Our visit to the Calaveras County Fair

Today we went to the Calaveras County Fair. After such a busy week we have barely been home and hadn't had any opportunities to watch television. We left this morning shortly after 8 a.m. as it is close to a two hour drive. We got to the fair shortly after ten a.m. and at that point it was already 93 degrees. This fair doesn't have many shaded areas either so you can imagine how hot it was there.

We actually started off watching frog jumping contests but none of those photos turned out. Our next stop was this frog garden with lots of different frog statues to stand in front of for pictures. Aly really loved the dalmation frog on the right.

Here is KK's favorite frog! The next place we went was to the children's art exhibits. It was so fun to tour and see all the art other children made. Aly loved it and wanted her picture taken in front of her favorite art. This particular art piece she wants to do at home. They are skeletons made using q-tips.

This particular art exhibit was drawn by students I believe in fourth or fifth grade. They are frogs holding an icecream cone. Too cute!

Our next stop was going to be the rides at the fair. At noon we went down to the rides only to discover there would be a delay in opening them. Of course at the time we had no idea why? We thought it was just their lack of organization or that they were short staffed. We did notice that they were welding a kiddie ride. We took note of that because we weren't going to let the girls ride that one.

When we asked the staff when the rides would open they were very short and rude--maybe in an hour--we have no idea. It was blazing hot at this point nearing 100 degrees. We waited a half hour and asked again. Same reply. We decided to go up and ask for a refund. We were sent all over the fair talking to different people. It was quite annoying. Finaly after 1 p.m. we found the right place to try and get a refund. The office staff was very curt and just simply told us we are not giving refunds. You have to file this application with the state and they will determine if you are granted a refund or not--BTW the paperwork you use to file charges a $25 fee for applying for a refund! The lady told me I could call my credit card company and dispute the charge. They weren't budging. We would have to leave knowing we may never see that $30 worth of ride coupons we purchased.

When we got home I called my friend Annette to complain about not getting my money back. She let me know the shocking truth as to why the rides weren't open! To read more of this horrifying story click here. After learning of this tragedy I was so happy that our children didn't get the opportunity to ride their rides.