Iowa State Fair

After getting back to our normal work schedule at Adventureland and recovering from our RAGBRAI ride, our next Iowa event was the annual Iowa State Fair.  Its held each year on the huge 400 acre fairgrounds here in Des Moines (160 acres of which are camping spots, with most passed down from generation to generation of Iowans).  In many respects it is the quintessential "state fair" and has been depicted as such in several movies and books.  Many travel guides list it as the event to not miss in Iowa.  Obviously, it was something that we had to see!
The fair celebrated it's sesquicentennial year (150 years) in 2004 and also set an attendance record of over a million visitors.  We were pretty impressed with the number of visitors on opening day this year, but could take only about 3-4 hours of it -- we're not sure how many people were there, but it was crowded! 
One of our main interests -- being amateur carnies ourselves -- was the midway, with the rides and games.  We managed to snap some pictures of some real carnies . . . . . .
 

Mandy talked with this lady in the midway, who said that she has to work a 12 hour shift out in the hot sun on the black asphalt -- it makes Adventureland look a bit better!


It wasn't  long before the need for State Fair food hit -- we had to have a corn dog so Mark and Sue led the way.  We also stopped and had a few $5 beers and some really good nachos -- you can have the corn dogs!






 All that food required a quick stop -- this was all that Greg could find with the crowds being so large.












One of the famous items at the Iowa State Fair is the cheese sculpture - life-size sculptures of people and animals made entirely from Iowa butter.  As you can see, she was only half way through this one.
















From butter sculptors to ice sculpture -- the State Fair has it all!!


















The fair also gave Mark and Sue a chance to try out a Select Comfort sleep number bed, which they will be ordering in their new 2009 Phaeton.









And no State Fair would be complete without the animals, and swine are the state animal in Iowa . . . .



Horses were big too -- here are a couple of the famous Budweiser clydsedales -- you should see their traveling accommodations.  When I die I want to come back as one of them.


Three or four hours were enough for us -- back home for a beer and a barbecue!