Alaska State Fair

 

It should come as no surprise to you that we have a super state fair. Everything in Alaska is big, and this image shows what a 10 hr. a day of daylight can do for veggies. Here’s the caption I copied from their website:

 

Scott Robb tends to his giant cabbages in his Palmer yard last week. Robb competes in the annual cabbage competition at the Alaska State Fair and holds seven state fair records. He admits he has a bit of an obsession; his wife has a slightly different description. “I call him psychogrower,” she said.

There are a minimal number of farm animals at the fair, and the usual petting zoo. I like the loggers, and never tire of watching them roll on the logs. Add the usual rides, booths, and exhibits and you have an idea of ‘how to spend a long day’. This is a pretty small report on a big event for Alaska, but you get the idea.

One of the special events at the fair is the introduction of the new Alaska Quarter, which took a while for the government to issue, but they will be giving some out and selling more at the fair. So many reasons to visit big, wild Alaska, but especially so because the rains have finally stops and the big yellow ball is in the sky. . .

Uptown Bears

This year, it seems that there are more bears within Anchorage than we’ve ever had before.  Every day we read about another attack in the paper, and so far most victims have survived with mendable cuts and scrapes.  The Fish and Wildlife continue to place the lives of the bears ahead of people.  This is probably going to come to a head in the near future, but right now the focus is on the indictment of our beloved Senator.  We are all standing behind him, and I am pretty certain he’ll be re-elected in November.  This man is 84 yrs. old and has done so much for Alaska, it’s heart-breaking to see how a few people can be so vindictive.  But enough of that.  I’m supposed to be writing this to show you why you should come and visit us in Alaska.  The tourist season has been slack compared to prior years, and some businesses are really suffering.  My friend rents motor homes, and with the price of gasoline being over $4 a gallon, you can bet he’s not happy.  Bicycles are popular once again, and this makes sense, but it’s the secondary impact of the gas prices that have struck everyone. 

There is one other disturbance in Anchorage this summer, and that is how our downtown is all torn up, with roads being re-routed, changed, and some are having heated sidewalks installed.  Going downtown is not fun, but once you do get there, a lot of things are going on.  The Saturday Market continues to be a hit, and now it’s been expanded to Sunday’s, too.  This is not welcomed by the tourists shops and other businesses.  Add to this the rainy weather we’ve had, and you’ll see that this is the ’summer to forget’.   Personally, I’ve had a good summer, but I empathize with those who have to cope with these problems above.  I was going to post my bear picture here, but it’s gone to cyberspace.  Check back for a more cheerful assessment of our summer.