Family Reunions and Food Festivals
My other family’s family reunion…
Back in June this was, a Tuesday I think. Camp (the family reunion I went to- that cat lady’s, I think her name is Sally) was nice this year, but seemed quieter than the other years I’ve been. Well, except for the sound of Katy Perry’s “California Girls” in the background from one of the rides- I understand it’s now a favorite of the family. *fully expects to be hit for that* It’s stuck in my head so I really should be pitied.
The food was good, the company better, and only one scary carnie man talked to/flirted at me when I stopped to get a rock out of my shoe and the rest of the short girl herd left me. I also hugged people of my own free will- luckily my mother took me back even with someone else’s scent on me. (Why yes, I have been reading this webcomic and 4/19/10 is one of my faves, why do you ask?) Mostly I learned that bingo addicts get depressed on non-bingo nights and that people at silent auctions can be very pushy.
I went shopping with the short girl herd the next day in the tourist trap that is my town and we had a lovely time. I send thanks again for being included. We saw some interesting things and I learned that four girls sitting in a truck will leave one of them sitting on the jabby seatbelt part and she will want to whimper every time they hit a bump. (Why do I feel a “the more you know” rainbow moment coming on?)
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That weekend was when we went to the Watermelon Festival and I was much disappointed by the lack of Ferris wheel. I’d actually badgered my nephew into riding with me (he and the rest of the relations hate them), but all they had was the Zipper and I’m not getting on another one of those. (Someday maybe I’ll write about my terrible luck with carnival rides breaking while I’m on them on multiple occasions. Speaking of…) After wandering the very few booths open we went to the carnival area and scouted out the rides. Only a few looked safe-ish and interesting to us (no heights or upside down for me and the kid) so we went on the tilt-a-whirl to start, then a different ride, then the t-a-w again before he rode the t-a-w and a weird ride without me. It’s the ride in the middle that caused the problem.
I don’t remember what the other rides were called, but the one we rode together had little two-seater boat looking things that ran in a circular track with several dips. They went around forward and backward. My first hint that this was going to be less than fun was the terrible music, followed by the fact that all of the people running the ride were visibly high. ‘Meh, I’ve seen higher’ I thought and on we went. Of course I had a complete lack of grace getting in, but that’s normal. What worried me was that the floor area of our cart/boat thing was not bolted and the bar seemed very flimsy, but fine whatevs. Then once the ride was actually moving I noticed that one of the pins keeping our boatything from flying off (a type of pin that should not move at all) was spinning around in a worrisome manner and ours was the only part of the ride that went sideways on the turns. Of course I was on the side that would hit the ground first if anything broke. I was not reassured when two carnies came rushing (as much as the super high can rush) up after the ride stopped and one mentioned someone “giving them the thumbs down”- I interpreted this to mean that someone with good sense was shutting them down, but dear nephew thought it was one of the riders (possibly the ones behind us that were mad their ride didn’t fly sideways, the fools).
We agreed that we were insane and had enjoyed that one, but neither of us wanted to get back on it. I think the boy has my broken-ride-curse though ‘cause he managed to get on the only t-a-w booth with a part hanging off the back and the lap gate on the other ride kept trying to shake open and he had to hold it closed with his arm while a small child kept sliding into him. It was actually a pretty good time (Mom had her fun by browsing the booths, eating cotton candy, and laughing at us). Sadly this year we weren’t in the mood to go to the concert (I can’t even remember who was playing, but it wasn’t REK so I probably don’t care) and therefore couldn’t see if bikini girl was there or not (I’ve talked about that before yes?).
Just to prove that I really needed a new lj tag (see if you can figure out which one I’m referring to) I include this encounter: As we were walking out Mom said, “Okay, what’s wrong with this picture?” I spotted about ten things that could fit that description (example: three different people in Twilight shirts, all of them over 16) so she had to direct my gaze. Over at one of the wee kiddo rides was a ridiculously surly looking man with a mullet. If someone lined up all the guys running booths at this place and asked you to pick out the pedophile/rapist/serial killer/most likely to own a windowless van this guy would have won hands down (tip: if you see him tell him to go collect his prize while you run for help).
I’m calling the day a success.