Deschutes County Fair

Spent half a day Saturday at the county fair, which was both good and bad. The bad part was that it was hot—damn hot—and expensive. The good part is that it’s the Fair and we had fun—and we got there when they opened so we didn’t have to deal with the crowds and lines like Chris did.

You know what I like best about the fair? The livestock and the crafts. The stuff the fair is actually supposed to be about: showing your animals, or your goods, and the competition between those things. I particularly like the poultry exhibit, probably because we raised chickens growing up. I enjoy viewing the rest of the livestock, some more than others (the sheep are just “eh”), but the birds are the best.

The canned, prepared, or grown foods are highlights, too. I particularly like the beer and wine showings; there’s never many anymore, but it’s still cool. I remember when I entered my homebrew in the fair some years back; I brought home several ribbons. That was cool.

The kids loved the rides, of course. I could personally do without: they’re expensive and you have to wait too long in the heat. I remember liking the rides well enough when I was younger, I think; at least, the “boring” stuff I described above didn’t interest me. I wonder at what point that changed…

All good fun. I even won some stuffed toys for the kids at the midway games. Know the secret to winning those games? They’re easy; the secret part is how much each individual game costs! That’s how they get you. If you want to win a big prize, you basically need to shell out $16-32 per game (assuming you win each “throw” you buy). That’s some crazy economy of scale, right there.

All in all, a good, tiring time was had. Maybe next year I’ll brew some beer to enter in the fair; my wife is convinced that if I’d entered my pumpkin ale, I would have won first prize. Possibly. But that’s what next year is for.