Centre County Grange Fair

We went to Centre Hall, PA yesterday for the Grange Fair. It was a lot of fun and is a huge fairground. There were literally 1000 tents & 1000 RVs. I guess it is one of the last of the "encampment" fairs that used to be more common. The camping seems to overshadow the fair part, but I always think these events need more agriculture and less carnival. I've been daydreaming about being in charge of a fair. There certainly wouldn't be any walking tacos. Those things are insulting to humanity--"mmm, a taco that threw up in a bag of Fritos" or "somebody stepped on my taco, guess I'll just have to spork it out of this cellophane bag". Gross. This fair still hasn't beaten my two standing favorites: NY State Fair & Allegan County Fair (MI).

Ok, so I've got a bunch of pictures below of the good things about the fair: animals, tractor pulls, produce, crafts, etc.


Here's Andrew with a prize-winning blue Swedish duck. Who's cuter?


A lovely display of early apples. We stopped for Ginger Golds on our way home & they were fabulous!


Self explanatory


Right before I took this picture, he chugged that whole gallon of milk!


Resting up for the tractor pull.




Icelandic ram.


In my book, Jersey cows are the cutest. They also produce some of the richest milk, which earns them another star. This one was not happy to be at the fair.


I have never seen an "Oliver" tractor. It looks pretty sweet, though.


A first prize Hubbard squash. I've never eaten one because you have to have an axe to chop them open, but they look worthy of fine dining.

A hodgepodge of wedding photos...

More wedding weekend photos

Some dorks get ice cream at Washtenaw Dairy.


Sanjay prepares to knock Andrew out with a frisbee.








Being married is fun!

Stupid Hot State

Is anyone else new to the East Coast and getting really sick of the hot weather? I feel like I've sweat a volume of water that could fill Lake Michigan and I've failed to feel cool since March. If the heat doesn't let up, I'm liable to swim in some questionable water.

Speaking of questionable water, I will be paddling on the Potomac this Friday near DC. I'm thinking of it as an urban adventure, Mike Rockland style.

In other news, Ted & Dana's wedding was fantastic. I have never been sappy about weddings, but theirs was so moving that I cried. It was great to see a bunch of old friends.

Small Wonder = Delaware

I survived Delaware. My favorite things about Delaware are its ridiculous motto ("Small Wonder") and "Independence Mall" that actually looks like Independence Hall. Actually, Delaware has some very cute areas. I particularly enjoyed the tour of Brandywine Creek.
I've been super busy lately at work with lots of projects, lots of travel, lots of reports. I've also been trying to stay cool while the temperatures are melting asphalt. It's too dang hot out here. Last week, I got to do some mussel sampling with Andrew's crew, which was a lot of fun and a nice escape from the office. We found quite a few mussels and I learned about their habitat & about mussel sampling methods.
This weekend, Andrew & I are heading back to Ann Arbor for Ted & Dana's wedding! Yeah! Awww! It will be really nice to see a bunch of friends, but it's going to be a quick trip over the weekend and then we have to get back to work. I'm hoping the weather cools off some before they send Andrew out to hike up a ridge in hip waders.
Ok, this was definitely the most boring post I've written. I will write a more exciting one after our Michigan trip.