Sunday, September 23, 2007

Take Me Out to the State Fair: Observing Humanity in it's Most Raw Form

Todd took me to the Utah State Fair last weekend.

take me out to the fairgrounds...

We went on the last night of the fair, so people were out in all their fair splendor. I wish I had been a little more brazen about my photo-documentation. People dress CRAZY to go to the fair. Because we went at dusk, the nice people had left for the evening and the weirdos were out and about. We had not been there five minutes when we saw this:

santa checking out the gas stoves

Santa checking out the gas stoves...no joke. Later that night we saw Santa being followed around by little kids begging for pictures with him. Santa was there for a good time, not for publicity. Ah, the curse of celebrity...

the ferris wheel

Isn't this classic? Iconic? It was such a lovely night! Who can resist a fair?

carnival night sky

By this time, we were scouting out the rides and looking for corndogs and funnel cakes. But we had to meet Tyler & Brittany and Tyanna & Chris. They were at the grandstand watching the tractor pull.

the tractor pull

A tractor pull consists of various parts of machinery none of which look like tractors. I couldn't tell if the tractors were supposed to do the pulling or be pulled.

the gang

Brittany really wanted to go on some rides, but we decided to go see the animals first. This is really my favorite part of the fair...the animal judging.

pig auction

This is the pig auction.

pig being abused by a 4-H-er

This is the pig being bullied and abused by the 4-H-er. She was also bullying and abusing us by telling us to MOVE! (Yes, she was talking to US that way and not the pig...charming.)

sheep shearing

This sheep was getting a hair cut...a wool cut. Sheep are really cute from a distance, but up close, they are freaky looking.

After the animal viewing, we located the only ride Brittany wanted to go on. She plans on it all year, and had previously asked me to be her ride partner. I readily agreed. The tickets for the rides were about $.85 per ticket and each ride took 2-5 tickets. Fairs are not for the rich (or the wise). Brittany and I got in line and Todd got a corndog...a huge corndog.

looks harmless enough

Concealed with in the corndog was a deadly weapon. I'm glad he did not impale himself.

concealed is a deadly weapon


Brittany's ride of choice: THE ZIPPER

the ride...the experience

You get into a cage and get flipped around while going up and down. I guess the ride DOES look vaguely like a giant zipper.

Here is the nice carnival man who closed us into the death cage.

getting into the cage of death

The cage is VERY small with a VERY tight bar that closes down over your lap. Here we go:

here we go

They only load every other car at a time, so we got off to a slow start, but from the second we got into the cage it was non-stop laughter. The anticipation was killing us as the slowly filled the other cages. Some cages stayed empty to what we speculated was vomit damage.

Once we got started it was non-stop laughing and flipping and screaming. The cage flipped over and over and my HUGE necklace kept hitting my teeth. I had to hold onto it with one hand and hold on to dear life with the other.

blue sparkles fying past

All those blue sparkling cages was a sight to behold. After an eternity of spinning and flipping and laughing and screaming, they slowed down to let more people off and on. Somehow our cage got forgotten and the ride started up again. For one scary moment we both imagined being forgotten for the rest of the night, and the bile began to rise.

we are in a cage...for reals

One round was fun and hilarious, but the during the second round the laughter was a little more manic...tinged with slight panic. I had tears streaming from laughing so hard.

Oh the relief of getting off!

no turning back now

We made it!

zipper survivors

We all had tickets left over, so we went on a smaller ride called Moby Dick. It was fun, too with lots of laughing and screaming. I was hoarse and beginning to cough up phlegm. I needed a funnel cake.


i'm sitting on blue sparlking vinyl

Weeeeee!


here we go


After a couple of $4 corndogs and $5 sodas, we found the funnel cake stand. We consumed our entire daily allotment of calories in one sitting. YUM! Then we watched Tyanna, Chris, Brittany, and Tyler play dodge ball. Way fun.

tether ball champs

It was a $40 dollars well spent for some carnal pleasure at the carnival.

Adieu until next year...

Join us next year!

13 comments:

Carrie Anne said...

You make me laugh!:) It was so fun to see you Sat night...fun to relive St. Louis memories. I love the funny moments you had at the State Fair. We went, too, and I'd never been to one before...and believe me, there are weirdos during the day, too.:) Don't be a stranger new blogger friend! Love, The Other Carrie Anne Rhodes:)

mo said...

Yeah, maybe it's a good thing Dad and I didn't join you. We would have been real wet blankets. You have to be young to consume funnel cakes and giant corn dogs AND do rides that induce vomiting. But I loved reading about it!!!

Emma Jo said...

Just the mention of bile makes me want to vomit. We went to a fair last weekend too. I need to write about it...it wasn't as exciting as yours, and I think lots more white trash...and no Santa.

the wrath of khandrea said...

oh boy. i actually laughed out loud just picturing you laughing in that maniacal way on round 2 of the zipper. crazed laughter is a precious thing.
hey mo! wet blankets are fine. i myself am one. so if you want to hit the fair and watch other people lose their loose change on upside-down rides, i'll help you collect it at the bottom!

Abby said...

You make me laugh. Har har. And I forgot how much I like your brown hair. It looks super pretty. So does your shirt.

Laura said...

That corn dog is really disturbing...

Melissa said...

Oh Carrie...you're going to wish your husband hadn't said the word, "blog" in front of me. I will stalk you several times/day, and my mood towards you will depend on how recently you've enriched my life. I'm pretty much in love with your blog. Why is my husband watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...THE MOVIE? Guess I have my next post. Good to see you tonight, you and Brittney always look so hot.

Hatchgirls1 said...

Hi Todd and Carrie Ann (I hope I spelled that right!) This is Rebekah Reber Hatch and I stumbled onto your blog through Dustin Wirig's blog! I knew Todd in highschool and I must say I found your blog very amusing! I've wondered where he ended up over the years and I'm so glad he married such a smart, beautiful woman! You are so cute!
Feel free to check out my family blog - ryanhatchfamily.blogspot.com

SP said...

I have ALWAYS been a fan of the Zipper next to the "Gravatron"...dun, dun, dun....

Wendy said...

Yeah for carnivals! I love those types of rides where you can't stop laughing, partially due to fright and partially due to fun - I had that experience once on a Ferris Wheel at Lagoon. I didn't know those things could be so frightening.

Rynell said...

I laughed when I read about Zipper (part dos).

And, somehow, your hair looks perfect brown OR blond. How versatile you are...

heidi said...

Hi Carrie. I'm a bad friend.

I'm happy you're blogging again. You make me laugh. I really really love your hair. It makes me want to cut mine (I'm in the awkward growing it out stage).

That corn dog was creepily long. I have to show Gary that picture.

Courtney said...

I can't stop laughing right now. I'm seriously in shock. I normally like to eat a corn dog now and then, but right now I'm just plain alarmed. Seriously, that is not right--that corn dog. And this is not in any sick perv way...its just that it does look like it contains a serious weapon. Holy cow. :o)