Iowa State Fair 2014

Toward the end of summer in Iowa we have one thing to look forward to, the Iowa State Fair. As the musical with the same name says, it's the best state fair in the state. I go every year, with last Friday being my time to visit.

The attractions don't change much from one year to the next, but it's still always fun to go. One of the places I always go to is the Central Iowa Railroad Club's (video) train layout. They have a lot of well done modeling on their setup and it's fun to see the changes they've made. This year, a new attraction was a thirty foot tall American Gothic statue, which was painted in Iowa. You couldn't get a picture with someone at the base and tell who it was, or get a clear shot between all the people.

One Man Band

Navigating through crowds (video) with a wheelchair can be a challenge. Not running over kids or other people's feet is difficult when they're all moving around, but it's a skill I've learned through the years. Something that has changed is the amount of stares I receive.

It used to be that I would see a lot of people, especially kids, looking at this intriguing site of a guy in a wheelchair. I still do get them, but not nearly as often as a few years ago. However, with aging baby boomers, the scooter population has also exploded in the past few years. It's very likely that the two are related, but it could be that the general public is just getting used to wheelchair uses.

After visiting mostly every building, watching the one man band, touring the machinery and livestock exhibits, it was a full day. Figuring out how to cover my assistant's time was an added challenge this year, but it was a nice outing in any case. It was also a great feeling to not have insurance worries overshadowing everything and just get out to enjoy the day. As summer begins to wind down, more days out will hopefully continue.