My last day. My flight did not leave until 8:40pm, so Denise and I planned to go to the Arizona State Fair, which was one of the top items on my to-do list. She had a job in Scottsdale and I was going with her so we could leave right from there. When the alarm went off, Waldo crawled up on my chest so I could not get out of bed. I think he knew I was leaving.

I did more work and writing and we left for the Fair at 4pm. One of Denise’s private clients told her he had a friend who could get us in for free. It was only an $8 admission fee (we are both considered seniors at 55+) but we thought we would take advantage of it anyway. Turns out that was excellent idea. The traffic near the Fair was terrible and the only parking available was overpriced (Fair parking was $10 but those lots were full). This friend let us park behind his house and then his friend walked us to the entrance. A woman took us to the gate and another person had us walk along the wall so the cameras could not see us and unlocked a gate and we were in. We immediately could smell the livestock and walked through several buildings looking at and petting the goats, cows, sheep, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, turkeys, geese, and pigs. For a city girl it was fun and exotic.

Outside the sun was setting behind the rides.

I enjoyed the crafts and hobbies building. Denise bought some cheap stuff at another building. We had sausage, pulled pork, cotton candy, and I had a root beer float and she had a mint chocolate chip shake.

We were having a difficult time finding our way out until Denise found an information booth and then we had to push our way through the crowd but we made it out and I made it to the airport on time.

Another week in Phoenix in the books.

By Carene Lydia Lopez