Western Washington Fair

Hal writes:

Anna and I went to what would be the equivalent of a State Fair for Washington. Based on the geography of WA, there are three distinct regions of WA and each have their own fair. But the size of this fair ranks in the "top 5" size (up there with MN and TX) and is pretty much a State Fair.

On a tip from the locals, we drove a few miles from the fairgrounds where some friendly Kiwanis were giving shuttle trips to/from the fair from a Days Inn parking lot in a 1982 Ford 15-passenger van. It saved us time and money not having to fight with the traffic.

Some things to know about the fair we went to. First of all, mini-doughnuts do not exist. Crazy, right? Which leads me to believe this is one of the main reasons they are not considered a true state fair. They did have elephant ears, but it's just not the same. I had it in my mind that I was going to have a corn dog, but no such thing existed. Although their "crusty pups" were probably what I was looking for, I just couldn't bring myself to spend money on food that is specifically labeled "crusty". In addition to not having food on a stick, this fair is not known for any deep fried foods. Their staple item, since 1915, has been coffee and a scone. Here is a picture of Anna enjoying the treat. When in Rome...

After wondering around the food area for a while I decided to support the local chapter of Young Life and buy a turkey leg.

I know that I'm getting older when I look forward to seeing the displays. My informative years were spent applying my father's scientific knowledge in an attempt to beat the Carnies at their own game or wing at bingo with my grandma while my siblings took advantage of the all-you-can-ride wrist band times. But this time around Anna and I walked around to see the bunnies, birds, horses and even listened in on a 4-H speech contest. Pictured below is one of the top displays from a "small farm display" category. All that you see was grown my one family on the Midwest equivalent of a hobby farm.

The fair was a fun way to spend the Saturday afternoon, especially since I had a long, late Saturday evening. This being the first weekend after classes have started (and my first weekend on call), I responded to several scenarios between 9pm - 3am. I hit the trifecta: mental health call, alcohol call(s), and marijuana call all in the same night.

So, Seattle is supposed to be the rainy area, right? Well, it has only rained twice since we moved out here three months ago. So, for you Midwesterners who want to come visit, the 10 day forecast calls for sunny skys, high of 78 and no humidity. Anna took advantage of today's warm weather to give Riley a haircut outside. I estimate 1/3 of his body weight has been cut off. If the PT thing doesn't work for Anna, she can always go into dog grooming.