This year I again landed the gig of Illinois State Fair blogger for the newspaper, which is fine with me because I really don’t mind the fair. Plus, it’s nice to work away from the office for a stretch.

Just as I did last year, I donned jeans, sneakers and sunglasses, grabbed a laptop computer and backpack, stocked up on extra batteries and headed out with a point-and-shoot camera, Flip video camera, the computer equipment and miscellaneous fair schedules and news releases.

I blogged six of the 10 days of the fair, plus preview day, logging nearly 70 blog posts that documented everything from vendors and attendance to the weather and fair food. I rode out two mid-afternoon summer storms, including one that prompted officials to set off the fairgrounds’ tornado sirens and sent people running for cover in the tunnel beneath the Grandstand.

I saw concessionaires fry up Pepsi and sundaes, rode the Sky Ride for the first time even though I’m terrified of heights and learned a little bit about harness racing.

The 2009 Illinois State Fair is in the books now, and I expect 2010 will be just as memorable.