Oh lord, won't ya send me....

Okay, essentially Send is just the state fair without the livestock. A good old fashioned carnival. Cheap rides, cotton candy.... Ryan and I went for a bit this evening and mostly just walked and observed. Not, of course, without a bag full of roasted almonds, delicious! There were many rides that were American themed that I had to giggle at. My favorite being "Highway 1" complete with illustrations of movie stars, palm trees, convertibles, and (ahem) Mount Rushmore. But hell, they sure tried. And I am sure that there is some replica or something of Mount Rushmore in California, somewhere. So that counts, right? A few of my other favorite things included all the pretzel and wurst booths. The fully portable beer gardens were impressive, a few even complete with astro turf rolled out beneath, white picket fence, and flower boxes for a full experience of drinking in Bavaria. Then of course were the housewares booths: vacuums, one for silver polisher, and the best of all.....the portable plant shop. It seemed strange to me to be selling giant houseplants at a carnival. Lately have been on the hunt for a large quantity of dried lavender and have gone into every store imaginable to find it to no avail. But tonight the carnival delivered. I fell upon a spice and herbs booth and lucked out. I can't wait to get baking some lovely lemon-lavender treats.....yum. I would say all in all Send was a success. Maybe I will return tomorrow to actually hop on a ride. We'll see. More photos here.

On another note.....Germany has made it to the finals in the Euro Cup this year and play tomorrow against Spain. I am so excited. My brother used to play football (soccer) and I always loved watching, but haven't really watched for a long time. Not only am I rediscovering my interest in the sport, I am in a place where it is a frenzy. This tournament has been insane. In fact I am, at the moment, getting ready to settle down to go to bed and a party is just beginning. People are already chanting and cheering, singing "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes. It has nothing to do with football, it's just something catchy they can grab on to. I was given a gift of German flag makeup so I just may even go that route. The only thing I have ever gotten excited enough over to paint my face was Ute Gymnastics and, hello, they are the Red Rocks. Who wouldn't paint their face for them?!? Sorry, where was I? Football? Oh yeah. The madness will, for one more day, continue. Unless of course Germany wins, then the madness will continue until the World Cup....