you would think I might be "faired" out completely, but that is not so! Last Thursday morning, we loaded up our friend's camper and stuffed the truck full and headed to the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. Lane had never been; Madolyn went a few years ago with my brother's family to a concert; and it's been years since Jay and I had been other than a Mercy Me concert a couple years ago...but that didn't count since we went straight in to the concert and left. I can say that this weekend we fully experienced the Illinois State Fair.
Many years ago, Jay went with our 'extended' family, we'll call the Moonshine clan, to the state fair to show pigs and he has never forgotten that experience. I have heard countless times about camping at the state fair and how great it was, the crazy stories these guys had, how many of them were cramped into a small RV with no a/c, how by the end of the week it smelled so bad you could hardly stand it, about how nasty the shower house was, about the trip home and how the alternator kept going out, etc. These stories never die. They keep people laughing time and time again.
This year our 'extended' family invited us to join them on their state fair adventure. They had scored two camping spots at the fairgrounds. I must tell you it is nearly impossible to get camping spots these days. You just would not believe how many campers are up there and they are lined up, one after another, less than three feet apart. The lots are crammed full! But not our spots...our 'extended' family had a horse in a race and were allowed to reserve two spots and they did not hesitate to take them. They were clear on the backside of the fairgrounds behind the horse barns, but they were perfect. The queen bee "Mammie" put together sleeping assignments and made a plan...she even created a spreadsheet with meals. "Mammie" was ALL over it.
I can only imagine what it was like to see the camper door open early in the morning...one person come out, then another and another and another. I would guess anyone watching was thinking this has to be a joke. How many people are in that camper? Ha. We did it. We snuggled up tight and made it work. There was an empty horse barn nearby that provided hours of entertainment for the kiddos. We probably could've put a couple kids in a stall for bedtime, but we didn't. There was a 'slight' infestation of skunks, so we were told, but we only saw two and never had any trouble with them...which is a miracle for this group of kids.
The first camper that headed out on Wednesday had a shredded/flat tire not even an hour away from home. Thankfully, that was the worst luck of the trip and there was no accident or injury involved. Because our camper is small, we took our friend's larger camper up on Thursday morning and the rest of the group came later that evening. We had huge, delicious meals three times a day and had a good supply of drinks and snacks. Once we staked our claim on that spot, we didn't leave the grounds, for the most part, except to get ice and Jay's coffee (and maybe a trip to Target:)
I must say I thoroughly enjoyed our three days at the state fair. Our kids say it was one of their best trips ever. Because we had our own food and drinks, etc, we didn't have to buy much of anything. There are a lot of things to do on the grounds for free and it turned out to be a pretty inexpensive mini-vacation for us. Conservation World and Happy Hollow have many activities and shows available for kids and adults that are free and entertaining. I know we could have easily spent one more day catching shows we had missed.
Jay spent most of his time at the Swine shows, which I enjoyed quite a bit myself. I figure next year that is where we'll be most of the time. I know it will be a different experience when we take animals up to show and have to keep the kids focused on their projects. This year we had absolutely no responsibilities other than just taking care of the kiddos and preparing meals. It was almost completely stress-free (for me, at least). Although it's a humongous place and very crowded, I felt safe and cannot wait to go back next year and continue making memories!
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