The 10-day road trip began as we made our way to Columbus for the first week of dairy shows of the Ohio State Fair. The barns were full of cattle with shiny trailers, big trucks and ATV’s crawling around the perimeter of the grounds as dairy and beef cattle exhibitors nestled in for a hot few days on the concrete in Columbus.  Generators powering huge fans and cooling units could be heard in every direction as they kept the cattle cool in the 90-degree heat.

The scorching temps mirrored the competition as exhibitors dressed themselves and their cattle to be evaluated by judges to see how they compare to the best of the best. It’s simply amazing how no matter how hot it got, no one retreated from taking on their competitors and at the end of the day, they popped a top and congratulated one another on a good show.

We posted the last photo, packed up and headed northeast for the New York Holstein golf outing and summer picnic. Johnstown would be our landing spot for two days as we traversed Hales Mills Golf Course to take photos of the golf teams swinging their way through 18 holes before they enjoyed a huge spread of food at Elmvue Farms.

As we pulled up to the farm dressed up in Black-Eyed Susans in front of a long white fence, the Frasier family welcomed attendees to the farm for an afternoon of food and fellowship. A big white tent was set up in the rolling pasture with the Adirondack Mountains as the backdrop. Folks enjoyed visiting with one another as they dined on the first course of hamburgers, hotdogs and veggies before the second course of BBQ chicken, salads, corn on the cob, rolls and cookies was laid out. No one left the farm hungry and everyone strolled through the cattle that were tagged for the Elmvue Tag Sale and the show cattle that would make the colored shavings this fall.

The second day in New York was spent on the edge of the St. Lawrence River in Ogdensburg, visiting the several farms of Woodcrest Dairy owned by Dr. Robert Cruikshank and Peter Braun. Milking just shy of 3000 cows they have several farms that house calves, heifers and milk cows, all 100 percent registered holsteins. We also wandered into the yard of one of the cliff dwellers on the river so we could take photos of the river and the skyline of Brockville, Canada, on the other side of the water. Upstate New York has some amazing scenery that should never be overshadowed by the iconic New York City. If you ever get the chance to visit the wilds of New York, you should.

After a coffee break at Oakfield Corners Dairy we headed back south and as I type this, I’m back in Columbus for the second week of the Ohio State Fair and looking forward to covering the remaining dairy shows. People tell me often I have the best job in the world – I can’t disagree.