New Mexico State Fair Time!

 

Yesterday we went to the New Mexico State Fair. It’s something we look forward to every year. Yesterday was Education Day.

We usually go with our Home School Group on Education Day because we get in free and don’t have to pay for parking either. It’s also fun to go as a group, although because it’s Education Day, that means that the State Fair is packed full with school groups. But the New Mexico State Fair Grounds are huge, so there’s plenty of room to move around.  

                 We took lots of photos, of course!

We attended a few shows, like this The Birdman of Las Vegas Show.

This gorgeous bird is an African Grey Crowned Crane that the Birdman raised from a chick.

 

Isn’t this Bateleur Eagle stunning?! The BIrdman told us that this species is from Africa. He was given this eagle from Sigfried and Roy and says that a eagle like this one can cost more than a small house!

This is an Andean Condor that the Birdman raised from a chick. I’ve always been in appreciation of condors ever since I volunteered as a Docent for the Rio Grande Zoo and learned about the threatened California Condors. The BIrdman is very focused and driven with his Andean Condor Breeding program so that the Andean Condor doesn’t also become threatened by extinction.

At the end of his show he invited folks to come up and donate money towards his Andean Condor Rescue and Breeding Program…….with a very clever twist. The parrots would take the money and deposit it in the donation box!

I gave my son Jem and my daughter, Jen a couple dollars and it was fun to watch the birds take the money from their hands.

Jen wanted some more money for her new friend. And it was for a great cause, too!

Jen was also working on her Girl Scout’s State Fair patch, so we had to make some rounds and do some exploring. We meandered through The Agriculture Building, the Creative Arts Building (the wood carving, 3-D paintings and Lego sculptures were amazing! I liked the beautiful quilts, too). We then explored the Youth Hall to check out the wonderful 4H displays, and then walked through the Natural Resources Building to see some of the New Mexico Game and Fish displays.

Our next stop was the Horse Barn, although because it was Education Day, there were no equine shows planned for the day.

So, we went next door and explored the Dairy Barn instead. 

 

It was nap time for many of the large bovines.

 

And show time for others.

 

We couldn’t take our eyes of this ginormous guy! It’s difficult to tell his huge size from the photo, but his horns were as tall as me, and I’m close to 6 ft tall! His head was almost as long as my daughter is tall!

 

We left the Dairy Barn and sauntered over to The Indian Village to watch some dances. These are The Blue Eagle Dancers doing the Ribbon Dance.

And the Weaving Dance.

And this is the Patriarch of the Family and leader of The Blue Eagle Dancers……the dancers, which are all his grandkids, just call him Grandfather.

We really enjoyed their dances, like this Basket Dance.

 

Next on our agenda was eating some delicious fair food. The kidlets enjoyed some Green Chile, Chili Footlongs, and I chowed down on an Carne Adovada Burrito with green chile! Yummo!

While we ate, we watched the crazy people bungee jumping from the top of a crane.

 

After lunch we visited Villa Hispano to listen to some exciting Salsa and Cumbia Music. Then we stopped off at the State Fair Pavilion to watch some young dancers doing Flamenco. Ole!

Afterwards we briefly visited The African American Pavilion to jam out on some awesome rock and funk music, heavy on the bass guitar! Rock on!

Because it was Education Day, all over the New Mexico State Fair, the military presence was huge. Main Street was lined with all sorts of military vehicles that they were inviting the public to explore, along with all their weaponry.

We all held a number of weapons and what surprised me the most was how heavy they were. My kidlets were amazed at the thought of how our military caries these guns with them 24/7. Everyone we met were so friendly and informative that we learned so much.

We also saw many Native American Veterans yesterday, too.

And we had the opportunity to speak with the two surviving Navajo Code Talkers, too. I saw them at a book signing last summer and there were 5 of them. Now there are only two. They are working on creating a special musuem to save this amazing part of history and want to do it before these last two Code Talkers are gone.

If you’ve never heard of the Navajo Code Talkers, please visit their website! (I promise you’ll get goosebumps!)

The Navajo Code Talkers were young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of WWII. At a time when America's best cryptographers were falling short, these modest sheepherders and farmers were able to fashion the most ingenious and successful code in military history. They drew upon their proud warrior tradition to brave the dense jungles of Guadalcanal and the exposed beachheads of Iwo Jima. Serving with distinction in every major engagement of the Pacific theater from 1942-1945, their unbreakable code played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the war's end.

These two honorable men are fascinating living history.

 

This post is already too long, but just a sneak peek on some of the goodies we ate and bought while at the New Mexico State Fair yesterday.

 

What is ironic about this label is seeing the location of the company, Chili Crop, that makes these yummy chocolate bars with a kick. We are actually heading up there this weekend for a Boy Scout camp-out. Maybe I should look them up and see if I can buy one of their “Raisin’ Hell” candy bars…….or not.