The Washington State Fair 2018

This year the Washington State Fair in Puyallup runs from August 31st-September 23rd. Our family decided to go since our sons are getting bigger. The boys didn't remember attending the fair when they were three, when we went two years ago. The fair food caught my eye and I had a list of three places to check out in between rides and walking around. Our boys love gondolas so the first thing we did was ride the Sky Ride, a gondola that goes over the entire fairground. The ride is short and not too high, but gives the rider the lay of the land, and you can figure out where you want to go next.

For us, next up was some lunch. I had heard the fries and Totchos, nachos made from using tater tots, from Outlaw Fries were worth getting. So my sons shared a giant plate of curly fries. Unfortunately the sizes were way too big and expensive. They barely made a dent in them. Has anyone else noticed how fair food is way overpriced and not that good? It took me way too many years to realize this. Another example of this was the Totchos we tried. I was expecting these to be delicious but the price was crazy, over eleven bucks. The toppings could have been better but they used nacho cheese, salsa, and some sort of canned beef. I would have liked to see more quality, but we're at the fair so they make it as junk foody as possible. The plate was too big and my husband and I couldn't finish them.

Then we walked around to find something for our sweet tooth. We were looking for two dessert places and didn't really know where they were. So we walked and walked and our sons grew tired fast. Finally we found 40 Below Joe, the dipping dots place with coffee dipping dots. Each one has several shots of espresso and are gluten free and dairy free. We shared one and our sons shared some small rainbow colored dipping dots. The dipping dots were really cold and kept giving us brain freeze. I kept waiting for some sort of caffeine buzz, but it never came. The coffee dipping dots tasted good, though, but next time I'll just grab a cup of coffee.

Finally it was time for the boys to do a couple of rides. The tickets are expensive and each ride takes around 8 tickets with each ticket costing 50 cents. We headed to Sillyville where the little kid rides are. They rode the boat ride and the car ride, which goes around a track. They enjoyed them both, but they were kind of slow. Since they're turning five soon, it may be time to let them go on faster rides next time.

I had read there was unicorn ice cream cones at the fair this year. Called a Unicone, a place called the Juice Caboose was selling them. We walked around and couldn't located it. It turned out, there were no signs, just a big ice cream cone sign with tons of photos of frozen desserts. When I asked if they had the Unicone, they said yes, so I was happy to find it. They were located across from the lost children's building and next to a food truck selling doughnuts. The cone ended up being pricey at over 9 bucks and didn't taste as good as I was hoping. It was vanilla ice cream with a chocolate coating and covered in sprinkles. The chocolate wasn't very flavorful. But it did have a handmade  edible gold fondant horn that was unique looking and tasted good. The unicorn ears also were a sweet addition. The ice cream cone was super cute and fun. The four of us shared it, otherwise this would be a major calorie bomb!  

The weather was supposed to be rainy with thunderstorms, but luckily for us it was sunny and it only rained for five minutes. When we were leaving, the sky started to get gray and dark, resulting in some interesting photos of the rides. Then it was time to call it a day and drive back to Seattle.