Tulsa State Fair

 

The Golden Driller at the Expo Fairgrounds

Each year, in the last week of September and the first week of October, the City of Tulsa hosts the Tulsa State Fair.  There are buildings housing vendors; new cars, trucks, and boats for sale; livestock barns full of animals waiting to be judged.  The midway is crowded with games and food trucks selling everything from giant cinnamon rolls covered in pecans to deep-fried mashed potatoes on a stick.  There are roller coasters, Ferris wheels, bumper cars.  You could easily spend an entire day at the fair and not see all that is there.

Of course you know without me telling you, there was no Tulsa State Fair this year.  However, the powers that be decided to allow the Junior Livestock Exhibit to take place.  The food vendors, who are desperate to earn a living with all the fair and festival cancellations, agreed to set up and sell their wares during the event.

After watching our oldest grandson play football early one Saturday morning, consort and I decided to take the three grandsons to the fair.  My favorite thing about the fair, aside from people watching, has always been the livestock barns.  When consort and I took our kids to the fair decades ago, we walked through the livestock barns while I quizzed the kids on cow breeds -- because we all know the importance of identifying cows, right?

 

Consort and I, and our three grandsons, roamed through the expansive cow barn.  I did not take any pictures of the bovine; consider it a small gift from me to you.  We took our time walking through the domestic fowl exhibit and were rewarded by seeing two chickens lay eggs.  I believe this definitively answers the age-old question, Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

The boys enjoyed deep-fried Oreos, gator chips, corn dogs, pretzels, ice cream, and slushies.  They were definitely on the sloshy side when we ushered them back to the car.

 

We left the fair and headed to our favorite store open only in October:  Spirit Halloween.  Visiting Spirit Halloween has become a tradition.  All five of us have a blast trying to outdo each other with the weirdest, scariest, and creepiest things we can find.  It's a thrill to be frightened to death in a well-lit, controlled environment.  The above pictures were my pick for the "creepiest" category.

We are parked again at Bluff Landing, about ten miles east of Broken Arrow.  The weather has turned cooler with overnight temps running in the low 40s.  Daytime temps are in the 70s making for beautiful afternoons.  The leaves are just beginning to change color here in NE Oklahoma.  We will be anchored in Broken Arrow for another week before we begin the trip south to Brownsville to spend the winter.  We've been traveling more than parking in the past three months and are ready for a long stop at 4 Seasons RV Resort.  We're looking forward to reconnecting with our favorite Winter Texans, but will sorely miss all those Canadians who are unable to join us this year due to the coronavirus, especially my favorite Canadian.

It is wonderful being in our hometown, immersing ourselves in the lives of our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.  We love knowing where everything is and how to get there without the aid of Waze.  There are no words for the pleasure we've felt reconnecting with friends.  But I have to say, we have definitely been bitten by the gypsy bug.  We have an intense desire to keep moving and experiencing all this beautiful country of ours has to offer.  But for now, with winter fast approaching, we're happy to be heading to south Texas:  warm temps, palm trees, and, of course, the Gulf of Mexico.  See you soon!