Granite SW: And It Comes Around Full Circle

Its official - Chad and I have lived in Silverdale, Washington for over a year now.

I can't believe all the things that have happened in just this one year. I can honestly say, more than had happened in the last five of either my or Chad's lives. Its pretty insane.

What really brought this to my attention was the Kitsap County Fair and Stampede. Yup, acres and acres of 4H animals, cowboy hats and funnel cakes has returned to Silverdale (er... Bremerton, but who REALLY knows where that boarder is....). This year, Chad and I didn't make a day of it like we did last - we only stayed for a couple hours - but there was good reason for this. An odd reason, that really put this last year into perspective for me - we both got in for free (or were supposed to - but that's an irrelevant story).

See - mid-May, Chad and I both got invitations in the mail - they were for the County Commissioners annual Volunteer Appreciation Reception. Only people with X number of hours spent helping certain volunteer groups got them. At this reception - thanking me - I won a raffle for a free ticket to the county fair. Then Chad, who got invited for being a member of Search and Rescue, was able to get into the fair (and park) for free - just for the fact that S&R donate their time to help the lost children and do light security.

We never did anything....anything... in San Diego... I think we love it here.

Anyways - back to the fair. It was exactly the same as last year. We had fun walking around, looking at the millions of domestic animals and livestock. We laughed when we walked by the main stage and caught a few songs of "kids karaoke." And we pigged out on fair food - starting with chili cheese fries and philly cheese steaks and ending with a perfectly fried elephant ear (officially the only thing I've been able to call a truly northwestern thing). Here are the highlights: