My birthday fell on one of our days off, but because I had scheduled a dentist appointment on Tuesday (I’ll talk about that in a separate post), we couldn’t make plans to go away for our “weekend”. So I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the day. Temperatures have been really hot, but thankfully it was going to be much cooler, so that opened the options up a little bit. My first choice was The Hike of 10 Waterfalls , but after doing some research determined that we really needed a couple of days to really see that State Park, so we will be doing that the weekend of the 27th and 28th. My next choice was the Clackamas County Fair, and since the weather was almost perfect and it was on a Wednesday, we got up early and arrived right when the fair opened at 10am.
I love fairs, they remind me of my childhood, and since my birthday always fell on or near the Ohio State Fair, I have many memories of visiting it for my birthday. The fair food is amazing of course, and when I was younger the rides were fun (I won’t go on them now), but my favorite part has always been the animals and exhibits. I was never a member of FFA, but my cousin was, and I always admired the kids who raised animals. Those feelings are even stronger as an adult and I was so pleased to see that the programs (and kids who participate in them) were the same. We all hear the bad news about our youth on social media and the news, but if you ever feel the country is going to hell in a hand basket, go to the fair and watch the FFA kids. It will make you feel better about the future of our country. Let me just show you.
Most of the kids were in white and black outfits
The cows were beautiful…Lee’s response mmm steak ..not cool 🙂
The cow washing station
The llamas were a new category for me
Lots of them and really beautiful
The pigs always remind me of Charlotte’s Web
Showing the pigs was interesting they use switches and whack them pretty hard
The pultry barn was kind of interesting. Never really spent much time in one of these before
They had some beautiful doves
We spent the most time though watching the sheep showings
We watched three rounds and the kids really had to use some muscles to get the sheep to stay in position
This young lady was the ultimate winner and was beaming with pride. It was seriously pretty exciting to watch
And they even had a bunny agility course which was absolutely adorable
Some bunnies were into it
Others like this little guy just wanted to eat the grass
Never seen anything like it and really fun to watch. You just had to smile. Lee and I had a serious conversation about getting a bunny in lieu of a dog or cat but he vetoed it! Meanie.
There were other things to do as well of course. It was senior citizens day at the fair and the music and events were largely focused around an older crowd. There were rides, booths, and of course food. Lots and lots of food. The fairgrounds even has a full pioneer village which was staffed by people who were making products in the traditional ways.
A “newlywed game” with some of the senior citizens. The longest had been married for 61 years
Check out this spectator. I looked pretty close and she absolutely was a senior citizen. Good for her!!
Lee really wanted one of these top hats…but I vetoed that!
Food court
I had Gyros and Lee had a tri tip steak sandwich
Then he had apple fries
which he loved!
And I had an old-fashioned donut
Lee didn’t get pie, but we certainly agreed with the sentiment
And lastly we went in and looked at the exhibition halls. I never seem to find time to do this when I go to the fair, but this one had a small enough footprint that we had lots of time. I spent a lot of time looking at the fruits and vegetables and flowers and Lee loved the photography exhibits. Plus the 4H group had a section where you could buy raffle tickets to win a chance at a basket as a fundraiser and I happily paid $10 for 15 tickets since you didn’t have to be there to win.
The table setting displays were really neat
Young artists
My favorite picture
Lee liked this one
But he LOVED this one
Lots of cool gift baskets
I put most of my tickets in this one
The best onions were beautiful
And the best tomatoes made me hungry 🙂
They had food art
And these great scarecrows
This was my favorite flower
And I loved this bonzai tree
Plus I found myself a little birhtday present.
I’ve seen these fidgets on TV and been wanting to have one. They really are fun
We ended up leaving around 2pm when things started to get crowded and hot, and stopped on the way home to see the Willamette Falls. This was total birthday luck as we passed it on the way to the fair and we pulled over so I could take some pictures on the way back. These falls have the 2nd highest volume of water coming through them in the United States and the entire area is in development to be turned into condos, shopping, and a river watch area. What amazing potential this site has, and I can’t wait to come back and see it in a few years when they hopefully get it completed.
Look for the little bird in the picture so you can get a feel for the scope of it. Ultimately they are building a viewing area so people can get closer to the falls
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Looks like a lot of fun….and a great way to celebrate your birthday. It’s not king crab legs, but somehow, fried dough is yummy in a different kind of way!!!
😄
What a wonderful way to spend your birthday!!! You had me smiling through the entire post:o))) Definitely agree…Pie Fixes Everything. Happy Belated Birthday!
Happy Belated Birthday 🙂 Looks like you had a good one 🙂
Happy Birthday! I’m not usually one to care much for fairs, but you kinda had me wishing I was there!
That looks like a really great fair, Tracy! We worked at the Crook County fair a few weeks ago (for the state park) and really enjoyed the 4-H exhibits also. Fairs are the best!
So nice to hear you had such a great birthday. You really made the most of that fair!