A busy few days...

Seems like it never rains but what it pours, and this past week has been no different. Not so much with actual rain (although we did get our share of that) but with being so busy all of a sudden.

We decided against going to the real actual state fair on the other side of Anchorage, because it would be a four-hour trip each way, and no dogs allowed, and we knew we couldn't leave the dogs at home without potty breaks for so long. So, we decided to go to "The Biggest Little Fair in The Kenai Peninsula" in Ninilchik instead.

Ninilchik (population just under 700) is a tiny Russian fishing village. The fair and the Russian Orthodox church on the bluff are pretty much Ninilchik's only claims to fame. [Jim is waiting to see how much of a hard time I give the fair, so I'm going to be diplomatic. I am.]

Here is the entrance to the fair. And that's about a quarter of the fairgrounds in the picture. It was a bit of a shock to see such a teeny fair attract people from all over the Peninsula. There were two exhibit buildings, one for the 4H and quilt exhibits, and one for the vendors selling crafts and whatnot. Another small barn held the 4H animals, and there was another barn for the animals being auctioned. A few tents outside were for vendors, too, and there was a corral where the rodeo and horsemanship shows would be held later in the day, but we didn't stay for those. There were also a couple small stages for music.

Here's Jim and James in the main entrance corridor.

And this is the Midway. Yep. All of it. There was a mechanical salmon ride on the other side of the fairgrounds, but this is where most of the fun 'n' games took place. That's a mechanical bull just out of frame on the right.

It was a bit odd to finish seeing the entire fair, with the exception of the rodeo and horse show, in just over an hour and a half. But, with time on our hands and being already halfway to Homer, we decided we'd go there for something to eat and to see the scenery. It got drizzly and cloudy though, so we didn't stay long in Homer and didn't bother taking any pictures.

We did stop on the way back through Ninilchik, though, to go up on the bluff to see the Russian Orthodox church that overlooks the Inlet. These churches are so pretty, and so old. I forgot when this one was built, but it's over 100 years old.

The cemetery beside the church is for veterans.

This is the view over the bluff from the church grounds. Oh, had the sky only been clearer, what a view this would have been...

Y'know, I take it back - we DID take some pictures in Homer, and I think they'll be especially interesting to my soul sister, Amy G:

The Yurt Village was not just a place that sells yurts, but there was also a collection of touristy shops inside them.
So, that was Saturday.

On Sunday, we went to a new friend's house for a cookout. It poured down rain, and 23 people were trying to fit inside his single-wide. That didn't work very well, so a couple people stayed outside pretty much the whole time manning the steaks on the grill, and nearly all of the kids stayed outside playing.

We have discovered Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and have the songs stuck in our heads. ("The world is a mess and I just want to... rule it.") Jim has watched and/or listened to it four or five times. I'm only admitting to twice. Okay, two and a half times. *

Monday, classes started for James. He's taking Beginning Japanese Cooking and Intro to Business Management at Kenai Peninsula College, which is a division of University of Anchorage. He's also doing a distance class on website design at Collin College back in Texas.

Tuesday, I went to a class on making jam with the same ladies who taught the salmon canning class. Only one person attending had never made jam (and it wasn't me), so there wasn't a lot of learning to do, mostly just seeing how someone else does things.

Today, Wednesday, I visited the Redoubt Homemaker's Club meeting. Many of the ladies who come to the classes are members of RHC, and they've all been very nice to me, so I tagged along. The main focus of the meeting today was planning out the activities and fundraisers for the rest of the year, but it was still nice to get to visit and get to know the other ladies better. I'm not sure if I'll join, but I'm leaning towards joining for a little while at least. I may not be up to THAT much volunteering.

Okay, so, we have a couple days of "leisure" and then on Saturday we're planning to go to Industry Day over near the Kenai airport and see what-all's going on there. Evidently it's a community appreciation event that the petroleum companies and the local government throw with a lot of free food and stuff. Never pass up free food. ;^)

* Captain Hammer makes some sexual comments so don't watch it with your small children. Thanks.