Iowa State Fair

This weekend I hit up the Iowa State Fair and I enjoyed myself and all, but I'm sad to say I didn't have nearly as much fun as I had last year. Of course, last year everything was new and terribly exciting and I wanted to do it all and see it all and take pictures of EVERYTHING.

Notsomuch this year. I got to the fairgrounds around 8:30 and by 2 I was pretty much done. I don't know if it was the weather (kind of a steamy, overcast sort of day that tricks you into thinking it might be cool outside) or the crowds, but I just felt fair-ed out.

I couldn't go home, though because I was volunteering for Drake from 4-6 (which is a lot of fun) so I had to kill two hours. I sat and watched the talent show where I swear I heard about 30 10-15 year-olds singing Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" (oddly the younger ones seemed better).

I hit all the fair highlights like the 4-H building (I love what those 4-H kids do), the VI building, the Ag building, and the barns with all the animals. Last year I spent two or three hours in the barns alone, but this year it just seemed like there were so many people there. Maybe my excitement blinded me to the crowds last year, but this year I just couldn't deal with it. And don't even get me started on strollers! Oy! I swear, I'm not taking my kids anywhere until they're 10.

It's hard to deal with so many people EVERYWHERE you go. I tried going 100 different places to take a break from the crowd, but there's NO reprieve. Anywhere.

It's not that I didn't enjoy being at the fair. After all, after a summer of living in solitary confinement, it was good to be out in public and feel part of a group again... but it was kind of a lot of public to deal with at once.

I went to the fair again on Sunday, this time to volunteer at the DNR building (for 6 hours!!!) and I found that much more enjoyable, somehow. I was running the cash register at the DNR store and talked to SO many people. It was nice to actually interact with people and talk to them instead of simply being with crazy crowds out on the grounds. I met a lot of really nice people who had some really cool stories and a lot of them told me how much they love the DNR magazine, which has inspired them to go out and do or see something. It was really cool to hear about it.

I suppose it's a good thing I liked my 6-hour DNR shift so much... I have two more next weekend. Yay, I think.