Granddaughter Katie and I enjoyed a warm autumn afternoon at the Dixie Classic Fair Saturday (the 10th). Oh, the wonderful sights, sounds and smells of the fair! It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all.
Katie wanted to try the rides - and not the "baby rides," either. I was hoping for somewhat sedate ones so that I could ride with her. It's been quite a few years since I'd ridden anything more than a "bench" on the carousel. So, off we went into the midway area. We managed to get past the "step-right-up" hawkers and came to the first "ride" that I remembered loving as a teenager - the Himalaya. It looked innocuous enough and I thought Katie might enjoy it. Have mercy. The poor child went
straight into a panic as soon as the ride began. You'd think there would be a gradual building of speed on the thing, but noooo, it went straight into hyperdrive speed which, of course, threw her into me. The poor thing was terrified and fighting the physics lessons being forced upon her. I finally convinced her to just come over next to me instead of trying to fight it and she loosened up some when she realized we wouldn't be hurled to a neighboring state. She even learned to scream woooooooohoooooooo (or something similar), which helped release some tension. It's a good thing we chose not to eat anything before taking on the rides.
After that particular introduction to the Strates midway rides, Katie was happy to walk a
lot before trying another ride. I believe she was a bit skeptical of Nannum's decisionmaking skills. Truth be told, so was I! It's funny how the long-term memory of rides-gone-by kicks in once you experience the g-forces of just one of them. I persuaded her away from the Tilt-a-Whirl and Spider-type rides, remembering how her mother reacted to those many years ago. I was feeling badly-slash-guilty and so decided to sacrifice my fear of heights for a mostly smooth, slow ride - the ferris wheel. Urf. She loved it! My stomach did not. I can still feel the car rocking every time the wheel stopped, but the big-eyed look of awe on Katie's face made this ride worthwhile. A lady and her daughter sat across from us - reminiscing about the rides the daughter rode as a child. Shoot, the daughter was barely a teenager, but Katie chimed in about the caterpillar ride. Too cute. The lady pointed to mountains behind Katie and me. No way was I going to turn around to look, and I settled for my view of the concrete mountains known as good ol' downtown.
After the ferris wheel ride ended, Katie was stoked. We walked a bit more, trying to decide what to do next. "Would you like to ride the ferris wheel again, Nannum?" she asked, eyes twinkling. I do not resist twinkling granddaughter eyes. So, back we went to the ferris wheel, and I encouraged Katie to sit on the other side of the car so
we could see the mountains this time - which were very lovely.
Two young teen girls shared this ride with us. Here's a photo of the shoes of one girl. Too cute.
After a pizza lunch, an underwhelming animal show, a haunted house ride and several trips around the midway, we headed for the gigantic slide, carousel, petting zoo, several critter barns and a cotton candy stand. Katie picked out a toy for her little brother and an inflated pony for herself somewhere along the way.
Check out the t-shirt on this guy. "Will trade wife for tractor."
Colorful rings for sale...
Got a carrot?
After many long, fun-filled hours, we said tired goodbyes to the 2009 Dixie Classic Fair and headed home. Nannum went home and happily collapsed. Katie went home and played chase with her little brother for an hour, I'm told. Ah...to be young again!
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