The People You'll Meet and the Things You'll Do - It Was a FABULOUS State Fair

Sharon and I had an absolutely FANTASTIC time at the "Great Minnesota Get Together" aka the Minnesota State Fair. As always, it didn't disappoint. I actually don't think the Fair would be able to disappoint me in any way ... ever. I adore the State Fair. On Friday we started out early, after having had a chance to catch up a bit over dinner at Red Lobster the previous night. There were things we both wanted to see, and foods we wanted to have once again - our agenda was set. 

Sharon and I (and also Chickie) do the State Fair History 
Walking Tour every year. Although some of the stops 
are the same, there are always new stops on the map and 
walking to all of them allows us to learn a bit about the history 
of the State Fair as well as get some serious miles under our 
belts. Sharon and I did ours on Friday - a LOT of walking 
and a LOT of fun. 

Friday we devoted to truly walking the Fair (although we did a "fair" amount of walking every day - 10 miles on Friday, 10 miles on Saturday, about 7.5 miles on Sunday and more than 5 miles on Monday). My fitness watch was happily buzzing and flashing "10,000" at me and that made me very happy since I'm usually a very sedentary person - stuck in front of the shop computer for most of my time. 

We did ride the huge ferris wheel again - it's always such 
a fun thing to do. I had a chance to speak with one of the 
guys who operate the ride. Apparently set-up isn't that big 
of a deal, but tear-down is a total PITA - LOL. Today will 
be tear-down day for them, and they'll have the ride 
disassembled and onto their trucks, ready to go to their 
next stop within 24 hours. Pretty darned amazing. 

As I understand it, Governor (future Vice President) Walz was at the Fair on Saturday. Not really a surprise. Appearances at the State Fair by politicians is a strong tradition in my state. He didn't stay long, and we weren't anywhere close to him, but that was just fine. LOL 

The treadmill that I'm getting is the Matrix TF30 
folding treadmill with a great, interactive screen. 
My salesperson knocked more than $2000 off the 
price and they'll also do free delivery and set-up, 
as well as take away my old, broken Nordic Track. 
I'm quite pleased. DH actually liked it. BTW, DH 
also tried out ellipticals there (he had poo-poo'd them 
for ages). He was VERY surprised at how much of 
a workout he was getting on them. If my Doc wasn't 
insisting that I have impact resistance which I get on 
a treadmill, I'd SO love to have an elliptical instead, 
but ... my Doc rules. LOL

The major thing we did (aside from walking here, there, and everywhere) was try out a treadmill. I totally fell in love with this treadmill. For those unfamiliar ... I've used a treadmill at home (along with DH) for decades. I think we got our treadmill in the very early 2000's. But it broke down several months ago and a vital part of my exercise routine was eliminated. My doctor has been very insistent that I need that type of exercise for my bone density (which wasn't that great on the last scan), so I've needed a replacement. But getting DH on the same page ... that was a hard sell. But, I really liked this machine. So, I arranged with Elizabeth (the sales person) and Sharon, that we would bring DH to this booth on Sunday when we were all together (along with Chickie). The girls would help me get him listening. 

I'm thrilled - absolutely THRILLED that I'll finally have 
a functional treadmill again. And I really liked the feel of 
this one. It's solid, sturdy, and will be reliable. We got 
more than 20 years from our old Nordic Track, if I'm 
still able to use this one when I'm in my 90's, it's a 
total win/win. 

It actually WORKED! We got DH onto the treadmill, Elizabeth answered all of the questions he had, we spent a long time there, and I'm getting a treadmill! I'm contacting my broker today, pulling out the funds, and getting a Matrix folding treadmill. That's the brand that my gym uses, so I know it's quality because the machines at the YMCA are heavily used and they work really well. Hopefully, by the end of next week, I'll have a new treadmill in place and my exercise regime will once again include 3 days of running/fast walking alongside my 3 days of swimming. 

This isn't quite the same as MY button - mine is a white 
background, and the letters are black for the first 
and third lines, and red for the middle line. I LOVE that 
button and wore it at the Fair all weekend. I actually 
bought quite a few Kamala/Walz buttons. I'm very happy 
with every one of them. 

All in all, it was a magnificent weekend. We didn't see everything and didn't do everything, but we were all together - DH and I, Chickie and Sharon. We're the Four Musketeers, and once again we conquered. LOL I'll be dropping Sharon back at the airport in three hours or so, and heading to the shop to start working another week. The Fair will disassemble, and the streets I usually drive to get from home to the shop and back will once again be passable (no State Fair traffic). Oh ... and as a closing note, one of the best buttons that I bought at the DFL (Democrats) booth at the Fair was one that goes: OMG GOP WTF. I wore it all weekend and I'm going to treasure this one - LOL. Have an exceptionally wonderful Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.