Activity Laden Sunday

The busy weekend, bustling with activities continues.

Today we got the bikes out and went downtown to participate in the Tenth Annual SpokeFest. It's Bloomsday for Bikes. We are not bike riders so we chose the Nine Mile Route. The best part of it is a paved path on the ridge above the Spokane River. It ends at the base of  Doomsday Hill, which is a long steady climb. 

In the past, I've been able to make it all the way up. That was not to be the case today. I not only did not make it up the hill, I had to stop three times on the way up to catch my breath. The good news is that there was no chest pain or pressure.

I stopped at the First Aid station at the top of the hill to have my blood pressure checked and it was fine.

We finally got to the finish line and quickly got out of the party area and back to the car for the drive home.

After a short breather, we got back in the car and headed for the Fair. At this point, I'm feeling the effects of having pedaled a good solid ten miles. Now I'm going to walk around a large expense of fairgrounds for the next several hours.

However, it is a tradition that we must adhere to. We entered Wine in the Fair again and as is always the case, I was anxious to see how we did. This years offering was Sangiovese. I was not very optimistic because we only bottled the wine last month, after having it age for about seven months. 

We entered a second bottle of wine which was a blend of the Sangiovese with a few pounds of grapes from our backyard. Susan and I both liked the blend better than the Sangiovese.

Even the labels we entered in the Label Contest were thrown together in the last week before everything had to be delivered to the fairgrounds.

The Blend got a White Ribbon...third place. Susan's label for the Blend got nuthin'. My label for the Sangiovese got a Blue Ribbon. Our friend Ellen got a Grand Champion Ribbon for her label.

The big surprise was the Sangiovese. Grand Champion! How can that be?! I am incredulous. I am astonished. I am very pleased!

As with last year, I am anxious to see the comments we get from the judges.

I should explain the label because it really is not very good. Sangiovese has been referred to as "the blood of Jupiter". So I found a statue of the Greek God Jupiter. I covered his nether region with grapes. I removed the staff from his hand and added a crudely drawn glass of wine in one hand and the bottle in the other. And then I called it "Jupiter Juice".

It really is one of my worst efforts. 

And yet...a blue ribbon.

Unfortunately, our friend Ellen got the Grand Champion for Labels. And a second place for her wine. A kit wine, I might add. She didn't go out into the fields and toil in the dirt to acquire the grapes. (Neither did we) She bought a kit and followed the instructions. 

We at least made the effort to go the the vineyard and purchase the grapes.

We stayed at the fair until about 7:00. By then we had eaten a crap load of food...all high calorie and bad for us...and we were ready to call it a day.

Grand Champion! Go figure.