February 12, 2012

I grew up spending a lot of time outdoors: horseback riding, hiking, and camping. When I heard about the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show, it sounded like it would be fun to check out. Plus I knew my husband would love it.

Sunday we went to the show with Alex and his grandparents. We went in the afternoon as I spent my morning at the barn riding my horse. After all, on a nice day, being outdoors beats being at an Expo every time.

The Expo was packed. Probably would have been smarter to go during the week to avoid the crowds. We paid our $7 for parking and found a spot in Timbuktu. There were some cars making laps of the parking lot looking for a spot, so I was glad we took the first spot we saw. Thankfully we brought the stroller, and while it was a little difficult to navigate through the crowds at times, I was very glad to have it.

The show was so big, it was a bit overwhelming. There were four huge buildings full of vendors, exhibits, and demonstrations. We decided to split up early on since Alex was restless since he had not taken a nap yet. That’s the problem with going places in the afternoon, he naps in the afternoon. I took Alex in the stroller and made sure my cell phone was on so our group could find each other later on. I was happy to split off since they were looking at boats a long time, and I was ready to move on.

Alex and I picked up a quick pace after leaving the rest of the group. We went into the next building and zoomed around stopping occasionally to enter raffles. I stopped to look at a storage shed, and Alex decided it was the best fort ever. He ran around in it for about ten minutes while I daydreamed about all of the things I could do with the extra space. It wasn’t all that expensive either.

There was a drawing for a fancier shed which I entered. I’d love to win that. We entered so many free drawings during the show and my husband paid for raffle tickets to a lot of drawings too. Among the free raffles we entered was a drawing for a house. If we won it, we’d have to buy a piece of land to put it on, but the odds of that happening are pretty slim, so I’m not too worried. I ended up purchasing raffle tickets for a boat and trailer on the way out. It is amazing how much money you can spend without actually buying anything! $12 each for tickets to the show (though I did have a $2 off coupon and Alex was free), $7 for parking, and between the bunch of us probably $30 on raffle tickets (the money went to good causes at least). Not that there wasn’t plenty we would have liked to buy if we’d had money to spend. You can always find good deals at these shows, especially on the last day.

The last building had a fishing pond for the kids, but the line was a mile long, so Alex and I skipped it. The whole building smelled like fish. Alex and I enjoyed looking at the hunting dogs and were walking around when my phone rang. I suggested our group meet up at the concessions stand as we wanted to get ice cream for Alex. Alas there were two concessions stands in the building, so it took a while to find each other and by the time we did, Alex was asleep in his stroller. We skipped the ice cream, since he was sleeping, and were all able to enjoy the rest of the show at a more leisurely pace.

Expos can be challenging with little kids and most of the kid friendly activities were aimed at older kids then Alex. Besides the fishing pond, the expo also had an archery range that a lot of the older kids were enjoying and there was a lot to look at. The live pack mule was popular with the kids. During the times Alex was awake, he wasn’t bored since there were always plenty of interesting things to see. Still, I was a little disappointed there were not any inflatables at this expo as Alex always likes to bounce. We’ll just have to make it over to Inflatable Kingdom for an Open Play some time soon.

Whether or not you like hunting, the mounted animals and horns are very interesting to look at. They had all sorts of animals, native and exotic, including many very large or unusual specimens. Course if you are someone who is deeply opposed to hunting and fishing, this is probably the show to avoid since the majority of the vendors and displays were aimed at hunters and fishers. I personally prefer to shoot animals with my camera then a gun, so I don’t hunt. However, with so many hunters in the family, I am pretty tolerant. I imagine Alex will hunt with his dad and his uncles when he gets older. I’d say it’s a guy thing, but my aunt can stand her ground hunting with the best of them.

Alex woke up a couple times during the Expo and fell back asleep again. He finished his nap when we were finishing up at the Expo. It took us a long time to get around the whole place, even though we did not watch any of the demonstrations or spend too much time at any one booth. I think we ended up being there about 4 hours. All of us left with a lot of dreams of things we would like to buy or trips that would be fun to take. I am seriously considering taking a wood carving class, if only I can figure out the logistics of getting someone to watch Alex during the class.

The phone hasn’t rang yet with good news about any of the raffles, but it still can. After all, most of the drawings have yet to take place. So, I guess I could start window shopping for a place to put our new house when we win…

This year’s Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show ran February 8-12 in Portland. It is an annual event, so keep an eye on the web-site  for information about next year’s show. If you missed the Portland show, but still want to go to a show this year, there is another Sportsmen’s Show in Redmond, March 8-11.

-HL

Related posts:

1. Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club’s November Show The railroad club reminds me of a museum with plexi-glass...
2. Cavalia The live music was beautiful, the horses were magnificent, and...
3. Balls! Balls! Balls! The balls were set up in stations. Alex loved the...
4. Working with Kids Working and taking care of a child at the same...
5. Mr. Ben at Woodlawn Swap and Play This space definitely encourages kids to dance and play more...