Wuertz Gourd Festival - Pinal County Fairgrounds

A few years ago my brother stopped in Eloy, AZ with his tractor trailer and was waiting for a load back east.  He gave me a call and Gerry and I went to the FlyingJ where he was parked and met him for lunch.  After lunch he wanted to see the area around Casa Grande and we wound up near the Pinal County Fairgrounds where the Wuertz Gourd Festival was in full process.  Out of curiosity we stopped to check it out.  Gerry and Dick wound up buying a ton of gourds and each saved them for later decoration.  

We enjoyed the festival and have attended a few since then.  When Ron & Dee asked if we wanted to go with them this year we jumped at the chance.  We left early this morning for the 1hr 10min drive and were ready to check out the place.

For those of you not familiar with gourd art and decoration, some beautiful creations are made out of gourds large and small.  It is amazing to see some of the gourds decorated and imagine the skill and time that went into the creation of them.  

Rather than try and describe the beauty, I have included a small portion of the photos we took this day.  Keep in mind all the works are gourds.  Enjoy!

Ron & Dee

Gourd bins

One of the odd shapes gourds.

Gerry & Larry

Great creation out of a gourd

Yes, it is a gourd

Turtles & babies next to an owl. Owl feathers are gourd seeds.

Arizona mosquito

Snake made out of gourd

Raccoon family in tree

Gambel's quail and chicks

Arizona Ranger and his horse.

 There were many food wagons, beer stands, games and various musical groups.  We spent so much time in the halls that we didn't get a chance to listen to any of the bands.  

A number of the gourds were judged.  They were in a separate hall and it was obvious the work put into them was super.  In another hall they had many other gourds for sale in addition to books, tools and assorted gourd related items.  We finally had to drag Gerry out of there and return home.

We managed to pick up a few more caches and I can now add some happy faces to the area around the fairgrounds.  Finally, we headed back to Tucson and stopped at a Cracker Barrel for an early dinner.  The food was great as usual and we all managed to stuff ourselves and occupy the table for a long time chatting.

Back at the RV park we stopped for some adult beverages and visited a little longer before finally going home and crashing.  Long day, but we had a great time at the festival and spending some time with Ron & Dee.  Now I want to know what is on the agenda for next weekend, but we need a couple days of rest first.

That was our day, how was yours?