disneydream06

I decided to push myself to stay up all day Thursday so I could hopefully sleep that evening/early night so that I could be awake all day Friday to be at the fair and the concert that night. SoI went to bed Thursday evening at about 5 pm. I think I woke up around midnight and made a bathroom run. Then I tried to sleep for another couple of hours. Finally getting up at 2am. I jumped in the shower, and got myself ready. I watched a few minutes of Project Runway, and headed out the door at 3 am.
It usually takes me an hour and a half to get up there, and the fair opens at 6 am. I wasn't sure about the construction I was going to run into. One of the main roads in St. Paul that I take is under construction for the light rail train system. So take off and go an alternate route and it takes me an hour and a half. So I had another hour and a half to wait. I took my book along thankfully and did a little reading. :)
The fair grounds open at 6, but nothing really gets going until 8. So the first couple of hours is just to walk around and see what all is around. I walked around and took some pictures of a few things, that I thought would be easier now than when the crowds started to gather.
I eventually jumped into the food/breaking my diet, and had my mini donuts. I always have to get them first. :)
List of things I ate is kind of short due to heat and tiredness:
1 bag Mini Donuts
1 Strawberry Shake (super thick)
2 33 oz Glasses of Real Lemonade
1 Bacon on a Stick (not as good as I thought/heard)
2 Slices of Green Mill Pepperoni Pizza
1 Corn Dog
Some Kettle Corn (fresh out of the kettle) YUMMY...
So many other things would have liked to have tried, but either didn't get time or like I said, heat/tiredness got to me.

I walked around through the different animal barns. The horse barn was pretty empty. They must come later. Saw some adorable bunnies. A couple of really cool pigeons.
I went through the Heritage Square. One of the booths was a guy who makes drawings of railroad depots from all over Minnesota. So I had to stop and see if he had the one that Stewartville use to have. Way back when we still had railroad tracks. He did, so I had to buy it. Behind the depot in the picture you can see some of the grain elevator. I thought my dad might like to see that. He has worked there for over 50 years now. :)
I added to my tshirt collection. I came away with 6 more shirts. lol...
2 from the Star Tribune paper: 1) Across the top of the chest it says, I Have Had It Up To Here With The Weather, 2) Minnesota Hot Dish with flames coming off the O in Hot, and the I in Dish is shaped like a spoon
1 from the State Fair booth with the official 2011 poster on it.
1 from the Spam building something to the effect of Minnesota Land of 10,000 Lakes and 2 million cans of Spam. lol.........
2 from the concert

From 1pm until almost 3:30 pm I sat in the coliseum to see the "English" Horse Show. Not really sure where 4 and 6 draft horse wagon competitions come into English horse shows, but it was fun, and cool, and I was able to sit down for 2 1/2 hours. lol...
By this time I was starting to drag. With my backward schedule it's hard to make it much past 2 or 3 pm. But I pushed through knowing I had a concert to go to at 7:30 that night.
There were other "shows" I want to try and see, but most of the last times I could see them and be safely to the Grandstand for the concert was 3 pm. Unfortunately, by the time the horse show got done, it was too late. There were Irish Dancing, Blacksmith demos, and a "Western Dog Show". :(
About 6 I decided to go out to my car and see if maybe I could get a power nap in. I laid in the back seat with the door open, it was HOT, and tried. A few minutes later some women came up to the car next to me and started to argue that the one shouldn't drive because she had been drinking. I was a little worried because if she tried to get out of there in a huff, she parked up to a tree and there was a car behind her. As much as my car has been a pain in the ass, I didn't want her to smunch to side of it.
So needless to say, no power nap. One of her friends must have had the car behind her, and move it back a bit and she eventually took off. So I sat for a bit more and then headed back into the fair grounds to the Grandstand.

I suppose I should mention who was playing in the concert.
Heart, one of my all time favorite acts was opening for Def Leppard. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, it's a good thing I got in there when I did because there was a heck of a line at the souvenier booth. I got a tshirt for each band. $40 a piece. OUCH... Although I think it was $5 cheaper than Stevie Nicks. Of course if I would lose some weight, I could have gotten a "regular" size and saved $5. Fat people always get hit with a higher price. :p
Some guy opened the show with about 15 minutes of singing.
Then Heart came out and played for a good hour. They could have played all night as far as I was concerned. I LOVE Heart. Ann Wilson was looking good. Lost some weight since the last time I saw her.
During the intermission they played State Fair Trivia on the big screens. Did you know that before the State Fair took over that land, it was the Ramsey County Poor Farm. :o
Def Leppard came out and played for an hour and a half. It was a fantastic show. Full blast rock and roll. They had big LED panels behind most of the stage and had things playing on them through the whole show. During the intermission there had run an ad on the big screens for the new Def Leppard cd/dvd collection that is only available through Wal Mart. UGH... Wonder if I can find it on Def Leppard's web site?
Sadly it wrapped up much too early. I was tired, but it was a GREAT concert.

On the way out I had to get one last Fair food. Well, at least one last. So I stopped and got a corn dog. YUMMY... Further up the street, there was a kettle corn stand and happily it was still open. So I stopped and had to get a bag, and it was freshly made too as me and some other people waited. :):):) I munched as quickly as I could before getting to my car because they fill the bags to over flowing full. :) I still had to dump a little out at the car so I could seal it shut.

The drive home was LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so tired. To be honest, I was probably at the No Safe To Be Driving tired, but I pushed myself to get home. By the time I finally go home I had been awake for at least 24 hours. No wonder I was tired. :o

I really need to take some vacation time over the fair next year. One LONG day just isn't enough. :p