Fair season, round one

We spent this past weekend at Ossipee Valley Fair. Both girls had exhibits for the 4H hall and L. was showing her three sheep. The fair was a much larger coordination effort than it has been in the past because we decided to camp at the fairgrounds with our little camper for the 4-day fair. That meant we had to do two hauling trips up to the fairgrounds - one for the sheep and one for the camper.

It was nice to have a home base (i.e., camper) at the fair but it was not without a bit of drama before we actually got every body and every thing to the fairgrounds.

Tuesday night I made a run to the fairgrounds to drop off the 4H exhibit hall items for my kids and their general 4H club. Since we have never camped at these fairgrounds I decided to scope out our assigned camper lot number we had received in the mail.

The lot we were assigned had a large tree and root in the lot and even though our camper is small, the lot didn't seem to be something that would work for us when I saw it. I sought out the person managing the camp office and she agreed the spot wasn't suitable. She said she'd identify another site for us the next night when we arrived with our camper.

Wednesday night came around and both Fino and I didn't get home until nearly 7 p.m. (from work and kid-related activities). As Fino finalized the connections of the camper to our minivan he realized one of the camper tires was low. This was a surprise since we just bought new tires.

He assessed the issue and refilled it with air and believed it would be OK. So off we went. About 150 yards down the street the camper's door flew open. I was sure I turned the bolt lock but somehow it shook loose (it's a "suicide" door as the opening faces the front of the vehicle rather than the back).

Fino fixed the door and told me I hadn't pushed it closed correctly.

Then we were off again only for the door to fly open about 1/4 mile later.

Redemption for me but still bad news.

We tied the door shut and off we went again.

Then there was a power surge in the van and Fino lost all his gauge functions and the camper running lights went out.

He pulled over and we had a conference on the side of the road. By that time it was 9 p.m. and the sheep *had* to be at the fairgrounds that night.

We decided the camper was a lost cause for the night and we turned back home.

I thought we were going to have to call in a favor to haul the sheep if the van's gauges were really fried. Turned out as soon as the electrical connection to the camper was removed, the van's gauges worked like normal.

The sheep hauling was uneventful but we didn't get back home from the drop-off until 11:30 p.m.

I got up early the next day and repacked the car with our tent gear. I figured our home base change would be fine since it was sunny and warm. We found a roomy new spot thanks to the friendly, helpful camp office manager and all was well for us.

That night Fino got home from work and tweaked the camper's electrical and door issues while the girls and I were at the fairgrounds in our tent.

Fino drove the camper to the fairgrounds on Friday morning without incident. And the timing was great because we broke down the tent at dinner time before the heavy rains started (and yes, we commented multiple times during that rainy night about how nice it was to be in a camper instead of the tent during the storm).

The fair was a low-key affair for us. L. did her various sheep shows, participated in the fair parade with her sheep and chatted with friends. The only curve ball was L.'s jump to the senior showmanship 4H sheep showing on Saturday. She's a 4H intermediate level showman (it's only her second year) but because there weren't any others in her level at the fair, she had to bump up to seniors. She held her own in the class with much older and more experienced kids and was happy to have placed in the middle of the pack.

Leaving the fair required additional coordination efforts to drive the camper home first then head back to the fairgrounds to pick up the sheep (after cleaning out stalls) and the exhibit hall items. There were no snafus and I was grateful because we were all exhausted by then.

Here are a few pictures from the fair...

G. was especially pleased about receiving her first blue ribbon for her baked item at the 4-H exhibit hall. She's won blue ribbons at Cumberland Fair but never at Ossipee in this particular category. A traditional apple muffin recipe won her the accolades.

My favorite Boston-area Italian ice was at the fair (when I was little I lived near the original Richie's store). After introducing it to the girls when they were small during a visit to Boston, they've been hooked on it ever since too. We ordered a small cup of it nearly every day we were at the fairgrounds.

L. had fun with her two days of sheep showing. She showed her three lambs as well as a farm friend's lambs too.

For a bit of lighthearted fun before the official start of the sheep shows, the 4-H sheep kids' parents as well as other adult sheep owners participated in a showmanship class. The kids make it look easy because when you're out there you realize it is not. I didn't come in last place but I wasn't far away from it either.

G. offered some sisterly love by walking  one of L.'s lambs in the fair parade even though G. isn't as keen on sheep as she is on her beloved cows (G.'s show cow was not at this fair).

I've thought for a while about writing a blog titled, "The Little Van that Could" because we really test the limits of our 1990's minivan. I have yet to see anyone hauling animals with a minivan and the sight of ours doing so makes me laugh. But it is working for us while we save up to purchase a truck (which won't be happening for a while).

The van has served us well hauling L.'s sheep to various sheep clinics, fairs and shearing dates this past year. The loan of the wooden box crate to fit in our little trailer has been great too. Thanks David!

And hauling our small, but not pop-up small, 13' camper. We were so happy to have it at the fairgrounds this past weekend.

One fair down, two more to go for L's sheep showing season.