State Fair! State Fair!

I was not a carny (wo)man today, but I did hit up the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson.

I did the obligatory cruise through the Pride of Kansas building, grabbed a Pronto Pup, and even braved the underground and did the $3 tour via Ye Olde Mill. The reason for the trip was a the Celebrity Goat Milking contest that is an annual event. High Plains Journal was one of the teams that included KWCH Channel 12, Kansas Highway Patrol, The Hutchinson News, 100.5 The Wolf, and one other station I can't recall (they were last).


It was a great time, and let's just say the Highway Patrol won hands down. They have one Lt. who could really pull a teat, because his hands were the size of dinner plates. I have to say that if I were a goat and a uniformed officer came up to me wearing a sidearm I'd probably give milk, too. There was a friendly joke going around about a doping scandal because they have won the event four years running. Then again, can you really investigate the Highway Patrol?

Here's a video of our goat milking adventure. I went along today to share our fun with our Facebook and Twitter followers and get video, that was edited in the car on the trip home. Man, working does make a trip fly by!



/> Once the milking was in the books and the participation ribbons handed out we headed for a tasty treat from Call Hall and a ride through Ye Olde Mill.

I had never been through Ye Olde Mill, but have to admit I've always been curious. I should have listened to that advice-curiosity killed the cat. Imagine riding through a sewer tunnel in a canoe. Now, throw in some of the most bizarre things you could dream up. Throw those two things together and you have your Ye hell never again ride. I took the $3 (thank God it wasn't three hour) tour and hopped in the boat beside my coworker, and behind two other coworkers. I was the only one of the four who had yet to ride this famous piece of State Fair history (since 1915).

"Come on, it'll be fun!" They said. "It's a rite of passage, everybody rides it."

"They only try to scare you a little," I heard, which should have been my red flag.

I hope I don't have nightmares of people jumping out at me, floating by weird clowns, a scene from Dexter, and some animatronic hybrid of a dinosaur and a dragon. Oh, did I mention it was freakin' pitch black? Like, can't see my hand in front of my face black.

I made it out alive, and was never so excited to see an exit sign.

Let's just say they won't get any more $3 rides out of me.

Here are a few pics from our day at the fair.