I have to admit...I didn't come up with that cute title. It was the theme title for the "SE Alaska State Fair" (Alaska is such a big state it needs more than one fair) that was held on July 28-31 here in Haines. I thought it was such a great title because after all, who doesn't "love a fair" ? We had a season record of 75 sites filled at the Hitch Up with many people coming in from Juneau and Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory (apparently, lots of Canadians love a fair also). Lori and I had to work (sucks) on the fairs best day, Saturday, when they had the lumberjack contest and the fisherman's contest but we had Friday off to spend there.
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| .357 String Band rocking the fair playing "streetgrass" (all strings-no drums) |
There was still a lot of great entertainment going on all day Friday.
They had some fun bands playing foot stomping bluegrass type music and a singer/songwriter contest. There was also this fire juggling/stilt-walking act straight from the "Burning man festival". Of course there was plenty of crappy fair food which we could not resist and consumed way too much of.
There was the usual state fair exhibits and contests - you know - the livestock and arts and crafts contests with their winning ribbons on display. Some of the best entertainment was the people watching. There are basically 2 types of Alaskans in Haines-the sourdoughs (hardy old timers) and the hippies (new age tree huggers). The fashions at the fair identified each type easily as you might notice in these photos (note the "Xtra tuff" boots on the one girl while the other is barefoot). The cool thing is they seem to co-exist here in the wild.
Of course there was even the ride section to stir up all the crappy fair food in the little kids and make them want to barf.
Of course the fair was not very big. You could walk through the entire fair grounds and see everything in less than an hour (and that's being generous).
One of the crowd favorites, and ours, was a 2 man band called "Hillstomp". They ended the Friday night fair by getting the whole place dancing and foot stomping (OK, the beer garden might have played a part) with their high energy Bluegrass. Check out their drum set in the photo below and you will see 5 gallon bucket drums and BBQ lid symbols. We had looked forward to the fair since the day we knew we were coming to Haines. It turned out to be everything we expected and less, and we had a great time because...
Wednesday, August 3rd
Remember the shed I started building waaaaay back when?!? (see the "crab feast" post from July 1st) Well, it is finally finished and this photo is for my friends who wondered what a shed built by a surveyor looks like. It came out really nice if I can say so myself.
However, as soon as it was done, the fire marshal/propane salesman informed Fred that it was against the fire code to enclose a propane tank and he would not fill it until it was no longer enclosed...oops! I guess I know what next weeks project is...tear the shed down (just kidding). Looks like we will move the tank outside the shed.
We meet a lot of nice people who are staying at the Hitch Up. This week, I met a couple of guys from Whitehorse who come down every year with their boat to fish. They invited me to go halibut fishing with them on my day off and naturally I bit at the chance. We only got about 2 hours on the water before the wind whipped up 3 foot seas and we had to head home without any fish...BUMMER! On the other hand, it was great to get on the water and the scenery is awesome. We did catch great views of whales about 200 yards from the boat, seals and had close ups of the Rainbow Glacier with its waterfalls.
The next day, Lori and I went fishing at the river. No, that's not me in the picture, that dude actually catches fish. Just like with the halibut fishing, even when we don't catch anything, the scenery more than makes up for it and watching the bears never gets old. That cub is fishing on the fish counting weir the state set up and they have learned to use it to their greatest advantage. They make it look very easy and seem to have no trouble catching their limit.
We also meet a lot of very interesting people at the Hitch Up. This week after work one night, we had an interesting couple, Mosesee & Meekalee Lewis, over for desert. They live on another planet...well sort of, they are Inuits and live on Baffin Island which may as well be another planet. Baffin Island is actually Canada's newest territory named "Nunavut" and is close to Greenland. To see what I'm talking about, copy and paste this location - Baffin Island, Iqaluit, NU X0A, Canada - into the Google Earth "fly to" search bar and have a look around, it is truly "other worldly" looking and very far from anywhere we might recognize.
It was very interesting to hear about their life in such a harsh and remote place. For eight months of the year, temperatures are below freezing with wind chills up to -65 degrees. They told us of their childhood family life as nomadic hunters where they would spend months living in igloos chasing and hunting seals, caribou and polar bears. Their city, "Iqaluit" still relies largely on hunting seals and caribou only now, they use snow mobiles instead of dog sleds like when they were young. She promised to send us pictures through our email when she got home (yes, they have email) and I will surely post some when they arrive. As I sat listening to their stories in my shorts and flip flops, he told me I would freeze to death if I came for a visit. It was a fascinating glimpse into a world that we easily forget still exists and is hard to imagine. If you want to learn more about where they live, click here:
Of course there was even the ride section to stir up all the crappy fair food in the little kids and make them want to barf.
Of course the fair was not very big. You could walk through the entire fair grounds and see everything in less than an hour (and that's being generous).
There was some very talented musicians which turned out to be the highlight of the fair for us. Some had great names like "Sasquatch Prom Date".
Some, like the one-man-band "Claude Hay" (seen in the video below) came all the way from Australia.
One of the crowd favorites, and ours, was a 2 man band called "Hillstomp". They ended the Friday night fair by getting the whole place dancing and foot stomping (OK, the beer garden might have played a part) with their high energy Bluegrass. Check out their drum set in the photo below and you will see 5 gallon bucket drums and BBQ lid symbols. We had looked forward to the fair since the day we knew we were coming to Haines. It turned out to be everything we expected and less, and we had a great time because...
...everyone "loves a fair".
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| "Hillstomp" got the fair dancing with their hillbilly stomping bluegrass |
Wednesday, August 3rd
However, as soon as it was done, the fire marshal/propane salesman informed Fred that it was against the fire code to enclose a propane tank and he would not fill it until it was no longer enclosed...oops! I guess I know what next weeks project is...tear the shed down (just kidding). Looks like we will move the tank outside the shed.
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| Rainbow (hanging) Glacier from the boat |
The next day, Lori and I went fishing at the river. No, that's not me in the picture, that dude actually catches fish. Just like with the halibut fishing, even when we don't catch anything, the scenery more than makes up for it and watching the bears never gets old. That cub is fishing on the fish counting weir the state set up and they have learned to use it to their greatest advantage. They make it look very easy and seem to have no trouble catching their limit.
We also meet a lot of very interesting people at the Hitch Up. This week after work one night, we had an interesting couple, Mosesee & Meekalee Lewis, over for desert. They live on another planet...well sort of, they are Inuits and live on Baffin Island which may as well be another planet. Baffin Island is actually Canada's newest territory named "Nunavut" and is close to Greenland. To see what I'm talking about, copy and paste this location - Baffin Island, Iqaluit, NU X0A, Canada - into the Google Earth "fly to" search bar and have a look around, it is truly "other worldly" looking and very far from anywhere we might recognize.
I'll close this post with one more bear shot because...watching the bears fish never gets old!
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| Mom and the cubs at the sushi bar - Alaska style |
Awesome pics & video of the bears catching and eating fish - Susan will be so happy (and sad because we weren't there to see this).
ReplyDeleteLove the Baffin Isle story - my question would be "why?". I can see being born there and not knowing any better but once you find out you don't have to live in -65 degree weather for 8 months of the year, why stay?
So those Extra-tuffs really are women's boots I see! Miss U man!