The Idaho State Fair: Part 2

By the time we returned to the fair, our 'wish' had come true. The weather had definately changed.

All of us even commented on the nice breeze that was blowing through.

So we got some food, then hit the rides.

Ice cream shaped into a baked potato. Afterall, we are in Idaho.

They even managed to get me onto the Ferris Wheel. Anyone who knows me knows that I am terrified of heights, and am especially not a fan of Ferris Wheels. But I did go on it, and even managed to survive.

As the night turned darker, the wind managed to pick up a little. On our way to another ride, the wind managed to pick up a lot.

So much in fact that everyone was forced to stop in their tracks and huddle together as closely as they could, in order to prevent dirt from slapping them across the face.

It was when a large umbrella almost fell on us that I realized it was probably the strongest wind I have experienced.

It lasted for about 30 seconds, then simply went away.

As we all discussed how strange it was, we watched as the rides closed, one by one. We managed to squeeze in one last tilt-a-whirl experience, then decided to make our way towards the front gates.

As we began walking, we started to see how strong the wind really was. We had thought our potential umbrella incident had been bad, but in reality, was nothing compared to the rest of the fair. Tents were collapsed, and merchandise was everywhere. Garbage covered the ground from cans that had fallen.

Walking a little bit farther, we saw that the animal petting tent was completly on the ground. Animals were tied up everywhere.

At about that point, you could begin to hear the multitude of sirens getting louder and louder as they approached the fairgrounds. Oh, and did I mention the strong smell of something burning?

Meanwhile, the wind was still definately blowing, just not quite as hard as the one random gust.

We hung around for a bit longer, watching the paramedics fill their ambulances with injured people. We heard the next day that over 60 people were treated on scene for injuries.

Fair employees were trying to escort everyone out the front gates, but you had to be careful to not walk into the ticket booth that had completly fallen over.

As we made our way to the car, we realized we weren't getting out of there any time soon. Cars were lined up for miles and miles, and we literally couldn't move.

After sitting in this for almost an hour and a half, we made it home. Turns out one large exit had been closed, due to a sporadic fire.

Although we were forced to leave the fair an hour early, we definately had the most interesting fair experience I've ever had. Makes for an entertaining story at least, right?

The Idaho State Fair: Part 1

On Saturday, we made our way over to the Idaho State Fair.

This fair runs for over a week in Idaho, and somewhat resembles the fair we have in Kennewick yearly, except slightly larger.

Let me start with some background, stating that I love the fair. We go every year. I'm not sure what it is about it: I don't even really care for the rides (most of them I'm too terrified or sick to ride on), but there is something about the fair itself that makes me happy. Perhaps it's walking around to each booth collecting free office supplies. It could be walking around seeing the cows, goats, and extremely large pigs. Or it could just be the fact that in my mind, the fair kind of 'closes out summer,' so to speak, and I know that fall is right around the corner: leading into my favorite seasons.

Regardless, I was very excited to experience this 'new' fair.

And it was definately an experience.

The day started as I would have expected.

We started by strolling around the fairgrounds, seeing what they had to offer.



We then made our way over to the annual pig races. It was really quite funny: these little piglets were running around in circles, while people were screaming, hoping their pig would be the winner.



Next on the list was visiting the animals: one of my favorite parts.

This pig claimed to be one of the largest pigs around, weighing over 1,000 pounds!

By 3:30 in the afternoon, the temperature had peaked, and we were very warm, to say the least. We decided to head back to the hotel for a couple of hours, and return when it was cooler.

What happened then? Stay tuned . . .

Roaring Springs

On Friday we spent our day here:

The Roaring Springs water park was literally two blocks away from our hotel. I haven't been to a water park for years, so it was fun to spend a day like a kid again, so to speak, and run around sliding down water slides, driving go-carts, splashing around on bumper boats, and playing ski-ball all day.

Unfortunately, the underwater camera we purchased had a little bit of a hard time, and chose to only develop half of the pictures that were actually taken. I was fortunate enough to get a few before the water festivities began, so here are some to enjoy!

On the Road Again

On the way to Idaho

Yesterday we packed our bags and started the journey over to Idaho. We are currently in Meridian enjoying ourselves. I've honestly never really spent time in Idaho, so this litle vacation is really kind of new to me. Last night consisted of a Chinese dinner, as well as meeting Tommy's family: the real purpose of the trip. On today's agenda: The Waterpark. Stay tuned . . .

A Picture A Day . . . Five

Joel at the cabin

December 31, 2010

A Picture A Day . . . Four

What does he really think?

A Picture a Day . . . Three

Cousins

A Picture a Day . . . Two

Kelsey and the Indian

A Picture a Day . . .

So after doing some organization on my computer, I've come to a conclusion.

I have a lot of pictures.

After getting this new camera, I seem to have increased my picture taking by about a thousand times. I'm no professional by any means, but I do like to have fun messing around with it and seeing what the end result comes out to be.

I already have many different folders from all sorts of events throughout the year, which I have been trying to keep organized. After looking through these, I've realized how glad I am that in these short 5 months we have owned this camera, I have seemed to capture a lot. Whether it's capturing those bigger events like going to Florida, or the everyday things like how to make a cake, I have managed to do a pretty decent job in capturing our everyday lives. I've always said I want to be the one who everyone is complaining about because they always have that dreaded camera out, and so far, I think I'm doing a pretty good job at acheiving this goal. I'm glad that in 20 years, I will be able to look back and re-live all of those little moments I've been able to capture.

Anyway, what does this have to do with anything, you may ask. Well, I figured what better way to share all of these pictures that keep coming in that to share a picture a day. I clearly am not keeping up well with posting daily, but perhaps sharing at least a picture every day will help keep everyone up to date on what's going on in our lives: between posts at least.

Like I say, I'm no photographer by any means. They may not even be pictures I've taken, to tell you the truth. They may be from current events, or from events from the past. They will be compltely random. But that's part of the fun of it, right?

So here you go, day 1 of my newest goal:

Engagement Photo

Back to the Cabin

Last weekend, we journeyed back to the cabin with my parents for a nice little getaway. I LOVE going up there. It's relaxing, it's beautiful, and we always seem to have a good time. Unfortunately, we don't make it up these days as much as we used to, so whenever we get a chance for a little trip, I always look forward to it.

This weekend was no different. We enjoyed ourselves with the typical morning waffles, various card games, and even a small hike.