Mason County Forest Festival! May 31

Rides and carnival attractions at the Mason County Forest Festival

Well, I'd left the flyer lying around, and the kids bit.  More properly, my daughter bit, and my son came along - ushered out by my wife, who was happy with the idea of an empty house that would let her get caught up on bills... laundry...  We got a bit of a late start on it, but drove down through Olympia to get to Shelton by about 1:00. 

It was the last day of the festival, so unfortunately we had missed the parade, instead making it in for the car show - the rides and carnival attractions still open as well.  We decided the 30 dollar wristbands weren't going to be a wise purchase, and instead decided to go after the carnival games. 

I don't know exactly when it started, but Declan and Maura have warmed up to the idea of throwing things to win stuffed animals.  For whatever reason, the stuffed animals of choice for several fairs running have been lemurs, and Declan has prided himself in winning the brightly-colored wide-eyed fluffy beasts for his little sister. Maura was part of the victory that led to the Lemur of Power - a double sized pink thing that she has since been using to give us all the heeby jeebies.

Behold!  The Lemur of Power!
A lion king moment with the kids.



This was my prize for the day. :D

We came out of the carnival area, Declan wielding a corn dog, and the question came up, although not in question form.  "So... Dad... we drove out two hours...?"   His number came from the fact that I missed a turn on the way out - Shelton would normally "only" be an hour and a half, but the core of the question remained.  I had really hoped to get more... forest from the festival!   The car show route took us past some amazing cars and a couple dozen booths.  The two highlights for me were a stop at the Shelton Rock and Mineral Society's booth, and a free "I love Shelton, WA" T-shirt.  Still, as much as I'd like to say I got a lot out of the event, it was hard to figure out what it was!



Fun to talk to these folks - they were auctioning off a gold
nugget and a rock tumbler!

I explained to Declan that his mom and I both think that it's important to understand how small towns work - to understand how the different small towns in our state have different roles, different personalities and in many cases, different amounts of success (financially and otherwise).  All of that aside, and our own personal entertainment aside, there was perhaps one thing that was a highlight of the day, and that was simply the number of people out!  At one point I looked down the street, and realized it was packed to the edges for quite a few blocks.  Although we had missed the parade, one of the slogans thrown out in the flyer for the festival was, "If you're not in the parade, you're watching it!"   Given the turn out at the car show, I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was close to true.


Look down the road at the crowd!

On the way in, I got a bit confused, and went to Sanderson Field, thinking that the entrance to the fairgrounds was there.  I'm still confused on that point, but even on the quick stop, I was able to add two birds to the year list - Swainson's Thrush (158), and Chipping Sparrow (159 - and a bird I had been worried about!). 

We left via Hood Canal, and a window rolled down at Purdy Cutoff Road gave me a Western Wood Pewee (160).  At the end of the road, 2.50 and tax got me some Olympic Mountain Ice Cream at Hunter Farms, and a chance to check in with the employee who had helped me in the search for owls earlier in the year.  Nothing too interesting bird-wise, although he reports that the Barn Owl is still hanging around there!  I also cleared up a bird for him - he was in a good bit of awe from a Western Tanager he had seen, and we worked through the ID together before I got us headed back towards home.

Short short trip, but not without its own merits!  The kids liked the view along Hood Canal, and you could feel them getting quiet as we drove along it.  "I like Washington State.  It's pretty"  Maura informed me, and I quite agreed.


Look in those eyes for an entire minute... I dare you...