Fair Comparison

Last Friday night we went to the West Texas Fair and Rodeo.  The last time we went to this fair we were dating, but not much had changed.
1.  Sadly, I'd have to say that Washington had a better fair as far as animals go.  Washington had entire buildings dedicated to different animals.  There was the pig barn, cow barn, sheep/goat barn, poultry barn (you'd be amazed at how many different kinds of chickens and ducks there were!) and other miscellaneous animals like rabbits and guinea pigs.  WA petting zoo was also superior.
2.  Texas definitely had a better rodeo.  Several contestants had bad luck with their animals, but overall they were much more skilled than the cowboys in WA.  Here's a good ride.  Our friends, Jeremy and Kelly, had NEVER been to a rodeo!  I think they enjoyed the mutton bustin' the best.  A tiny little 4 yr old stole the show and was the only kid that hung on for the full time.  The rodeo clown was cheesy, but not annoying.  The bull fighters were also pretty fun to watch.  Here's a video of the clown and bull fighters teasing a bull at the end of the rodeo.  The bull was not impressed.  I love the staredown at the end! 
Washington had better tractor displays which is very important to a certain hubby of mine!
3.  TX has better food than WA (but not as good as the food I usually get in NM.  You just can't beat good Indian Fry Bread- mmm, mmm!)  We ended up with some German food from Fredericksburg people.
4.  WA had better food/craft competitions.  Some of the ribbon winners at the TX fair were just ridiculous.  I never knew you could just pull some weeds up from your yard and win a competition- maybe we'll have to enter next year!  Another entry was just a piece of framed wood.  The wood grain kind of resembled an eagle, but you had to use your imagination.  I think Josh and I could win something at this fair!  (Evidently, when Josh was younger he won 3rd prize for his brownies.  He doesn't think the recipe was special enough to share even with me, so I guess it really doesn't take much to impress these judges.)
5.  TX had some interesting agriculture displays with some fun information.  They also had a cotton gin to play with.  However, there were no giant pictures made out of beans- WA wins there!
6.  I can't comment on the rides.  I refuse to pay tons of money to risk getting on a ride that can be put together or taken apart in less than a day. 
So we had a really good time.  Here are a few pictures from the evening.  (more on our flickr page)

At the petting zoo... this mama cow was suspicious












"Get away from my calf!"















 Jeremy and Kelly with some donkeys








This little calf was my favorite.  Look at the curly hair on his forehead- too cute!






Josh's Mom and her mutton bustin' student.






Who let these people in?
(Shelly, I finally got to wear my rodeo shirt with the flappy sleeves!)