Pictured are kids having rainbow colored fun at the Orange County Fair. There are a handful of California fairs this week in Napa, Grass Valley, Quincy, Hayfork, Yreka and Costa Mesa.
Fair observations:
As you line up at the fair gate there are still a few people (usually adults) who cut in line and give a dumb smile as if it say, “See what I got away with?”
The entryway / exit is like the checkout at K-Mart. Inflatable toys offer kids their first and last ditch effort to convince parents to cough up a few bucks for something no kid ever knew he or she wanted.
Food is expensive. I got away cheap with an 8 oz. Icee and two cookies for $10. Turkey legs, foot-long hot dogs, roasted corn, cheese-drenched chips, curly fries, hamburgers, BBQ beef sandwiches and ice cream easily eat up a $100 bill.
Teeth cleaning, back massages, mop demos and kitchen gadgets, along with custom license plate frames attract the masses — year after year.
Within an hour of fair opening the wine bar is packed!
Barnyard animals are hard to find. You must weave past food kiosks and carnival rides till you reach the perimeter of the fairgrounds where they keep the critters.