The Fairgrounds

Taken while driving one evening, this shot would have been tons better had I pulled over and not taken it through the windshield. Oh well, what's done is done. This is another iconic building in the valley: The Walla Walla Fairgrounds main building. During the fair, many different booths would be housed inside here, including the photography, sewing, and produce contest entrants.

WW Frontier Days #8

As we close out our Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days series, here is my favourite shot from the event. The ride on the left is a fairly fast ride, I believe it's called the Zipper. You ride in the cages and the entire arm spins. The cages themselves rotate on a bar, so as the arm turns, the cages also spin. If you've got the stomach for it, it might be fun! Thanks for joining me at the fair this year. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, so hopefully I'll go again next year and get even more.

WW Frontier Days #7

I don't remember the name of either of these rides (I didn't go on them, and we didn't really spend much time in this section of the fair), but they looked quite bright and cheery against the darkened, stormy sky. The ring puts people in what looks like a roller coaster car and spins them up and around, and of course they go upside-down at the top, and of course it stops there for a few moments. The tall tower seats people around a ring, facing out, slowly takes them to the top, and then drops them straight down. VERY frightening, if you ask me! But then, I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to fair and amusement park rides. I'll take the bumper cars, thank you! Oh, another note - the green flag on the ring ride is the Washington State flag. It's green and has a portrait of George Washington, America's first president. (Kind of boring, actually.)

WW Frontier Days #6

The YoYo is one of the few rides I might consider going on at the fair. All of the rides are collapsible - as in they are constructed IN a semi-truck and when the fair is over, they are collapsed and become the truck itself. On some rides you can see the back of the truck at the side of the ride - it's part of the ride's construction! A work of engineering genius, I guess! I'm not much of a ride-rider, but this one looks kind of fun. It doesn't go too fast - at least, not from the ground! I'm sure it feels faster when you're on it. I just liked the colours of the ride, brightened in the setting sun, set against the dark sky.

WW Frontier Days #5

More produce from the competition. A lot of awards were given out, and I missed the actual judging, so I don't know what kind of criteria they had, but it was nice that so many won something. Or, it's frustrating that so many won something, depending on how you feel. The colours of the freshly grown produce just really caught my attention. And there were some odd-shaped ones, too! Interestingly enough, the green squash at the top in the center of this photo were submitted to the competition by the people from whom we purchased our house. What small town!

WW Frontier Days #4

This adorable little rabbit seemed quite content half in and half out of his Quaker Oats tunnel. I'm not sure if he was doing the ostrich thing - sticking his head in, thinking all of him was hidden - but he was definitely cute. He was one of dozens of rabbits of all types, colours, and sizes. The rabbits were in a building with the chickens, ducks, geese, and even a couple of peacocks. Most of the entrants (if not all of them) were kids.

WW Frontier Days #3

"The Great American Duct Tape Contest." That's what this garment fit for a rodeo queen was created for. Quite lovely, if you ask me, and I'd say definitely worth first place, which it did indeed win. Other entries included flip-flops, wallets, and random trinkets. With all the colours you can get duct tape in these days, the competitors had plenty to choose from.

WW Frontier Days #2 - Skywatch Friday

This was the sunset as my husband and I left the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days on Sunday. The building is on the fairgrounds, and was used to house horses brought for show and racing.

WW Frontier Days #1

This last weekend was the Walla Walla Fair, or, as it is known officially, Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days. They usually have one country singer whose name I recognize performing, and then someone I've never heard of. Surprisingly, I've never gone to the fair before. We went this year with some friends of ours who had their little girl the day before we had Kayla. I enjoyed the produce competition entries - especially these HUGE pumpkins! Those big ones there weigh over 400 pounds each. I was dumbfounded, really. More fair pictures to come!