County Fair

So Kevin and I decided to take the kids to the Saratoga County Fair. Now, I haven't been to a county fair, hmmm, let's say, for as long as I can recall. The last event that was close to it in theory, was the State Fair in Texas, that is held in Dallas. That is as big as the city of Dallas. So, I knew that this would not be like that, since Dallas is the size of Saratoga and its surrounding areas combined! The primary reason for attending SCF is that both Autumn and Grace have had artwork of theirs selected by their art teacher to be on display at the fair. And to have some fun on all the rides, of course.

As we were headed out of Saratoga towards Ballston Spa and the fairgrounds, we stopped and got what I considered to be a fair amount of cash to get us through a few hours ($80) and some fun rides. We parked ($5) across the street from the grounds, a short walk from the entrance. We wait in line, at which time I see there is an entry fee (WHAT?! kinda crap is that?). So after paying $40 just to get in,  we then discover that the price for a single ticket is $1 and that each ride takes anywhere from 3-5, OR you can buy a bracelet for the day of unlimited riding at $20 a pop. I immediately ran to the ATM and got MORE MONEY. And proceeded to buy the three kids who could ride most of the rides a bracelet. It only took about three rides for that to make sense. The kids loved the rides(favorite? Tilt-A-Whirl, which oddly enough, is my very favorite ride in the whole world. But I couldn't ride it because it cost too much!) There were all sorts of rides that you would expect from a fair/carnival experience. Swings, big slides, carousel, bumper cars, fun houses, etc etc blah blah blah. And a few that we didn't expect. Like a swings ride that doesn't just go around, but also lifts you like 80 feet in the air while swinging you around. The kids were dying to get on that one. And panicky me looked at Kevin and said, if the kids get on that ride, I may go into cardiac arrest. Can't be done. The other expected aspect of this fair was the disgusting, and what else, overpriced, food. We indulged in a funnel cake, which I can say first hand was quite good. I could not bring myself to buy lunch there, in part because no one would have eaten it, and in part because it was rather gross.

There were a few surprises, too. For instance, all of the livestock. The kids had a blast walking through the barn and checking out all of the cows, and then later, horses. Some of the biggest of both species that I have ever seen, I saw there. There were horses that weighed over 2000 lbs! Their asses were higher than the top of Kevin's head! It was crazy. But they were beautiful, if not somewhat frightening...Additionally, as we were coming to the end of our tour of the fair, we found ourselves walking to the rhythm of good old fashioned country music. I started to spin the girls around, and "two step" in my own, somewhat retarded, way. And the, we came upon a booth of COWBOY HATS AND BOOTS AND BUCKLES. And I had one of those moments. You know, the ones where you start to question exactly where you are and what the heck is going on? And when I came out of that moment, I discovered that I was okay. It made me happy to experience the little bit of Texas that Saratoga County Fair brought to me. But it also let me know that I am okay. That I remember and love the life that we lived in Austin, but that we are okay here, too. And that we are finding our way. Instead of crying, I found hope. And I am grateful for that.