Saturday, September 09, 2006

Where Has Patsy Been


This is a fun little toy. There are a few states I'm not sure if I've visited or not, so I left them off the map. I'll be able to update it soon as I'll be traveling to Washington and Oregon next month. At the moment it says I've been to 35 states. I think I've also been to West Virginia, but I'm just not sure. Obviously, I need to go. And to Wisconsin, which I think I would really love. Just hasn't worked out yet. One of these days...



create your own visited states map

Politicians, Pumpkins and Pillsbury


The Kansas State Fair opened in Hutchinson today. I went out for a couple of hours tonight, just to look around a bit. I enjoy the fair, and it's especially fun during an election year.

I ran into a ton of people I knew, including Robert and Marcella from Ellinwood. That was an unexpected treat. I was chatting with John Doll, who's running for congress, and who I wrote about on the blog previously, when I ran into them.

I went over to John's booth later, and got to meet his wife, who is just delightful.




Jan Pauls was working the democrat's booth. It was good to see her. I visited with her a little bit but there were a lot of people stopping by so I didn't want to monopolize her time.

I also visited with Sue Darby who was working the HCC booth. It was really good to talk with her.

I also stopped by the Governor's booth to see what her schedule is for the fair. I know she's going to be there tomorrow for a debate, but don't know if she will be sticking around much after that - hopefully so.

Of course, there was the usual assortment of fun stuff at the fair - including a giant pumpkin weighing 680.5 pounds.

I just love the fair where you see everything agricultural thing you can imagine. That's something I love about the Kansas State Fair - it still honors its roots. Those that do are few and far between now.

But, you can look at sorghum varieties, champion tomatoes and rye seed. It's all a bit of Americana and I love it all. Just in case you weren't able to visit tonight, I thought I'd share some pix so you can enjoy it nonetheless.



















There are also scarecrows of various sorts - some of them quite inventive. I'm not sure where the Pillsbury Doughboy fits in, but when you see a giant Pillsbury Doughboy you have to take his photo. It's a rule.













And, there's something new this year - a big cut out where they are tracking brown recluse spider bites of people who stop by the booth and talk about having been bitten. I'll have to tell Diana to go get her spot logged. My hope is to take some photos every time I'm out to see how his tag collection grows. This is the tally of just this one day, although they are putting the ones from the back of the body on the front of the model as well. What I've learned is that your legs are in great danger.