An Out of this World Fair

I’m back from New York City where I spent an incredibly fun 2.5 weeks hanging out with my two adorable nieces. If you want to see some pictures from NY, check out the “HNG in NYC” album on the HNG facebook page.

Within hours off stepping off the plane I was drinking Scotch with my Step-dad and Mama Jedi at the Scottish Highland Games and pounding Jager Bombs at the local Irish pub before it changed owners at midnight.

Tomorrow I’m heading to Colorado for my step-brother’s wedding. It’s a road trip so I’ll be gone for a week (I swear my Summers aren’t usually this crazy busy). It was important to squeeze in as much stuff as possible while I was home in San Diego. That included a trip to the Del Mar Fair with Mama Jedi (yes, I know it’s technically the San Diego County Fair now but whatever. Much like The Murph will never be Qualcomm, the Del Mar Fair will never be SDCF for me). This year in particular struck my fancy because the theme was “Out of this World.”

The wonders of space with the comforts of sunny San Diego

It’s like San Diego is welcoming me back with open arms after my 12 year hiatus.

First things first. They had fried cheese curds. My bulk of Mama Jedi’s side of the family is in Wisconsin where Mama Jedi grew up and I lurv me some cheese curds. However, I’m not convinced that these were real curds. I’m pretty sure they were mozzarella. Weak.

They were still pretty tasty though

After that Mama Jedi and I headed straight to the “Out of this World” exhibit.

This exhibit was super awesome. Y’all know I’m a sucker for anything space-related and this one did not disappoint. I actually enjoyed it more than the “Beyond Planet Earth” exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.

I love that this articulated truck is called the Dragon Wagon. You see Marines driving trucks like these up and down the San Diego freeways on a pretty regular basis.

Speaking of Marines, here are the ones that have been in space!

Oh look, a spaceship!

Oh crap, we’re being abducted by aliens! Bad aliens, bad!

They took us to the moon! Yay! You’re a-okay Mr. Alien Dudes.

Next time we should probably pack a spacesuit. Just sayin’.

Time for a trip to my favorite part of the exhibit…

Mama Jedi loved this kinetic energy silver ball thing but I think the one at the Discovery Science Center is better.

I’m alive! I’m ALIIIVE!!!

We got to chat with a couple of guys from the San Diego Astronomy Association. They were super awesome and told us about all of the astronomy events happening in and around San Diego.

I always get emotional whenever the Challenger or Columbia disasters come up.

Overall, a great production.

We then moved on to the Home and Garden section of the Fair.  Everything had a sci-fi theme.

Some of my favorite rooms (especially this one, it reminded me of my room when I was a kid). Star Wars was well represented.

Going from the inner exhibits to the outdoor garden area we ran into this guy.

The outdoor gardens were gorgeous.

This one was my favorite.

At this point something totally insane and unexpected happened.  I got recognized. For the first time. In public. By a Sheriff no less! I was so surprised by it that I didn’t even think to get his name or take a picture or something. So, Mr. Sheriff Dude, if you’re reading this, email me!

Then we headed over to the kid area infield to check out the Area Fifty Fun (see what they did there?) building.

On the way in we got a good look at the sun. The sunspot we saw was larger than Earth but the real beauty was the solar prominences. Spectacular. Don’t worry, this telescope was all set up to safely view the sun. Don’t go looking into the sun or anything, you’ll burn your corneas, mmkay?

I like to tease cyborgs by pinching their cheeks. On of these days that’s gonna come back to bite me in the butt, I’m sure.

They had a pretty decent Star Trek display. Much of which I have at home.

Star Trek FAIL.

It turned out to be a fun area for the kidlets filled with animals and toys and all that stuff that kids (and HNG’s) seem to like.

In the end I left with a new mop, a giant bag of Kettle Corn and my 5th lightsaber (a cheap red one for my nephew to play with when he comes over so he’ll leave my nice ones alone).

I think the Fair should have this theme every year.