I think that most of you had already heard about my injury after the spill from my motorcycle. All-in-all, I was pretty lucky coming out of it with a separated shoulder and scraped up knee. Probably the biggest downer for me has been the lack of golf. So, in place of it, I decided that I'd do some activities that have gone by the wayside for lack of available time. That's what the extra trip to Colt's Camp was about. The next activity on the list would be a visit to the Indiana State Fair. It's really been a long, long time since I attended. I think that the last time Patty attended was when our kids were quite young (and I didn't go then). Thinking back, (for me) it probably was before our kids were born and the young version of Cliff Rohde came a visiting Indiana. I'm thinking that was about 33 years ago. So, it has been a long time.......
We've had just a beautiful month of August in Indiana. We've had very little rain and temperatures have been in the low 80's. You can't beat that for this time of year. So, the weather was good and the time was available so "why not go?".
We left the house around 9:30 AM and entered the fairgrounds on the northeast entrance and parked. School was already back in session around here so the crowds were way down from earlier in the week. We began by taking the tram (pulled by a bio-diesel tractor) around the grounds, passing the grandstand and "Main Street", going through the newly constructed covered bridge and getting off at the "Celebration Park" corner. Here, we entered the 4-H Exhibit Hall. We really enjoyed seeing the exhibits that the kids put together here. Lots of 3x2 posters, original artwork, crafts, and the like. It was heartening to know that there are still lots of kids around who make the time and effort to put these projects together. They were really fun to look at. From there, we saw the Butterfly Park and lumberjack exhibit, heading back toward Main Street. On the way, we went into the Ag/Hort building and took a gander at the many fine vegetables, plants, and flowers on display. We stopped for some lunch at a booth on Main Street before continuing.
After lunch, it was time to see the farm animal exhibits. What a gas! First, we entered the cattle barn where dairy cows were relaxing contently and/or being milked. We slipped through the building and entered the storied Pepsi Coliseum. Here, youngsters paraded their cattle past judges with a critical eye while folks like us, up in the seats, watched. Leaving the cattle barn, we next entered the Sheep Barn. Immediately, we noted some sheep-shearing going on while most of the barn was empty. We walked toward the rear and spotted some lambs needing a little attention. Patty scratched one lamb's head giving both some scratcher and scratchee some enjoyment (followed by extensive hand washing by the scratcher). Next stop along the trail was the hog barn. Lot's of smelly, noisy pigs to see along with the one called the "World's Largest Boar". As expected, the newborn pigs stole the show. We ended our farm animal tour in the Poultry Barn. What a cacophony of noise in this place with chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits filling our senses with sounds and smells.
By now, it was nearly 3 PM. We stopped to see the WISH-TV weather show in the "Our Land Pavilion". We made the big loop back to the car, bought some junk food (caramel corn), and briefly observed the "cross cut saw" demonstration (where the Governor's wife and State Fair Queen participated) in the Pioneer Village area.
All-in-all, we had a fine time seeing Indiana's finest, yearly exhibit. 
(L)This year's theme at the Fair (R) Patty, attending to a lamb's scritch-scratching
(L) Rooster in the Poultry Building (R) view of the fair's midway
Pigs & Roosters put on a show at the fair.
Jim Nabors "Back Home Again" for background music.
Musical Slide Show of all our State Fair Photos.
Background music: "On the Banks of the Wabash"
See the same photos in higher resolution with annotations here:
http://www.philmarder.com/marderhomepage/photogallery/State_Fair_2008/index.html
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