We went to Altamont Fair the other day. Here’s twenty things we saw:
1) A new ride, called Speed. It’s apparently the tallest portable ride in America. I didn’t ride it 🙂
2) Another new ride, which I found technically more impressive. The ride has several axis of rotation, and riders spin around while upright or upside down. I didn’t ride it 🙂
3) We also saw some old favourites! (No, I didn’t ride it this year either!)
4) We saw a National Grid electrical safety demonstration, which appealed to the part of me that likes sparks, plasma trails and fire!
5) I saw delicious – but admittedly terrible for me – fair food disappear into my own mouth.
6) I saw a giraffe…
7) And a red kangaroo…
8) And some very friendly Cavy’s…
9) And even a baby coatimundi that would have fit into the palm of my hand 🙂
10) A new addition to the fair was a bigtop circus! We went to it and saw many acts, including acrobats, a hoop dancer, globe-of-death riders and a clown.
11) We also saw this…
12) And a bit later, a tiny dog dressed as superman walking on his backfeet like a man. Shortly after we even saw a dog in a hoop dress dancing with a human, and another dog doing a spider climb up parallel laders. As I wiped tears of laughter from my eyes, I heard KLS comment “I can’t believe what I am seeing!”
13) In the art show, we saw the first prize winner for ‘found art’. You can appreciate it as well…
14) Oh, I forgot to mention the creepy pay-extra freakshows, of which there were more this year (none of which I visited). For instance, the 100 pound rat…
15) The ‘chicken freak’…
16) And the headless-but-still-alive woman…
17) We also saw vendors selling all manner of un-needed items. We bought a $2 laundry bag!
18) Oh, and there were many, many many farm animals. This is, of course, a county fair! Here’s a handsome chicken…
19) In the same area we saw some tiny, tiny quails. KLS commented they looked like living eggs 🙂
20) And last but not least, we saw racing pigs. They were perhaps not as exciting as you may imagine!
Speaking of pigs, with the exception of the above they are one animal that was noticeable absent. My guess is this is due to a recent spate of cases of swine flu contracted at US county fairs. Probably in the interest of public (and porcine) safety, they kept the little oinkers away 🙂
