Iowa State Fair

After our stay at the casino, the Hockstra’s and us drove to Des Moines and pulled into Turkey Time Concessions, Inc. which is owned by fellow Myakkans, Kevin and Janey Smith. The Smith’s have eight RV spots and have been hosting Myakkans (and others) for years during the Iowa State Fair. We were so excited to be there this year as we have heard wonderful stories regarding the Fair and the antics at the Smith’s. Steve and Laurie Chubb met us there shortly after we arrived. Other Myakkans assembled there were Gary & Sandy Wilson, Vicki & Bruce Fagersterom, Mike & Brenda Hallstrom, Jim & Trish Johnson, Mark & Debbie Hilgenburg (with their grandson), Sam & Lee, and Alice Clark & Tom Connor.

Kevin and Janey were outstanding hosts! Not only did they keep all their concession stands fully staffed and stocked, they made sure that all of their guests were ferried back and forth to the gates via golf carts. They also had food and drinks available for all! On the day we arrived, Janey took us all around the fairgrounds to show us what was there – very interesting to ride through the campground where people were parked everywhere – even on the side of the hills where they built structures to support their rigs! Tremendous hosts – thank you so much!

If you have never been to the Iowa State Fair I recommend that you give it a try!

So much to see, do and food on a stick (I think I gained five pounds).

On the first full day there (and opening day of the Fair), the six of us went onto the grounds and just used the day to get our bearings as the place is huge.

We tried a few of the eateries, starting with beignets trying a number of the “new” items (chicken egg rolls, scotcharoos) and we ending up at Jalapeño Petes then the Blue Ribbon Bar & Eatery for drinks.

They had a band playing and Katrina couldn’t help herself by joining in with the fun!

We visited the Varied Industrial Building to see all the wares of the vendors. Even bought some stuff like an outfit for Rylan, a hose nozzle, oils, and tasted some cheese.

Going with a group of six is very interesting as there are six different ideas of what we should do. Roger wanted to see the Kubota tractors, Katrina wanted to see the horses, Wendy didn’t want to milk a cow, Steve wanted to try the craft beer tent, Laurie wanted to watch the arm wrestling (not really), and I wanted to people watch (and ride the Skyway). Luckily we got all of those checked off!

So instead of recounting the festivities day by day, I will categorize instead. Hang on, let’s go…

Musical groups:

Micro-Mini Tractors Pulls (yes, it’s a thing)!

Arm wrestling:

How about making things with butter?

Entire cow!

Although we didn’t get a chance to watch the chainsaw artists, we did get to see their work:

We got to see some of the records at the fair:

Katrina got to milk a cow for her first time (Laurie did too, Wendy didn’t want to):

I mentioned early that a lot of the food was on a stick. Pork chops, corn dogs, corn, etc. Even an egg:

One of the most fun events to watch was the miniature horses.

Of course we witnessed other horse events:

They also had a “custome” category.

Every decent fair needs to have a midway, the Iowa State Fair was no exception.

Likewise, it needs to have fireworks and nowadays – drones.

We rode the Skyway.

Some of the acts that we saw.

Of course we did a little drinking.

Some fun pictures:

We even saw Steve Doucey from Fox News.

Thank you Kevin and Janey for being outstanding hosts! We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Iowa State Fair!