An ode to the Puyallup

purty
Originally uploaded by picture_ho.

Over the weekend, SB and I visited the Puyallup Fair. If you’re not so blessed as to be from this little corner of the world, the theme song may not be indelibly burned into your memory…

(to a hokey tune)

You can do at a trot,
you can do it at a gallup.
You can do it real slow
so your heart won’t palpitate,
just don’t be late.
Do the Puyallup
Do the Puyallup

Hmm. All of a sudden that’s sounding a bit dirty to me, but no matter, the Fair is AWESOME! Ahh.. the memories I have of the Fair. We used to get a half day off from school to go. Oh how grown-up we would feel, walking there from school, for hours of unsupervised squeeling and junk consumption. I held hands with a boy for the first time at the Fair, and I was asked to Homecoming on the skyride.

It gets a little bigger, a little louder, and a little more infested with hottub displays each year, but the highlights remain, helping me to remember the magic.

My favorite thing to eat at the Fair is definitely the caramel apples. I know there are fancy stores in the mall where you can buy caramel apples all year, but it’s totally not the same. And you have to buy them from the red and black stand that looks like a train car, or you risk ending up with a substandard red, mushy disappointment under that delicious caramel. The red and black stand uses Granny Smiths. I usually eat at least two.

Close behind the caramel apples in tastiness are the KRUSTY PUPS. This is no ordinary corndog. Thick, crispy, salty dough surrounds a melt your face off hot hotdog. I would NEVER eat a corndog. Please. (amusing sidenote: Officer Sister was once fired from the Krusty Pup stand for not being cheerful enough. HA!)

Fuck yea-ah-ah!
Originally uploaded by picture_ho.

A definite highlight of any Fair expereince is the brush with death that is The Big Roller Coaster. It was built in 1935 and it looks rickety as all get out, but it’s pure fun. You scream and laugh and cramp your face from smiling, you just can’t help it. It costs 6 tickets to go these days, about $5.00, but it’s worth every penny.

While searching online for historical information, I found THIS KICKASS VIDEO OF THE BIG ROLLER COASTER!!!! I love the internets!

It’s the one in the back.
Originally uploaded by picture_ho.

I would go to the Fair for the animals and the produce murals alone, but they, unfortunately, make for boring blog fodder. I took about a hundred artsy-fartsy pictures which I will not bore you with. Instead, I will share a few interesting/informative/funny scenes from the unparalelled, 7th largest in the great US of A, Puyallup Fair. Enjoy!

“Fact”
Originally uploaded by picture_ho.