Life at a "Swell's" pace: Road Trips

Yesterday we decided to go to the Oregon State Fair and see how much has changed since the last time we were there several years ago. Not a lot has changed, but we had a great time this year. We didn't see any of the music performances and the last time we were at the Oregon State Fair we watched Fog Hat preform. When we watched Fog Hat we didn't walk around the state fairgrounds, but this time we decided to try to see every part of the fair that we could. It was a lot of walking, over 30,000 steps, to be exact, but it was worth it.

We first went to the area of the fairgrounds that was ran by the Oregon Forestry Commission and we visited with Smokey the Bear.

Our next stop was the Honey Bee Association of Oregon. We bought honey, and learned about how important honey bees are for our own existence. The honey bee is my favorite animal, so this area was my favorite.

Look at the Queen Mama Bee!

We then bought lift tickets to ride through the top of the whole fairgrounds. I've never ridden the chair lifts at the fair, but it was a great way to get a full view of the grounds and make out next plans on where to go.

Poor Skylar had to ride alone in his own chair, but he is always a good sport and we made it fun for all of us, including him.

We stopped in the chair lift while the sea lion show was happening, so we got a front row, high above everyone view of the show. These sea lions reminded us of Hardy a lot. They would do something and then wait for a treat. Definitely something Mr. Farts would do. I am curious what Hardy would do if he was face to face with one of the trained sea lions, though. He would probably be scared of it.☺

We got off the chair lifts and headed toward the high divers area. We watched several of them jump from the platform and at one point they all leaped from the ladder and platform at the same time. It was impressive!

We made our way to the fair entrance where the livestock was being shown. There was a lot going on in this area, because they were showing some of the animals at the same time when we were walking through the stables.

As we were walking through looking at the random show animals, a lady was telling everyone about the light up horse show in one of the horse stable areas. It was only a 20 minute show, but we loved it. The girls on the horses did a great job!

Some random fair things we saw as we walked through different areas.

Once it got dark, the neon on a lot of rides lit up. I always love the ferris wheels at night. The light show they have is always pretty against the dark sky.

As we were leaving an Oregon State Policeman was standing watching people come and go. Skylar walked up to him and was asking him some questions. He asked if he could take a picture and the officer said, "Absolutely!" He was a really nice man, and we appreciate him talk to Skylar and making him feel important.

Portland Fleet Week took place this weekend during the Portland Rose Festival. There were U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and Royal Canadian Navy ships that were parked along the river front. We didn't tour any of the ships, but we did get an up close and personal view of all of them. We even listened to a Navy Captain give information about their route from Portland and through the Columbia River. All of the ships were parked along the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and a small festival with art and food trucks was also flanked along with the ships. We spend the day walking along the river front, enjoying the festivities and walked along some of the streets in Portland. We love Portland so much and this is just one more great thing Portland has to offer.