Adventures – Page 9

Arizona has 5 C’s of agriculture, Cotton, Cattle, Climate, Citrus and Copper. So while we were down there I was able to got on a few farm tours. First I would like to show you my visit to a very large dairy farm. This farm, although quite large is still family owned. There are about 80 dairies in the state, with 65 being family businesses. There are also about 170,000 dairy cattle which employs almost 20,000 people in the state! So please enjoy the first stop on the Arizona Farm Tour…DeJong Dairy.

They have over 28,000 head of cattle on this farm alone! Varying in all stages & ages.

This time of year they have 80 to 100 calves A DAY!!

We got to see one cow actually giving birth, when we asked the tour gal (who was a riot) how long until that thing was done. She replied, Well folks, what takes months to grow takes more than seconds to get out!!

They milk 7500-8000 cows, three times per day. They have two of these turn tables to get the job done.

Next week, Specialty Dried Flower grower & a research facility. Have a good weekend!

Since today is Halloween I thought I would add my best Halloween costume story….Enjoy!

It was a few years after I had graduated from Loyola. I was heading home on Halloween after a very busy weekend of celebrating this crazy holiday down in LA with all my college buds. I was dared the night before, since I would be traveling on Halloween, to wear my costume to LAX and fly home to Portland with it on. Now you have to realize that I may have been slightly not very good at making sound decisions at this point, but I shook a hand, and that was that. So I got up the next day…threw on my costume with the utmost confidence and headed out.

My costume…a giant chicken! Now you have to realize that I fully expected to not be the only one dressed up. The airport is full of weirdly dressed people all the time, surely on October 31st the place would be teaming with pirates, sailors, nerds, and suitably dressed Fred Flinstone characters…right?! WRONG…oh so wrong! I am pretty sure the entire airport and everyone in it had no idea what day it was, to them it was Sunday and I was dressed like a chicken, on a Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport.

It started off with a strange look from my cab driver, he clearly didn’t celebrate this day whatsoever! Then we make it to the airport, the line at the counter was epically long, torturous really. I mean it’s not a spoken rule but I was pretty sure that someone dressed like a chicken would either get really good service right off the bat, or arrested for being insane. Instead I stood in line with all the other normal people (did I mention I’m still dressed like a life size chicken?!) I get to the front, and the man behind the computer stares at me and chuckles while taking my information down. Then he looks back up, clearly trying to be serious, I tell him to rest assured I was hoping people would laugh at me, because I’m not trying to be serious here while standing in an airport dressed like a freaking chicken!! So he lets loose with a huge laugh, oddly for the first time that day I feel at ease. Once he gains his composer again, he says there is good and bad news with my flight. “The bad news” he begins, “…it has been cancelled. The good news…there is another flight! Oh wait, one more bad news…it leaves in 20 minutes,” deep breath, “you’re going to have to run…” I look at him realizing the end of this sentence is just too hilarious to even mutter…”through the extremely crowded airport, dressed like a chicken!”

So I take off…running…probably resembling a chicken more than ever now! I call my mom, out of breath I’m telling her I will be in early and I’m running to a new flight. Her only response, “Oh dear, are you really wearing the chicken costume?!” I hang up and keep sprinting! Through security, lucky I wasn’t a pirate, I heard one did come through earlier and they had a heck of a time with all the jewelry and metal that is required for that get up! I fly into the gate area just in time to jump behind the last few people boarding the plane.

I am trying to compose myself and look as cool as possible, like “I know you’re all jealous that I am so brave to be dressed up like this” When inside I’m dying of embarrassment! Then it happened…the older gentleman in front of me in line, looks at me and says, “Well not to be forward or anything, but you’re the best looking chick I’ve seen all day!” Out of breath from the run I can hardly respond before the flight attendant turns toward us and says, “Honey if this man is bothering you, just tell him to cluck off!” That my friends made the whole, terrifying, hilarious, chicken costume experience all worth it!