The Ogemaw County Fair was last week, which meant I had a few long and busy days. I kept a journal for each day after the official opening last Monday.

I arrived at the fairgrounds Tuesday evening, and it was packed. I had to park behind the Grandstands. I had an hour to kill until the start of the Bump N Run Derby, so I walked around the grounds, taking photos of anything and everything I could. The Bump N Run Derby was fun to watch, and the Grandstands were packed for the event.

I will admit, I took advantage of Fair Week to sleep in a bit. Wednesday was kids’ day, so it was the perfect day to take photos of people on the rides. I spent most of the day walking around and looking for photo ops. I took photos of goats being judged in the afternoon, then continued to walk around taking pics.

It was raining on Thursday, so I had a late start to my day at the fair. Once again, I slept in, then made a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. I did not want to deal with keeping my camera safe and dry, so I waited for the rain to die down before going to the fair. It started pouring rain when I arrived, so I took shelter in the Veterans’ Museum. It is a nice building filled with military-related items donated by veterans. It also has air conditioning. I attended the gallon of milk and animal auction in the early evening before closing my day out with the rodeo at the Grandstands.

I attended the large animal Showman of the Showmanship competition Friday. It started late in the morning, which gave me another excuse to sleep in. Barn Wars began shortly after the competition. Barn Wars is a series of “minute to win it” style games for the 4-H kids to play. In the last game, kids sat behind one another and had to pour water from their cup into the cup of the teammate behind them. Some kids got soaked, and then the game devolved into a water fight between all the kids. I left the fairgrounds to go to my parents’ house just down the road so I could rest. By Friday, my feet were hurting badly from all the walking. I returned to the fairgrounds for the concert and then called it a night.

I went to the West Branch Animal Swap Meet Saturday morning before heading to the fair. When I arrived at the fairgrounds, I attended the open horse show at the horse arena and took a couple of photos. The pedal tractor pull was in the early afternoon. By this point, my days were all blending together, and I had a hard time remembering what I had done each day, so I’m glad I kept a journal. The final event of the fair was the Mud Bog. I stayed long enough for a few vehicles to go through but left so I could go home and get some much-needed sleep.