Fair Bound

(ed note: for an update on my cookie results, check the end of this entry)

Sorry for the long delay between posts but there's not much to write about on the running front. I was feeling pretty good after the Cool Night Run so I considered running the Wild West Outlook 10K at Donner Summit. The day before the race I did an easy 3 miler and it was pretty painful so I decided to forego the race. I haven't run since. I've decided to continue my pursuit of being seen by a sports doctor at UC Davis. Of course I was immediately greeted with red tape from the insurance companies but I think I can weed through it with some perseverance.



In the meantime, our local Nevada County fair came to town. I love the fair. Recently we've missed the fair because it falls during the Leadville 100 mountain bike race in Colorado. This year I found myself enjoying the sights and sounds (and smells) 3 out of the 5 days it was in town.

Fair Day: Sara, my mom, dad, Pat, and Caitlyn

One of the fun things about the fair is the local participation. I was never into 4H or anything but I decided to enter a few baked goods just for fun. Plus, you only have to turn in about 6 cookies for each entry so we all got to eat the rest :) I entered my traditional chocolate chip cookies (with a twist), my pumpkin cookies with chocolate and butterscotch chips, and my chocolate chip banana bread (notice the chocolate theme?)

It's all about the food!

I spent the Monday before the fair baking. I felt like little Suzy home-maker but it was fun. I got all my goodies packaged and delivered to the fairgrounds for Tuesday's judging. The fair doesn't officially start until Wednesday so we had to wait until then to find out the results. My folks, husband, and kids fanned out to find my entries but unfortunately, no little ribbons were attached to them. Oh well, it was fun just to enter. Some of the exhibits were really amazing.

Checking out the 2 day old piglets

Time spent at the fair now as a mom is vastly different then when I was a teenager. First of all, as a mom with kids your fair takes place during the day. As a teen-ager, it was all about going out at night with your friends, socializing, riding those sick rides. Now it's the Jumping Dumbos and merry-go-round. Cruising through the animal exhibits and petting the bunnies. We even saw barrel racing and sheep dog herding. We got lucky and it wasn't too hot and the crowds weren't bad during the day.










The only downside to the fair is it means summer is coming to a close and fall is just around the corner. You start to look back at how you spent your summer and wonder if you capitalized on the hot sunny days or let the summer get away from you. As a family, we were able to do a lot of fun things including days at the lake and local pool, farmer's markets, and hot summer nights in Nevada City. But due to my injury, my days of running on the high mountain trails were limited. I made up for it with some fun road and mountain bike rides but it's not the same.


Lately, my days have been filled with the excitement of the Olympics. Swimming has been amazing with Michael Phelps going for #8 tonight and track and field heating up. Now if I only could get some sleep instead of staying up until midnight every night watching Olympics!

8/21: Today I received a check in the mail from the Nevada County Fair for $1. Yes, $1. I guess it turns out my chocolate chip cookies took 3rd place! Now I can say I bake award winning chocolate chip cookies. Betcha want one :)