September 2, Labour Day, and the last day of the PNE
I haven't been to the Pacific National Exhibition in years - in fact, I've only been there twice before. The last time, Chris and Lizzie were both in strollers, it was as hot as Hades, and His Royal Highness was with us, which meant hurry up and down, don't want to play those games, etc etc etc and ending with 'Let's get the hell out of here,' or words to that effect.
The first time was way back in 1994, when we were all much younger ... and braver, it seems
Aaah, memories ... however, on this cloudy morning with just a maybe whisper of rain in the air, we dragged ourselves to the bus stop, the first leg of the journey to Vancouver and a day of thrills. Gentle thrills, though. Not roller coaster ones.
Even the entrance to the fair was 'nice' - cool, rad, bad, sick, whatever. If you've never seen an eco-sculpture, here's one below. With instructions, so you can make your very own one over the winter.
It's a spectacular horse to behold.
From both ends. This isn't the last horse you'll read about here.
There was so much to see and do - tons of games, rides, food trucks - some of them really stood out among the others.
We didn't do this ride this year. Next year we are going to do this ride.
But we weren't too afraid to reach new heights, so we went in line for the Ferris Wheel. I've never been in a Ferris Wheel before, as I am supposed to be afraid of heights, but I think Zip Lining at Grouse Mountain in May got me over that. Slightly, anyway.
However, some of us needed a few moments of meditation and prayer to ready herself for our circular flight.
BRING IT ON .....
The view was .... okay. The Wooden Roller Coaster looks like a lot of fun, but it was a definite no from the girl. Which was sort of a relief, as I felt the same way. (The above link is really interesting .... )
I think some of my friends would come waaay up from Texas for this - Chocolate Dipped Bacon?
or Banana Bacon Ear? Topped with icing sugar AND chocolate? On a stick?
There were tons of food choices, some normal, some not so much. We tended to stick to the normal, though. I had a slice of cheese pizza for lunch, and a baked potato for dinner. Pretty boring, eh? At least I had variety - Nikkie had chicken strips and fries for both meals.
We tried a few games at the Midway .. we won a blue thingie at a basketball game, and Nikkie chose a horse (remember this fact - she chose a horse) at an Age Guessing thing.
Most of the games were a bit lame, as the amount of money you paid decided the prize you would win. Translate that into - for $5, you get a small prize as you're pretty sure to win and the small prize was picked up at the peso store in Mexico, and for $10 you win a large prize ... same story. But it was fun anyway.
After the midway, we headed to the Safeway Farm Country - all we had to do was follow our noses, actually. As well as horses, cows with calves, chickens and turkeys, we saw alpacas - aren't they just the cutest things? I know where their hair is though - hanging in colourful hanks in the store!
And llamas ... my, what big eyes you've got! Ogden Nash wrote a little poem about this guy ... check out some of his clever little verses!
Being Safeway, which sells lots of veggies, of course, there had to be a veggie plot. Actually, there were many veggie plots full of pots of veggies (but no pots of pot, that I could see), but I don't want to bore you with lots of veggie plots.
And a nice herb garden. Herb gardens aren't boring. You may want to try a Herb Spiral Garden - I think it's a great idea, but I'm too lazy myself to make one and Steve broke his finger this past spring so he wouldn't have to.
Next was a trip to a wasp display. I think I'll put up with the aphids, inchworms and fruit flies, actually. You can have the wasps.
Yup, a mamma wasp started one of these suckers on the roof of the deck early this summer. A well-orchestrated maneuver fixed her clock, though. Neil swatted her with a book (I think it was a Thomas the Train one) and she just sailed over the balcony and landed on the concrete (the wasp, not the book) and Shannon, who was already on the concrete, stepped on her. Ta Da.
Honey bees I can live with. They make honey, which I sometimes use when I make delicious ribs for dinner. Plus they don't buzz around my Blackberry Jam when I'm eating breakfast on the deck.
By the way, have you read Stephen King's Under the Dome yet? Don't know why that popped into my mind .... Here are some bees. Nikkie buzzed off pretty quickly when she saw this.
And I will never try to get her job, let me tell you. If you want to see more of her ... check out The Wicker Man - excuse me while I shiver and moan.
Out in the fresh air again - I hope this truck makes it! I love food trucks!
Okay, so far we've done the rides, the food fairs, the midway, the farm ... and walking around we see this ... aha .... it's the Hastings Race Course , of course. I didn't know there was a horse racing place here, so we walked in to see what was happening. The jockeys were walking their horses around, and yes, there was a race starting in about 10 minutes - which was just enough time to figure out how to place a bet on the automatic betting machines.
Nikkie chose the horse. Number 5. It was wearing green, and she really likes green.
And off they go ... here they come .... clippity clop ... hoofs pounding ... zoom ...
Hmm. no green rider there. No number 5.
Tap foot. Hum a tune. Ah .... here he comes, a gentle little trotter, taking its jolly time. Out for a leisurely walk, it seems. Guess our $5 wasn't enough incentive for that little bugger. I guess when you get a lap behind you are disqualified? And that's why the rider led him off the track?
We left the horse track, having learned a valuable lesson, and headed to the Superdogs show, which was great, even though we didn't have the best seats. (Note to self: go earlier next year, and get better seats.) It's amazing how smrt dogs are - I don't think there are any dumb dogs, although I do believe there are some dumb owners. I don't mean the superdogs and the owners here, I just mean in general.
Next on the agenda was a cooking show, which was really a real-life shopping network show, with a sort of funny chef trying to sell waterless cookware. However, we had to leave before his chicken and veggies were ready, as we had to be on site at CTV's area to win our tour on their helicopter.
And who should we meet but Mike McCardell. He used to work for Global TV, but they 'got rid' of him a while ago, because he 'didn't fit their image' anymore. Shame on Global TV. I'm sure CTV and Mike's fans are happy he's back on air -
The Last Word - A last look at the PNE
We're so glad you're back too, Mr McCardell!
Meanwhile, if you get a chance to read his books, do so. I'm a fan.
I think he's a fan of me, too.
While we patiently waited for one of our names to be pulled from the drum, we listened to a newscast by Tamara Taggart (her Blog here), and weather forecaster Michael Kuss (in the blue shirt below.) However, when the names were drawn, ours were not called, so I guess no helicopter ride for us in Chopper 9. Rats.
The CTV booth also offered pictures with fan favourites ... so here are Nikkie and me with Belle, from Once Upon A Time. She was very sweet.
After our non-win, we headed over to another big auditorium for a game of Family Feud. Neither one of us was chosen to play (we all got a ticket at the entrance, and the teams were drawn from a bucket), but it was so funny. Bob Goen was a great host, even with one contestant who couldn't understand or talk English.
And last, but not least - a Neil Diamond tribute singer. Some of the stuff he did was great, Forever in Blue Jeans not so good. Here's the real thing for you all ... as a reward for getting to the end of this post!
and here's a little clip of the Monday evening's artist - and a bio below!
A "Legend" was born when Bobby Bruce's incomparable talent for
impersonating Neil Diamond was realized in Toronto. His incredible
showmanship has rocked crazed crowds around the globe as he has
performed in Legends in Concert in Las Vegas and is a huge success in
Australia, South East Asia and the U.S. An Australian journalist said,
"Neil Diamond better be wary if he ever comes to town. Bobby Bruce is a
hard act to follow!" In 2005, Bobby returned to his musical theatre
roots with a starring role in "Cabaret" for which he earned an Ovation
nomination and garnered overwhelming critical acclaim. Bobby’s “Nearly
Neil” concerts are always sell-outs – the PNE wouldn’t be the same
without him and this is his 13th consecutive year! In 2006, Bobby was
awarded “Entertainer of the Year” by the PNE, so come and experience
this amazing showman live!
www.nearlyneil.com
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