Doing the Puyallup

The biggest fair in Washington State is at Puyallup every September right after Labor Day and it runs for about two weeks.  Even with kind of iffy weather sometimes in September, it draws huge crowds and has vendors from all over the country and good performers booked for the shows.  We foolishly thought that we should go on the first day of the fair this year "because crowds would be lighter".  What we didn't realize is that the opening day offers free admission from 9 until noon.

We had a leisurely breakfast on our way - Puyallup is about 75 miles south for us, beyond all the major job markets of Bothell, Seattle, and Renton.  We didn't want to get caught in the morning rush hour, so we didn't hit the "high traffic" area until around 10.

Even so, traffic was bumper to bumper for about half of our journey.  It is coming back to us why we don't venture out to the big city too often.

Probably not the best place for someone who is slightly claustrophobic.  I have never seen so many wheel chairs, Walkers and baby strollers in one place in my life.  In the midst of the commercial tent, I had an unsettling thought about how much damage a terrorist could do in there.  We went through as quickly as we could and headed outside where the crowds were a bit thinner.

 Our golf cart died of old age this summer, so this is what we were looking for.  To our dismay, this one was over $15,000.

This one was nearly $20,000 - We have been out of the market for a long time. 

The nice lady who took this picture of Ron and I with Smokey asked if we knew what Smokey's middle name was.  We thought we didn't know until she told us it was "The".

The wood carvings were really amazing:

We trudged around the fair for hours in the sun and got some sunburn in spite of lathering up with sunscreen before we left.

We even looked at the animals - mostly for the shade inside their buildings.

The gorgeous day offered us stunning views of Mt Rainier for most of our travels.