Saturday was the big Texas college football game, the Red River Rivalry between UT and Oklahoma. The game is played every year at the Cotton Bowl here in Dallas. Ed had a ticket, but I decided it was too expensive for me to go. But the Cotton Bowl is right in the middle of the State Fair of Texas, so I went with him so we could check out the fair together before the game.

It turned out to be the absolute worst day to go. It drizzled until game time, then the sun came out and it was hot and humid until the game ended, when it started to rain, thunder and lightning. I packed light, but Ed packed his camera and rain gear, which he then decided he didn’t want to take into the game, so I wound up carrying it around, meaning I couldn’t go on any rides.

I would have stayed grumpy, except the fair was actually pretty neat, and I can imagine how fun it would be on a nice crisp fall day, if Dallas does indeed ever have those.

I ate fried cheese curds and a fried Twinkie. I COULD have eaten fried Coke, fried cookie dough, fried latte, fried Oreos, fried cheese on a stick and lots of other fried things I am forgetting now.

The best part of the day (so best I did it twice), was the Birds of the World show. I stumbled into this thinking it was an exhibit. Instead, it was an outdoor show with trained birds (condors, buzzards, eagles, hawks, owls, storks, macaws, parrots, etc.) flying free right above the audience. They flew so low that they sometimes touched peoples heads as the trainers talked about each species and bird conservation in general. The head trainer was a little corny, so when he had everyone turn around to watch as an eagle flew from the top of the giant fair Ferris wheel down to the stage, I thought he was joking. But that is exactly what happened; the bird rode the Ferris wheel up and then soared right down to us. The trainers then had birds collect donations from the audience. The finale had multiple birds flying around as a video about conservation efforts played. At the end, a raven sat on a large donation box and collected dollar bills (and tens and twenties) from anyone who wanted to donate. The show was a very effective fundraiser; by the end the videos and the birds themselves had a lot of people in tears (including me) because they were so beautiful.

Here are a few pictures from the fair.