I’ve never been able to stomach big roller coasters. I don’t know what it is, I know they’re safe, I know there’s no danger involved, but it’s just that mental hurdle of saying, “Just do it,” that always gets in the way.
I didn’t realize Northwest Territorial Days involved a full-on amusement park with rides and all the greasy fair food you could possibly want.
When I was first asked to go take some pictures at the fair, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I found myself walking around with a permanent smile on my face looking at all the things you don’t normally see around here, especially for myself being from up north.
There is a travelling fair that would come to Whitehorse for about a week for the past few summers, and it was always packed because people from up there don’t get to experience something like that unless they fly or drive to Vancouver.
Wednesday I went to hang out with the new Access 7 camera girl since I had nothing better to do.
We had a great time watching the Saskatchewan Express performers take to the stage as they sang and danced songs from the 1940s to today.
We mimicked their dance moves as they performed and got a few strange looks from the people around us, but it was incredibly entertaining. It reminded me of when I was in a musical in Grade 12, something I’m not ashamed to admit. Being on stage and performing lines and songs with no stumbles is a great feeling. Not to mention the ovation at the conclusion of each show.
Thursday came around and I was tasked with taking some pictures of the chariot and chuckwagon races that were happening at the fair. I thought it was the perfect time to hop on some rides in between the two.
When it came to the races, I was a little in awe of the speed and control these drivers had over their horses, chariots and wagons. When I think of chariot races, I think of Roman Empire type races. I also couldn’t believe they were all wearing jeans considering it was over 30ºC.
I walked around the fair while waiting for my friend to arrive so I didn’t have to go on the rides by myself.
Naturally, I got a bag of mini donuts and watched the woman pour about seven pounds of sugar on top before she handed them to me. The treadmill was put to good use at the gym this weekend.
I wandered over to the animal presentation that was going on and saw a jaguar for the first time in my life.
“That is one brave soul,” I thought to myself while watching the worker hold food in front of the jaguar’s face.
They also had a regular house cat in the cage and had both cats perform the same tricks. See, kids, jaguars are completely acceptable house pets!
While demolishing my bag of donuts and watching the display, a small child in a stroller in front of me was staring at my donuts, opening and closing her hand in a “give me” motion.
Call me evil, but I laughed as I finished the bag while she watched. Besides, I don’t think her mom would have been happy if a random man gave her child a donut.
After my friend arrived it was time to hop on some rides. As we walked around the fair deciding which one to try first, a girl who looked to be about 13 years old got off a ride and promptly had her lunch come back up. I laughed and my friend turned around and tried not to have the same thing happen to her.
The first ride we went on was called Orbiter, which involved a lot of spinning.
You know that feeling you get in your stomach when a plane starts to descend? Multiply that by about 10 and that’s how I felt on that ride.
The thoughts in my head switch between “this was a terrible idea” and “this is so much fun” whenever I’m on rides at amusement parks. I can never seem to keep the switch fully turned to the fun side.
That switch was firmly planted on the fun side when I walked up to a food booth and saw deep fried Oreos were being sold, however.
Half of a fair experience is eating horribly unhealthy food and feeling terrible about yourself afterwards. Calories don’t count at the fair, right?
I’m sure the calorie count in the four Oreos I ate was at least doubled after being in the deep fryer, but I didn’t care. Though to be honest, they didn’t taste that much different. It was essentially like eating slightly melted Oreos. But, hey, Oreos.
It was time for more rides after those, and we decided to hop on the one that was essentially two rows of seats that swung around in circle, like a hand on a clock.
It wasn’t too nerve-wracking, mostly because there was no spinning involved. The “worst” part of the ride was when it would be on the way down and you could kind of get lifted out of your seat.
After the ride had stopped, I couldn’t help but laugh as a little girl in front of me got out of her seat and toppled over while trying to walk down to the stairs to get off. You would have laughed too, admit it.
Looking for the next ride, I was accosted by a worker at one of those sledgehammer games. You know, when you hit the target with the hammer and the meter goes higher depending how hard you hit it.
“What about you, tough guy?” he said to me as we walked past.
I would have, but I already spent a lot of money and didn’t feel like spending another $5 for three whacks.
Speaking of spending money, one thing I really wanted thing to do was get a psychic reading. I know, I know, you might scoff at the idea, but I think it would be kind of fun to see what they have to say. My desire to get one done quickly vanished when I discovered it cost $40. At that price, I’ll just wait for my future to come naturally.
The last ride we went on was called something like The Octopus or The Spider. As you might guess, it had a bunch of “arms” with pods at the end for two (or three small children, as evidenced by the seat across from us) people to sit in.
The ride goes around in a circle while going up and down, and your pod can spin as well. The first time we came around to where the worker was, he points to us and says, “I’m going to pick on these two!” What did we ever do to you?
Every time our pod started to spin, I would immediately look down and stare at my leg. If I hadn’t, those mini donuts and Oreos might have come back up.
Last, but certainly not least, was the demolition derby that happened Friday night. As expected, the stands were packed for this event, which just made me question even more why this fair was held Wednesday through Friday instead of over the weekend. Though with the rain Saturday, maybe it was better that way.
I had to get pictures of the derby and since there was basically nowhere to stand at the top of the stands, I decided to go right down behind the fence.
I’m kind of amazed I could still hear when I woke up Saturday morning. As if the cars weren’t loud enough, there was a speaker set up directly behind where I was standing so I had the PA announcer shouting in my ear all night.
As for the derby itself, it’s just another thing I can cross off my list of never-before-seen things. Cars crashing into each other, what more could you ask for? It’s pure entertainment.
The Territorial Days fair was one of the more exciting things that I’ve seen since I moved to the Battlefords. It almost made me forget that hockey season still isn’t here yet. Two more weeks to go.
