Oct 29 - Beanfest!

Beanfest is a big deal in Mountain View, Arkansas.  The weather was cool this year, but sunny and bright and the sky was a beautiful clear blue, just like it always is.  This is what the  downtown street looked like on Friday afternoon, the day before the huge event.  See all the pots?  Many teams would get here early, early on Saturday morning to cook the beans in these pots that would be served for free at noon.

The big day.  Look at all the people lined up for beans!

Ozark RV park was well represented by a team this year.  Bill, on the right, used to be a fireman and cooked the meals for a firehouse.  I've been to Beanfest quite a few times but never ate the beans until this year.  I've tasted Bill's gumbo so knew his beans would be good and they were!  Becky, on the left, is serving up cornbread.

After we had beans, we headed over to watch a little bit of the outhouse races and get a few photos, something we haven't done in several years.

All the outhouse vehicles have to meet certain criteria to be included.

We really like this guitar shaped outhouse.

Mellon's Country store is a very cool place to visit if you are in Mountain View.  Don Mellon, pictured, is the sponsor of this outhouse racer.  Don is a member of the Outside the Box band that Galen is part of, and does an excellent job of playing a fiddle made from a gourd.

The outhouses are pushed uphill but a couple of strong young guys in heats of two.  Uphill is a lot safer for the audience than downhill.

Galen played music downtown and on the main stage at the Ozark Folk Center with the leader of Ozark Traditions, fiddle player, and a walking encyclopedia of the traditional music of this area.