The Engines of Madison County

Other titles I was considering for this post:

Everybody Grab Your Jean Shorts and Head for Highland!

9 of These Things Are Not Like the Others

Summer Fairs and Sum'er Teeth (as in some 'er there, some ain't)

How to Immediately Contract Lung Cancer: The Madison County Fair Story

I felt the chosen title was more subtle and appropriate.

As I mentioned earlier, Friday was Dan's birthday. And Dan wanted demolition derby for his birthday. Who are we to deny Dan of his birthday wishes? So the Erwins, Hagemanns, Shisha, Kim and Brittany (Bri-Bri) loaded up and headed to Highland, Illinois to visit the Madison County Fair. It was POURING rain, but we would not be stopped. All were in some fashion equipped with rain gear and good attitudes and were ready to brave the elements. We had beers, snacks, dry change of clothes for the girls, and were all current on our tetanus shots. IT'S FAIR TIME!!!!

Looks festive, no? We encountered a deluge right when we got out of the car, but found some refuge in one of Madison county's lovely shelters. Of course, Parker hates getting her picture taken, so this is what most of my pics of her look like.

Chloe, however, loves to mug it up for me. Thank God! I don't know what I would do if I had two nieces that ran from me when I tried to take their picture. I should add that Chloe in this rain jacket is one of the cutes things I have seen in a while.
Bri-bri sported a figure-flattering poncho filled to the brim with contraband. Her baby bump was a bit off-center, but everyone was so distracted by her good looks, they didn't notice.

Certainly it will stop raining soon. Right?

Don't drink the water, Chlo.

That's right, you MAY EVEN BE ARRESTED! Everything that we witnessed past this point proved that this sign is not strictly enforced.

Prepping the scene. Thanks to all the rain, this took a little longer than expected. This "arena" is normally a stock car track, but on special occasions they open up the center field for some demo-derby.

No Busch Stadium pricing here. At $2 a beer, you can afford the cab ride back from Highland!

What is a county fair without it's Queen? That's not her (somehow she escaped my lens), but we were all in agreement that she was a solid MadCo 10 (which converts to a solid St. Louis 7).

The lineup. Chaney and I felt an instant draw to the yellow monster you see here, as it reminded us of the "beast" of our youth.

I swear this part took 30 minutes thanks to all the mud.

And...they're off!

This pic was from the 2nd derby, which was the "modified" vehicles. This was the olympics of demolition derby here. The bright light you see in the picture is one of the engines. On fire. Turns out, that's not a deal breaker in demolition derby. Good to know that if flames start shooting out of my engine, that there's a distinct possibility that my car will live to wreck again. One of the many important things I learned at MadCo fair.

Parker humoring me with a pic. If Chaney and Chloe were in it, I would say this should be their christmas card photo.

"I've had a snow cone, a tootsie pop, dippin' dots, popcorn, a soda and I am polishing this off with a hot dog! Everyone here is missing teeth like me! I must be in heaven!"

Kim and Bri-Bri making friends. Even though the sun was not out, the guns were out on many a gentleman in Highland. Sleeves are so 2009.

If you could see me on the other end of this camera, I would be looking equally nauseated. Another thing I learned at the fair is that two beers, an empty stomach, and 3 spinning rides = dry heaving. Only my pride kept me from pukefest 2010 in front of the girls.

There are no non-spinning ride options at this fair. This little gem is aptly named "The Scrambler". I don't know if it was the rain or the fact that it was the last night of the fair that kept people away but there were only 8 of us on this ride. Because people weren't lined up after us, the lad operating the ride felt that we should get our $2 worth and left us on there for 10 minutes. Even Parker asked if I thought he forgot about us. This ride was the nail in my gastro coffin.

BUT, because my only other option was to ride the tilt-a-whirl with Chloe, which would surely result in me learning what happens when you are trapped in a spinning cage with your own vomit, I opted for the spinning hearts ride with Parker. I'll be accepting my aunt of the year award this fall.

Ground view of the spinning hearts ride.

I didn't trust myself to go on even the wimpiest of spinning rides after that last one...

Parker and Dan on spinning hearts.

Bri-Bri and Chloe on the hearts. B doesn't seem too sure about this...Can't say I blame her.

Additional things I learned at the fair:

-It's difficult to answer the question "Why does everyone smoke cigarettes and have tattoos here?" when asked by your niece. People in Illinois REALLY take advantage of the ability to smoke in outdoor spaces (smoking is banned indoors in Illinois). I swear there was more smoke coming out of the stands than there was from the cars.

-While mud adds a certain level of difficulty to the derby, it results in significantly less traction, which then results in a somewhat slow and painful derby. Crashes at 7 mph are not that dramatic.

-When fueled by 2,000 calories in junk food, 6 and 8 year olds have shocking stamina.

-When Chloe spots a carnie with a busted up grill (messed up teeth, Lynnie), she WILL comment on it.

Happy Birthday Dan! I hope you had as much fun as we did! See you next year MadCo fair!