A Day at the Fair

Almost every year we make the short trip down to Coolidge AZ to attend the Pinal County Fair.  This is a really neat fair as it is small and everything is centered around 4-H and the animals. It’s like taking a step back in time to a small town country fair.  We always enjoy looking at the animals and this year we were lucky to be there when they were doing the judging for the 4-H goats.  What a great experience for these kids to participate in something like this.  The world would definitely be a better place of more kids could be a part of 4-H.

No lines or parking hassles at this fair

For a small fair there were a fair number of rides

 

A few day old goats…. sure wish we could have taken them home!

Had to get our fill of grease with a HUGE dish of curly fries….

Deep Fried Peaches??  Guess they will deep fry anything at the fair

On one of the rides…

Who could pass up a “Maple Bacon Donut Burger”?

On the way home we stopped at a small Indian cemetery along Hwy 87 just south of Chandler.  We had driven by this cemetery many times but had never stopped until today.  It’s an amazing cemetery with lots of personal touches on the graves.  No fancy granite markers here as most are home made!

Roosevelt Lake

We have lived in Arizona for nearly 35 years but have never camped at Roosevelt lake which is only a couple hours from our home.  We have driven by the lake several times but always assumed it would be way too busy given that it is so close to the valley.  Since we were looking for a quick trip where we could get our boat wet and our daughter wanted to come along with her kayak we decided to give it a try.  Many of the campgrounds were closed due to low use and the ones that were open were not busy at all.  There were a few more people there on the weekend but all in all it was not busy and was a very pleasant experience.  The weather was just about perfect with nice sunny warm days and cool nights. 

They have a little different payment system for the campground fees then we have ever experienced.  You have to buy a “Tonto Pass” BEFORE you get to the campground as they are not sold at the campground.  The price is reasonable at $6 per night ($3 with  senior pass).  The odd thing thing is there is no distinction between day use and camping as the same pass is used.

 

Wildflowers are everywhere

One of the most important structures in Arizona.  It is wasn’t for this dam the valley would be a very different place.

Getting ready to hit the water

Borrowed the daughters kayak… pretty nice… one of these may be in our future!