This weekend is the annual MPKS show at the McCook MAX, about 20 minutes south of Chicago. The pond digger and I flew out since I was showing a koi and we had some friends and family in the area. The show is held in an air conditioned venue, soft floor and it’s  a nice social event since keeping koi is not your average hobby.  At the koi show, there are vendors selling koi and we purchased an Omosako Shiro Utsuri tosai and a Purdin Sanke tosai. The dealers are all so nice and always willing to take the time to share their knowledge.

Devin and Mikki transported a Shiro Utsuri that I purchased from them last fall. Not really a contender but I wanted to try out the experience of showing a koi at a different show. This service is really nice because we did not have to make the long drive, just fly in and fly out.

Kevin Pham was one of the judges at the show. Always nice to see him. I’ll be posting next week about the two Konishi Karashigoi that are coming out of quarantine and flying to Minnesota!

I have never bought from Kodama Koi Farm but what a pleasure to meet Taro Kodama. Their main operations are in Hawaii and he has some stores in Florida, New Jersey/New York. A wealth of knowledge. Taro Kodama made me use my limited, rusty, all but forgotten Japanese. If I get to Japan to visit koi farms, I need my sister who is fluent to go with me…

Mikki Hernandez Swanson of Koi Acres texted me “there’s a cute sanke in another vendor’s tank.” This is the nice aspect of koi dealers – many of them are very supportive of each other. Eric is 20 and still in college. While the koi are a hobby, he’s quite devoted and working with Purdin Koi, an American breeder.

Pretty difficult to resist picking up a koi or two and they are flying home with us. TSA allows koi as long as they are in clear bags, are alive and in a leak proof container. They actually did some type of surface test on the plastic bag. I’m just glad the pond digger is pretty strong. He’s lugging around the coolers – about 20-25 pounds each 😄

Happy to be heading home – thunderstorms and 93 degree weather ahead. Hopefully we have escaped power outages 😬

PS: The new tosai have been named Roxie and Velma…