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Won $35 from a $15 set of scratch and lottery tix! Happy $20 Me!

^ You mean for the Concert Series? The minute the tickets go up for grabs every year, it doesn't take too long, to totally sell out the main orchestra area for a good # of them. I got lucky last couple of times (Huey Lewis & News last year; Boy George in 2016). But I procrastinated too long for this set. My $ only goes so far at The Fair, plus the energy to get through it all physically, considering it does get The Crowds particular days. And not necessarily on the weekends, either. Depends on who's playing that night, etc. Also, seeing any of these acts for free, meant standing in queue in the middle of the day for tix, and then lining up to get choice free seats in the upper "bowl" of the Concert area. Not worth the time or energy, for myself. That's why I try and make this like an out-of-town visit, and get a good seat for myself. And it's not too $$$ at that. The two acts I would have loved to see at this year's Fair, was Jann Arden (Out Day At The Fair) and Cyndi Lauper (tomorrow night). The PNE really does come up with a great variety of acts for the Series, I will give them that. And with cover bands playing in Festival Park, I use them as an added nicety while having a brew or eating. Depending on who's playing, and when they're playing, during the daily schedule. Where I'm heading tomorrow mid-afternoon, Closing Day of The PNE, for some nom nom nom BBQ chicken! (o:

^ Yes it does! And for the non-beef/pork BBQ enthusiasts, this is where I am heading tomorrow, on the final day of our exhibition, The PNE. For some awesome BBQ Chicken! .... You want BBQ Chicken! We got BBQ Chicken!!! OMG Juicy 1/4s and 1/2s all waiting to be nom nom nomed on.

^ Awesome shots, Bert. Especially the nights ones of HQspin! Actually, your day time shots of it are awesome, too.

^ Thanks! I do what I can, with what I've got for TR photo taking, lol. Plans are to visit The Fair one more day, tomorrow (Closing Day of The Fair), to get a few more random shots. And I wanted to see that NOVA "bubble" again, close up. I know it's usually deflated over all it's platform and equipment, during the day time. Hopefully, one of the two guys running the show might be close by, and I can ask a few questions about it all. If not, I'll still get a shot or two of a deflated bubble. How the main PNE info.flyer describes NOVA.

It was open for the weekend of WCB, in 2016. The following day (Monday) it closed for further maintenance on it. I want to wish everybody an awesome time, at next weekend's WCB!

"Skyfall" From an awesome (rare) LIVE album by Adele! Leave or Remaim ~ LIVE At Glastonbury (2016) ...Followed by "Home Town Glory."

The PNE always tries to end each evening with a short, but interesting show that's suited for the night. Last year it was flying LED drones in formations etc. This year, something a bit different...and in a bubble! Called NOVA, it was a laser light show, but with this "bubble" over all of the stage, none of the laser lights shot into the sky and got lost. All was contained, and it made for a really cool 15 minute show! Hard to explain it all, but here's the photos that I took of it... Earlier in the evening, this is what I saw from the Beer Garden, while eating my burger. Check, check, check. Planning to see this again, in the new year (Feb-March I believe). After visiting Playland, I got myself an Adirondack chair and got much closer to the bubble. Sky looked fluffy, but no rain, yay! The show starts. See the face, peeking through the triangle? WTF? This was nice. It's over. Bows. And goodnight from The PNE, everybody!

Still checking out Playland here. Eventually, I headed back to the Festival Park, another beer, and waiting for the final free show of the evening to happen: NOVA. Our little Carousel. Bug Whirled. These figure-8 coasters are now Everywhere in North America! Crazy Beach Parrty running, but not very lit up. The Fuzzy Green Beast. Beside the Side Car Bar, this was happening, Very noisy (but fun) at times with the metal in back. Hell's Gate down. Again. The main arcade of Playland. "What The Fudge" in it's own glow. Long queue for mini donuts. Yellow train running uphill. Wheee! Followed by red train. Glass House in need of some.....window cleaner? Enterprise never went totally vertical. And I watched it for three cycles. The Wine Chalet gets attention in the evenings, here. Everything quiet at Farm Country. Groove & Tonic wrapping up their second show. (To be continued...)

After eating, I then headed (in a round about way) to Playland, to check out those lights. Traveling down the"Street Of Dreams" at night. I love this little trailer! Oooooo purty at night! Hmmm. Wonder why the Hastings Racetrack is open this late? Oh. Night races! Very cool idea. Hope the horses are okay with night races. (o; The Rib Fest was still going strong. Orbiter! The Baby StarFlyer! Ferris Wheel #2! The Celebration Plaza Beer garden also had a Big Screen, for those who missed out on Reserved Seat tix or free entry into whichever Concert was happening that night. Mob Central. This is what happens when nothing is left. And this was last night's Concert. And it was loud enough to hear in Playland over the rides and screams! Zoooom! Kettle Creek Mine coaster at night. Even the kids stay up late during the PNE. Whooosh! Yellow train running. (To be continued...)

~ Night Time @ The PNE ~ Usually by the end of The Fair, I have visited the fairgrounds at least once in the evening. Usually for a Concert Series performance. But not this time. No Concerts seen, and nothing really to make me stay way into the night hours. But I still enjoy seeing The Fair at night, with lights on, especially in Playland. So yesterday was an Evening Visit. Along with a new burger to try at Gourmet Burgers (sadly no crickets, this time). And it ended with a 15 minute show called NOVA, end of the night. Pardon that a number of the photos are not in focus. I was snapping away, as I moved along through the fairgrounds and Playland. But I think there's a few good ones taken, here and there. Enjoy On my way to the bus stop. Didn't look too great up above. These smaller condo units are popping up all along this one street! Outdoor House Art. Here we go, again. Groove & Tonic is the name of this great covers band. Destination achieved! The new Special Burgers being offered this year. And I have no idea where a "milkshake" fits into these. Le Main Menu. What I decided to have. Plus fries = $16 - $! coupon = $15 Cdn. lol Voila! Got myself a Shock Top Belgian Ale, and was set for dinner. They "lit the fires" in the Beer Garden. It was a bit cooler that evening. Not too busy, as the majority were heading to the big concert in a 1/2 hour or so. The burger - was - Awesome! Even with pineapple in it! Very impressed with this one. Evening sky looking better. Darkness descends. The PNE Prize Home looks nice at night. Coco's! Winner of my PNE Corn Dog Challenge! Congrats! Looking over to POPnology and the Pacific Coliseum. I believe in Aretha Franklin! The Agrodome. Where Knights of Valor takes place. I see you peeking out from there. (To be continued...)

Well, the Cricket Burger was available again at Gourmet Burgers, at this year's PNE. But I decided to get their Black & Blue Burger instead. And it was really good! Packed with meat, and blue cheese....and not a lot of pineapple, which was fine by me. What their Special Burgers were, at this year's PNE. They looked extremely messy. Le Menu. What I chose. Also ordered fries for another $4. Had a coupon, so I paid $15 Cdn. for it all. LOL. Voila! It was awesome! I would definitely get it again.

Last night at The PNE.... Shock Top Belgian Ale, with my "Black & Blue" Burger.

I thought Six Flag parks were done with these kinds of coasters ? Obviously not.

^ Gesundheit.

Great find with the Carousel shirt, Bert! Is this one of your first ones, or do you have many more? Just curious.

Awesome full length tour of Grona Lund! Love this park as much as everybody else here. You took a photo of it, but did you go into the House of Nightmares? I went in it, way back in 2014 when it was the old walk through. And that was awesome enough. Great individual coverage of all the coasters and rides you went on. And one can never have too many photos of INSANE, lol. I actually liked it better, riding it in the day time than at night. Great TR! Thanks for sharing it all with us.

Yeah, I planning to wear them, but with shoes that would accommodate them. The ones I had on were snug, and wearing the socks would have made it a tight fit for me to wear all day. Dumb me for picking the wrong shoes. So I let the t-shirt speak for the socks, LOL! And people did notice me, more than if I had worn the socks, I felt. I also checked at the Pride Society Tent outside the Main Gate, and found out that The PNE isn't the first Cdn.Fair to do a Pride Day. Edmonton, Alberta's Fair did it before us! Now the main question is, will either Fair repeat the day, next summer? We shall see, eventually. It was yesterday, and it was fun!

More of the Prize Home tour. Then, one more corn dogs tasting. A stroll around Playland and we played a couple of arcades games. Then off to home. We were so tired from all the walking around we did, we couldn't stay for the evening show at the Celebration Tent. Which also had a Drag Show duking it out with the Dueling Pianos. We hoped it would go well, with everyone a winner. And here's my final decision on my Corn Dog Challenge: Coco's Corn Dog King Chicky's Chicken & Fries Lookout Grill (the mini dogs we just had) Coaster Dogs Where I found our last corn dogs to eat. These were mini-dogs at $4 each. They were good, better than I'd expected from a "small dog." (o; Another Unicorn sighting. First train running. New flavour of "What The Fudge". Second train running. What our total Arcade Games' winnings were. David finally gets an Oreo Churro. And liked it! Water refill. Back at home with the BBQ Sauce, our Arcade Prize, Popcorn...and the Socks. See? I got three pairs of them. (o: And, love The PNE, they went with the Hot Pink drinking wristband.

After the Dragon exhibit, it was time for me and David to part, for an hour or so. He hit the Marketplace and I hit the Beer Garden, lol! And we met up later, to head to the Ribs Fest. After our "Ribs Fest", we went and tried something I'd seen since first visiting the Fair this year. And after that. David went and visited POPnology (I'd already seen it) and I noticed a very short line for the Prize Home. So, knowing I really didn't want to even buy a ticket for this, I went in.... You gotta love TUPPERWARE for being around for so many years. A regular at The PNE every year. Irish Dancers onstage at Festival park. A closer look at the Rainbow Socks. We just had to show them to the ticket takers, to get into The Fair. Not very busy right now. The sky didn't look too good. But it actually cleared up, and we got sunshine the rest of our visit! The Silver Starlets were back again, performing, Think I have seen them four times now. David's back, with his Swiss Nuts from Marketplace. An annual 'thing' for him to get. Pretty organized at The Fair this year, for one's garbage, etc. Gator BBQ's past wins. Very impressive. Two out of three, here. Okay. Left to right, Gator, Prairie, and Misty Mountain ribs. And Gator Ribs won! (o: Sock-On-A-Wrist. Now we had some of this. "Charcoal" Soft Serve. I waited till we could both try it. It was great! Tasted like coconut mixed with vanilla. But black all through it. After we finished this up, David went to the POPnology exhibit.... ....while I decided (gasp, you didn't!) to take the "Win A House!" house tour. Too modern for my tastes. But hey, we already got a great house of our own already. Paid for, too! Besides the socks, there were a few make up looks around, on the Fair workers, too. Nice. Mmmm good call. Hot tubs help sell a house. But we have one of those, too. (o; This stopped a lot of people, including myself, in their tracks. An elevator in this house? Awesome! (To be continued...)

~ Out At The Fair Day ~ So we bought some pairs of rainbow socks, and got immediate entry into The PNE yesterday....easy! Throughout the day, we also saw (probable) non-LGBTQ2+ people and groups wearing the socks too, so that was great to see. And as usual with David, when we go to The Fair together, RIBS is our eventual main focus, As well as a trip through the Marketplace, which I let him do (already been through it once and once was enough), while I spent time in the Festival Park beer garden, people watching and have a couple of beers. But before we did that, we (finally) went and saw the The Lost World of Dragons exhibit up at the front of The Fair grounds. Great display with some pretty good animatronics involved. A lot there to do for the kids, and a VR spot, where you could ride a dragon, etc. Cool! But the queue and time was way too long to invest in (45 min wait, we were told), so we passed on it. Other than that, some great displays, information, and photo ops there. It was fun. Then after this, David went to Marketplace and I went to the beer garden close by. We decided this year, to really taste test all three ribs companys. So we bought just a 1/3 rack of ribs (four ribs each) from each spot (Gator BBQ, Prairie Smoke, Misty Mountain), took them into the Celebration Plaza beer tent, and ate...and ate... and ate. No sides with these ribs, but David found one of them (out of all three) had corn bread too, so we got a piece of that to share. It was nice and moist, almost too cake-like to be 'bread.' It could have used a bit more corn meal in the recipe too. BUt that was okay. We discovered our old fave (Misty) somehow got more stringy and dry, even with a good sized dollop of the sauce on it. Booo. And one of the others (Prairie) tasted much better, and having the corn bread gave it a few extra points. But our real surprise was the third (Gator) which in previous tastings was dryer than the others. In the past. Not this time. Totally thick and juicy with meat (we had pork ribs for all of them), this meat were literally coming off it's bone, by just a small shake of it! We were really surprised by this. Happily so. So our new order of preference as: Gator, Prairie, and then Misty. And we bought two bottles of Gator's sauce for future home use. Where we buy the PNE Rainbow Socks. Bought mine! And later, I got a few more pairs, for unique souvenirs of The Fair. Where we're headed. First this we saw was Smaug, guarding his loot. David is a pose. Me, holding "something" back. Basic stuff for kids to have fun with. This was my favourite dragon. Future dragons. Now we have to find a generous faerie. No....wait..... They all sounded the same to me. Noted! (To be continued...)

Yes. Do you go to your annual (state;country) Fair, every year?

^ Yes, and it's still good to us, as it ever was.

Woo hoo! David and I spent a great several hours at the PNE for our Pride Day there, today. I even bought a few pairs of Pride PNE socks for the day! You buy socks, you get in free to The Fair. More to come, tomorrow. A very VERY rare souvenir, of this year's PNE. All for the price of admission! Buying my first pair, before we headed into The Fair. And today's "Drinking Age Verified" wristband was in (naturally) Hot Pink!

if you make him say "MUIBRETTY" he has to go back to the 5th dimension. He told me once back in Knott's, WCB 2016. But I can't repeat it, or he'll kill me.