2013 NC State Fair (OR How I Met Capt America the Jackass!! (Really, I mean it))

Here is my trip to the NC State Fair Thursday 10/24 and Saturday and 10/26. Last year  I went with my camera. This year I went with my son and so decided to leave my camera behind. (Hadn't realized I didn't post images from previous trip. Will rectify that quickly) This left me free to enjoy time with my son and eat (no camera, no evidence !!) and carry his winnings around.

One photo I did get with my son's iPhone was of an owl they had there. Not too good at using an iPhone camera as I don't have one but what impressed me was I saw my son reach into his pocket and pull out a dollar. Wondered what that was for until I saw the wildlife donation sigh and he quietly slipped a dollar in. Proud of him.

BUT When we left we went over the the Hunt Club to see the wine tasting exhibition. (The typical NC muscadine wind is far too sweet for my taste.) But while we were there, we heard gunfire behind us. So we moseyed on over to see what that was about.

What was going on was a course set up with traffic cones with poles in the cones and a balloon at the end of each stick. When given the signal, a cowboy or cowgirl ( some of the lady rides had the large dresses that covered the back part of the horse, very pretty) The timer started when the rider shot the first balloon. They quickly rode through the cones shooting half the balloons. Then at the other end they wheeled around, put their gun in their holster and pulled out the other gun and headed back shooting on both sides as the rode. NOW for the only time, I wished I had my camera. I got one shot with my son's iPhone camera. Again apologies but that is all I could get.

So as we headed home I decided to come back Saturday and bring my camera. Hey, it was outside the fair so it was free (an important word!!). Already had a full day planned going to the Stagsville Plantation in Durham NC with the Cary Photographic Artists and then with another photographer I gave a ride back to, we headed over to the Duke Homestead and Tobacco Plantation, and then over to Umstead Park to reshoot an image I captured 5 years ago and I wanted to reshoot. (I will post about all this later, The fair was the easiest and time sensitive so I am doing this first). And then to the fairgrounds.

First a tip of the hat and a word of thanks to the NC State Patrol that worked the traffic. Trying to please everybody at the same time. From what I saw they did a good job juggling all the demands. 

On the way in got some shots of NCSU where my daughter went. (Son UNC, wife Duke) (Scroll down for the rest of the fair post and the images of Capt America!!) 

WHAT!! They aren't doing the rodeo with the shooting tonight!!!!  Well, I will watch the horse pull. A horse pull is not as exciting as the rodeo shooting but it was fun to watch for a while. So here are the Horse pull shots. 

 First, those of you that follow my journeys, you will notice that somewhere I will get a photo of where we were. It really helps. I have a series of photos in the Toccoa Georgia area and I cannot for the life of me remember the town some were taken in.

So here is the sign

  Pulling horses are big with big feet. Watch your toes.

And they leave deep prints. 

AND NOW THE MOMENT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR CAPT AMERICA!!! 

THE JACKASS 

TA - DA

  

Ok, so it not the real Capt America. Did you think I would call the Captain a jackass? Really? The owners were walking him into the stables and I missed the shot but when they saw me with the camera, they turned him around and offered to bring him out. When I saw the Read, White , and Blue, I immediately thought Captain America. 

The people there were all super nice. 

While we were waiting to the show to start, I just by chance, heard geese honking and fly over. They do this all the timme at home but never when I have my camera in hand. The first four are ok, the others are a little soft but I loved the formation so much I posted them anyways. . 

Now for the Horse pull. 

 This cuties as right in front of me as I was sitting on the front row.

And these were immediately to my right. 

Look at those hooves!

The horse pull starts with a sled with 4000 pounds of weight in it. The owners all passed and they added another 1000 pounds for a total of 5000 to start with. 

 Hitching the sled is dangerous as the horses are trained to start pulling when they hear the hitch clink. They had several false starts during the evening

Here they are backing them up to the sled.

Pink on a horse tail?? If I was that horse …..

 So how do you carry 1000 pounds out to a sled quickly? It helps to have one of these.

Notice the horse are kicking up dirt and are already pulling but the man is still in the path of the sled. He made it out of the way ok.   

 And you can't go to the horse show with out this. (Haven't figured out what to do with these but if anybody irritates me greatly, I think I will find a use for them. Old adage, "Never irritate the photographer, they will have photos to show."