36 Things: Ride a Roller Coaster

This might sound like an easy one on my list of 36 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 37. The giant state fair of Washington, the Puyallup Fair, is only about 12 miles tops from my house. I grew up going to fairs because my sister was in Dog 4-H. But my husband hates fairs. Especially the rides and carnival section of the fair. He won't go anywhere near a ride--which is a little funny since he is scuba diver and even helps teach classes. And I don't think I ever want to go underwater encased in rubber with an air tank on my back, so I guess we each have our pet peeves, or whatever you call them.

The fun of a fair is looking at all the funky craft exhibits and the animals and the glorious, never-ending people watching. But it is also fun to do this with someone else. When I put up a request on Facebook looking for a friend to go with me to the fair, I only had one taker: Amy.

So I put on my walking shoes and took an enormous amount of cash out at the ATM, and away we went.

Not only did we go on the scary looking wooden roller coaster that was originally built in 1935 (supposedly with a total rebuild and multiple updates since its original creation), we went on the Tiger Cat rollercoaster that is metal and fast and super twisty. I've decided I like the twists and swooshes while Amy preferred the big drops. She made fun of me for being hesitant about going on a roller coaster, but then she flat out refuesed to go on any rides that turned us upside down or sideways.

Besides the roller coasters, a highlight was the delicious BBQ pulled pork sandwiches we bought from Pete's BBQ. They are a restaurant in Kent that has their own building at the fair and the BBQ pit is so smoky all the cooks wear gas masks and goggles!

OK, I admit I screamed "Holy Jesus!" when we went down the first big dip on the Tiger Cat, but this one was really my favorite.

Lot's of fabulous prizes to win.


Another great exhibit was a special, touring Weird Al Yankovic 3D movie about your brain. It was short and entertaining. At the end of it, you could touch a real brain! I was very excited about this although you had to put your hand in a plastic bag to do it. I guess, based on so many stereotypes, I thought it would be squishy, but it was firm and felt like wet clay more than anything else. Neat!
Another mesmerizing space was the large sales building where hundreds of salespeople wearing heatsets compete for guests attention and try to sell their wares. This woman had some new fangled device for rolling sushi. Why you couldn't just use one of those bamboo mats was beyond me; I was especially intrigued by her makeup application.

Finally, I had to get something to bring home to my sweetie, so I put a lot of love and attention into making the best DooDad, ever.
I didn't even get to see any of the art show exhibits or the endless selections of antique collections and whatnot. I did pet a goat and ate curly fries while Amy enjoyed a Krusty Pup. Only three days left before the end of the fair, I may try to get out there again tomorrow.