Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
The Clallam County Rodeo is offered twice during the County Fair. This year we went on Saturday night and the grandstands were packed. There were hometown favorites riding and a few of the cow boys and girls were truly talented youngsters. The bull rider in the bottom right shot was 14 years old and I don’t think the girl on the bottom left could have been much older. And, believe it or not, the bronc rider on the top left walked off the field on his own.
These mules were part of a team of four that pulled a wagonload of officials out at the start of the Clallam County Rodeo last weekend at the County Fair. The mules were beautiful, as was their tack. They made quite a sight.
Carnivals at the county fair are a sensory overload. Who can resist the chance to win a colorful souvenir?
A week or two ago the local newspaper sent out a reporter who asked people, “What’s your favorite thing at the county fair?” If I recollect right, every single one answered, “The food!”
You can smell a brass band of cooking aromas as soon as you enter the fairgrounds: grilled meats, sweet whatevers, popcorn, and fried anything. The fair guide listed a vendor called “Fried Everything” … and everything on the menu was, from twinkies to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I don’t know if this is the Fried Everything stand, but they definitely had a robust offering – and what they didn’t have you could find at other vendors just steps away.
There are lots of food choices at the fair. We kept our distance from the deep fryers, but that doesn’t mean we managed to stay entirely virtuous.
We went to the Clallam County Fair on Saturday night. It was time for our annual “fair fix”: the rodeo, antique farm machinery put-putting, a review of ribbon-winning entries, animals, carnival, junk food. And people watching. Above was one of my favorites, a fine example of the work of the face-painting booth. Her father consented to my taking her picture.
Her brother volunteered, too. I can’t decide which one is the cutest. They both make me smile.
The maps of Fort Flagler State Park showed a little icon of a lighthouse and I was pleased to discover that a beach road would take us fairly close. The New Dungeness Light Station in Sequim, after all, is a 5 mile beach walk each way.
The area around the light station is fenced, but a walk on the beach comes close to it. That’s it, on the larger building to the left. I think the smaller building, to the right, is where it used to be in a larger incarnation. I can’t say it fits that dreamy, somewhat romantic lighthouse image. But I guess it does the job.
Lest you think Fort Flagler is just about military history, here’s another view, taken from the beach at Marrowstone Point, the tip of Marrowstone Island, where the fort is located. This is taken on one of those glorious Pacific Northwest days when all is right with the world. In the distance to the right of the sailboat is Mount Rainier.