'Ketchup' with the Oregon State Fair

The Big Tomato was calling us today to visit the Oregon State Fair in Salem. Earlier I had taken some of Mariah's quilted items to be entered in the fair, and today was the day to see how she did.

But first, a little "history" on my angst of purchasing State Fair tickets. The OSF website says that "advance*" tickets are $8.00 for an Adult and $10.00 at the gate. Yesterday I went to Safeway to purchase an advance ticket for today; however, they stopped selling tickets before the first day of the fair. I guess "advance*" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone! Pass the Ketchup, please.

After a night of plotting my revenge on The Big Tomato, the morning came with a new sense of calmness. I awoke refreshed and ready to enjoy the day. The trip to the fairgrounds went smoothly and we arrived about 30-minutes before the gates opened. Good thing, as today was free Big Tomato t-shirt day for the first 150 people. We managed to thwart another "attack" from one of TBT's evil hench-woman when she said, "All of the shirts are the same size." They weren't...and we picked through them and each of us got the correct sizes. No thanks to TBT's evil doings!

Once making it through the throngs of people at the gate, we navigated our way to where Mariah's quilts were on display. We were surprised and thrilled with the results.


Mariah's "Kansas Star" wall hanging that took Best in Show at the Benton County Fair won Second Place at the Oregon State Fair. Her "Valentine Heart" wall hanging and "Busted Buster wall hanging each won First Place in their respective classes. And finally her quilted pillow case won a Second Place award. Not too shabby for a 9-year old competing in classes ranging up to 17 year olds.

We spent the rest of the day seeing exhibits, listening to Brandon Cash (the son of Johnny Cash), eating, and tons of walking. I think everyone enjoyed the day. Although you never feel like you got to see and do everything you wanted. We learned some tips and tricks for next year. I think we'll return. My parents hadn't been to the State Fair in many years, and I think they enjoyed themselves.

Next year maybe there will be Watermelon instead of Tomato(e)! Do you want fries with that?

A fun way to start the day

Last night I saw two new Geocaches pop up near my home coordinates. Unfortunately, they are located in a "sketchy" part of town, known for the homeless camps. Sweet and I had previously cleared out all of the existing Geocaches, but now there are two new one's calling my name..."Dude", "Dude"...

After e-mailing back and forth with a.k.a radar last night about the "campground" in this park, I vowed to go find these caches. I awoke with a mission and gathered my gear, dusted off my mountain bike, and headed to the caches.

As I approached Waverly Boulevard, I decided to take the "scenic" bike route under the street and around Waverly Lake. Passing previously found Geocache hiding locations, I pedaled and thought of my earlier adventures. On the northern side of Waverly Lake, I crossed Salem Avenue and continued along the bike path. This lessor known path that connects Salem Avenue and Waverly Drive NE, is a fun jaunt that passes under some train tracks and past blackberry bushes-yum.

As I arrived at the parking lot at Simpson Park, I noticed a truck sitting there. "Oh, great! Someone is already out there findting them." I continued down the hill into the park and noticed yet another vehicle parked. This one had a young woman in the driver's seat and her dog was barking. "What is going on?" I continued on as I knew this area well, and headed to the first cache, East of Bowman. You can read my logs on the cache pages. After logging that cache, I headed off to find the next one further down the trail. Just for Kicks was a kick. I had a great time finding this one as well.

I chatted with a.k.a. radar after logging these two caches, and we discussed setting up a CITO event for this park. On the surface, the park looks clean and safe. Upon further investigation; however, there are a lot of homeless people that live in Simpson Park. Although I am empathetic to their situation, ignoring it will not improve it, or make it go away. Time for SWAG to work with the City of Albany to help improve the look and safety of this greenway.