings, but nope, I have 24 hours of Fair fun along with a pit stop at the Knapp Center for the Olympic Homecoming (more on that later) for the weekend. Gotta Run but I’ll leave you these three pics that sum up my love of cakes, stuff and friends. Cakes- John Wayne’s house in Winterset, American Legion for marine dude John and the peacock for Molly.  Stuff- the glass art that I need to get back to, and of course … peas ‘n carrots eating healthy. Yep, Oprah has Gayle and I have Judy, BFF. 

Chat Later, That Girl
Ann Marie