Carnival Pleasures

We finally got out to Palmer today to the Alaska State Fair, and we're glad we did!

Acting on advice from locals, we got up at the crack of dawn (OK, 8 a.m.) and headed out there. It is a measure of how minimally complicated the road system is in Alaska in general that we were able to set out with only the vaguest notion of the direction we were heading and get right to where we needed to go with absolutely no hitches at all. We just headed north and eventually there was a sign, and then right there we were!

(Art's Commentary: We're used to the east coast roadnet, where you need to know about 20 major highways and many more minor ones to get around. Plus they have confusing numbers or names, like 22, 222, 100, 309, I-78, 76, 476, the blue route, the beltway, the turnpike the schulkill expressway, etc.............. Alaska has just 3 and they're numbered 1, 2 &3.)

Anyway, if you have ever been to a state fair, as we have, there were not too many surprises. There were a lot of food stands, face painting, silly hats for sale, and humorous hair treatments (huge purple mohawks, that sort of thing). There were also vendors of everything from opinions (both major political parties, various religious groups) to jewelry to crap (ShamWow!) Also present and accounted for were the lame musical acts and carnival rides. Overlaying it all, though, is the Alaskaness of everything. Moose and salmon images everywhere - from the quilts in the needlework display to the directional signs.

Also, a surprisingly immediate bounty of McCain PALIN gear. I will write more about this event in a near future post, but I will say this. We were walking behind a mom and her two little girls, and the mom told the daughters "Look, that word is 'Palin'! You know her, she is our governor!" And the little girls squealed like Hannah Montanna had just appeared in front of them and handed them branded gear "Governor Sarah! Governor Sarah! Is she here??? Where is Governor Sarah! We love her!!!" So, though there are some doubters, among the little girl crowd, Governor Sarah is possibly the coolest public official in the history of the planet.

We had gotten so many recommendations for good things to eat that we decided right away to take a "grazing" approach to eating by getting small portions of everything and sharing. We did not eat one of everything at the fair, but we did get through a pretty good percentage. For my review of the Fair Food, check out Eating Alaska, my food blog. :)http://alaskafood.blogspot.com/

In addition to eating, we experienced many of the other carnival pleasures on offer. We looked at all of the craft and homemaker exhibits, which was more interesting than it probably sounds. My mom quilts, so we took pictures of the interesting or funny ones for her. I myself do embroidery, so I was checking out that exhibit - I think I will enter next year! We also saw some of the famous giant vegetables, which like many famous things are pretty good, but not as good as they are hyped up as. But still...big pumpkin!

Continuing on with the produce theme, a marketing board is promoting Alaska Grown, which, as you might expect, urges you to buy and use Alaska Grown produce. I wandered over to their stand, as I agree with using local produce as much as possible, to see what their story was. An extremely nice man gave me a button and a bumper sticker, and urged me to purchase produce from Alaska. I agree that I would. We chatted a bit, and then I spotted a recipe booklet. I said "OOOOO! Recipes!" He pressed one into my hands, took a brief moment to extoll Alaska Grown potatoes, which are superior to any other in all the world, and then said to Art "Sir, you'll thank her for stopping here!" I could almost not stand it. But they do look like pretty good recipes, so what the hell.

We also saw an EXTREME TRICK DOG SHOW! Which was not all that extreme, but was very cute. The dogs mostly caught frisbees and jumped real high and other amazing feats. But who doesn't love puppy dogs? Also, the show rescued all these dogs out of pounds, so that was very nice to see. And they seemed very happy, in the fashion of dogs who get a lot of attention and affection.

We went through a haunted maze, which was actually pretty good. Usually, these things are poorly thought out and badly run, and I have been known to stop in the middle of going through a haunted attraction and tell the people staffing them that they are really more annoying than scary and what they could do to be more frightening. I have given impromptu seminars on the subject. This may be the reason that Art generally doesn't want to go through haunted attraction with me. But, you know, if I'm paying you $20 to scare me, scare me. Don't just wear a Planet of the Apes mask and scream at me - because that just makes me want to smack you.

But anyway. Another thing adding to the Fair-y goodness was the absolutely perfect, beautiful weather. We brought an umbrella, because it has been very rainy this whole summer, but there was not a threatening cloud in the sky the whole day. It was in the 70s and balmy all day long, which was a pleasant surprise. Although we did get to do most of what we wanted to do, we were thwarted in a couple of things. We tried to go on the Ferris wheel, but the line was way too long. Also, we tried to see the Lumber jack show, but we were unable to get seats, and since we had been standing or walking around for 5 straight hours by that time, a place to sit was pretty much necessary. So that was a no-go as well. However, I am pretty confident that we will probably go on without too many regrets... until we catch them next year!