Colorado State Fair and Camping

This past weekend our niece and nephew, Morgan and Jake, were out to visit (with their parents) from the east coast. So, of course, we all went to the Colorado State Fair to get some real western culture.

The animal stuff was the strangest. I mean the fair with the rides and the greasy food and the people, some of large size, was no surprise. Here is a sheep being prepared for show and judgment:
We came across a sheep contest and I swear as we passed by the only words I heard were "...and the body cavity..." I have no idea what this has to do with judging the sheep and I don't want to know.

We also saw swine in repose:

This one is called "Sandy with Swine":

The cows were also present - here is a choice image of the view:

I found this odd but it was very popular, one of the "interactive" things kids could do was milk a cow. Now, I'm sure this is a great experience, perhaps once in a lifetime, and educational for the children but it sure seemed...I don't know just odd to watch. What also caught my attention was the look on the cow's face as she was handled by one child after another:

Unfortunately we missed the "mutton busting" which was on Friday night. This is basically small children competing with other small children - who can stay on the running sheep the longest...



Other than animals there were marching band complete with color guards competing for some trophy or other. Here is a view of the tortured kids in their marching band outfits in the heat of Pueblo, Colorado.

Then there were the rides...this is the "Wacky Worm." Sandy got to ride it with Jake.


As you can see it was a pretty scary ride:

After the day at the state fair we took Jake to Jellystone campgound just south of Castle Rock, Colorado. The main event was a campfire and roasting marshmallows. Jake didn't like his very toasty so he held it pretty high over the fire:


Sandy on the other hand likes his burnt. Not really but I think Jake found it amusing to see three marshmallows on fire.


Jake wanted to stay up late but it was a chilly night. Sandy put him in his rented REI kids sleeping back and put him on the picnic table.


It was a pretty tiring weekend for kid-less folks like ourselves.