Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Evergreen State Fair 2010

Each year the Evergreen State Fair is held in Monroe, Washington which is about 20 miles from our home in Kenmore. Yesterday was the final day of the Fair and the weather forecast was RAIN. But Mike and I already had tickets to the Fair so we put on our hoodies, grabbed 2 umbrellas and drove to Monroe.

We were hoping the afternoon would be dry, but no such luck. We parked, popped open our umbrellas and decided to have the best time we could – considering the mucky mud and wet rain. Very few carnival rides were running, but the lines at the food booths were short. The scones and corn on the cob were plentiful so we got some “fair food” and sat on covered picnic benches to eat. Then we headed over to see some of the 4H vegetable and craft exhibits. After that we went to the barns to visit with some of the animals – dogs, cats, pigs, sheep and goats and cows.



Mama and newborns.


Another mama with 40-day old babies.


Big Daddy.


“Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb...”


This girl was very friendly. And notice how big her head is!


Twins.


Close friends.


Isn’t her long neck beautiful? She is so soft.


???


Another mama and baby.


Whoa! She is BIG!

And after playing with the cows we went home. It was sorta disappointing. And very wet. But any day I get to spend with Mike is a good day in my book!

9 comments:

Tancho said...

Good God man, this is summer and you have rain in the beautiful NorthWest?
I love fairs, when I first started my business we would have a display which we would man from 10 to 10 each day. It was interesting to see the people that would come by. I enjoyed the ambiance and the excitement, the noise and the food. It was truly sad when the last day came around because we would be saying good bye to so many people that worked the fair right along side with us.
We support the fair as much as we still can by donating to the 4H and FFA groups annually. I went to the fair up here this year and thoroughly enjoyed it, but sadly it is changing like everything else......
You pix of the piggies are priceless!

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Good morning Tancho - Please tell us what type of business you displayed at the fair?? There was not a lot of excitement yesterday - seeing as how it was the last day and it was so yucky out...but I remember seeing "art" created by young kids that had "participation ribbons" on them and I could only imagine how proud each of those kids (and their parents) must have been to receive those ribbons. 4H and FFA do a lot for kids' self-esteem. I'm glad you like the pig pix. They were so PINK!

Steve Cotton said...

I was going to walk over to the last day of the Oregon State Fair yesterday -- perhaps, my last one -- but I got involved with landscaping, instead. But it was a great day here. Sorry you got hit by the rain. It started here last night. A bit sprinkly on my walk into work.

Tancho said...

We had a booth where we displayed 2 way radios and car phones ( way before cellular) that farmers, business and service organizations used.
We had working displays of phones, and 2 ways that allowed any interested party to talk to the company that had our radio system. Those were the good old days when we had lots of 2 way radio customers paying us monthly access to use our mountain top repeaters. (all went away with cellular)
In my life before that I was a photographer and traveled the California Fair circuit doing publicity photos, meeting all kinds of 2 and 3 rd level entertainment acts, some of whom actually made it to the big time. It was an exciting experience I often thought of buying some concession and going on the road for 6 months out of the year. I know a few people that make good bucks selling 5 dollar hot dogs, enough to travel the rest of the year......

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Steve - Pulling weeds over a fair?! HA

Tancho - "Way before cellular"...Mike and I met at AT&T Wireless in the early '90s when cellular was taking hold of the marketplace. I guess that was our luck and your "not so luck." But I bet it was fun to show your stuff at the fairs...kinda like the Jetsons and all their high-tech gadgets. And yes, wouldn't it have been something to get in on the high-end hot dogs way back then??

GlorV1 said...

Hi M & C. I love little pigs. When I was young we lived on a ranch and had lots of little piggies. They are so darling. How fun. You guys are always out and about. We've got to start doing more stuff like going places. We're homebodies, but I think it's time to cut loose. Thanks for the tour, twas fun. Take care.

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Hi Gloria - We've had a great time exploring the Seattle area while I'm still job hunting. We're calling it The Summer of Mike and Cynthia! We're glad you like the cute little piggie pics.

Anonymous said...

hi again,

those piglets were just 5 days old when i saw them. weren't they a riot? they were chasing each other all over the place. i didn't know they'd be quite that size at such a young age. the picture of the kids is priceless-obviously, they must be twins. i couldn't believe how big those cows are. not that i'm exactly tall, but their rumps were higher than i am tall. i'd never seen such big cows. i lucked out because i went the thursday after the fair started and it was gorgeous out. i think i may have mentioned it before.

have you ever had their walla walla burgers/onion rings? both my boys had their first jobs working at that stand.

teresa

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Hi t - Yes, the little piglets were very cute. Mike had a burger and we shared some onion rings. Greasy, but good!