We have the same problem here with scheduled out door events that everyone else in the world does and that is, will Mother Nature cooperate with the event. In this case the answer was a resounding NO!! I awoke yesterday morning to a blizzard in progress. The wind wasn’t gusting but we did have about 4 inches of snow on the ground and there was just enough wind to drift it up pretty good around buildings. Since this was the only day available for Ice Stock the show went on as scheduled.

The show opened with two of the galley guys, Adam and Tyler, doing an acappella version of the national anthem (Of the United States) just wanted to be clear on that. They did a fantastic job. There were about ten bands scheduled to perform, mostly heavy metal rock and roll. The only band I was really interested in hearing was a group that played Bluegrass Music. They didn’t disappoint. The music was lively, told a story, sometimes funny and had a toe tapping beat (which was good because you needed to do something to stay warm).

After listening to the blue grass for a while I went from booth to booth (8) who were participating in the chili cooking contest. The first booth I went to was the air traffic control/navaids maintenance group. They had two huge pots of chili cooking. I asked for a cup of the milder of the two. All I can say if this is mild I must have been eating bland all my life. It was pretty tasty but it bit back when I bit into it. The after taste was even stronger than the initial heat. My lips are still stinging a little this morning. Some would say that is the sign of good chili but not in my book. I’ll stick with mom’s original recipe. I tried some that was made with venison and some that didn’t resemble chili in any form or fashion (it was vegetarian and didn’t have beans or meat) it kinda looked like vegetable soup (and tasted like it as well). The firemen had some good chili, but I expected them to, seems like they are always cooking up something tasty. I think the judging must have been political though because the air traffic chili came in last behind the vegetable soup stuff (now that’s just not fair).

After eating chili and listening to blue grass I abandoned the festival in favor of a hot shower and viewing some football. What a day.

Look for a couple of pics in the gallery