A Day at the Florida State Fair - Wed., Feb. 12/14

On Wednesday, we spent the day at the Florida State Fair, in Tampa.  It started out great, with a sow called Country Gold Tour, a show featuring classic country music from our early years.  Some of the performers were Narvel Felts, TG Sheppard, Suzy Bogguss, and Leroy Van Dyke, the guy who wrote The auctioneer.  And of course, he sang it.  It was a 2 1/2 hour show, and really worth the $10 it cost extra. 

I always enjoy "Cracker Country", an old Florida Village.  This mule was going around in circles, squeezing the juice out of sugar cane.  You can see it dripping into the barrel. 

We were on our way to see the circus, when they were calling over the loudspeakers for people to seek shelter in a permanent fair building, because of imminent severe weather  in the area.  They shut down the midway completely.  So we headed for the barns.  There was a chick hatchery, and we heard the chicks peeping inside these shells.  Cool.

Newly hatched chicks. 

This is a 4-H girl with her show chicken. 

And a boy with his duck - BIG duck! 

This rooster, when laid on its back, played dead. 

A Brown Swiss Mama and her baby. 

We enjoyed watching a milking demonstration.  The cows were all milked here, and the milk thrown out, because of milk standards, etc.  Apparently, some people kept the milk to feed to their calves. 

These little guys found their own entertainment. 

We hung around until the 7 p.m. rodeo, and this little future cowboy was quite entertaining.  He was amazing with his lariat! 

The cowboy ropes his cow, with a little help from his Dad! 

Believe it or not, they start these rodeos with prayer, asking for God's blessing and protection for the cowboys....and the animals! 

One of the events was milking a "wild cow".  Whatever! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And of course, the wild bronc riding.   We learned today that there were 18 people stuck on a ride in the midway through the wicked downpour and the thunderstorm for something like 4 hours.  So I guess we shouldn't complain about being stuck in the barns for a few hours.