Fair Enough! -- Doing The Puyallup Presents A Challenge: What To Tackle First?

PUYALLUP - The problem is evident the minute you've navigated the lines into the Western Washington Fair, which opened yesterday and continues through Sept. 24.

What do you do first . . . second . . . or third . . .?

Of course, the answer depends on who you are. In our family, the kids make a beeline for the rides, with maybe a detour through the chicken coops.

The teens like to meander through the jewelry, leather and craft displays; spend lots of money on earrings, wallets, T-shirts and candy; cruise the horse barns; and, basically, pretend they're there on their own. Particularly when they stop at the karaoke booth near the Showplace Stage.

Husband peruses the commercial exhibits, spends an hour at the computer show, likes the All-Alaskan Pigs Race and is always eager to take the kids to a rodeo. Together we do a bit of dreaming in the fancy motor homes.

I like the gadget booths, the places where the dicing, icing, fat-free frying and fruit-drying keep me reaching for my wallet for yet one more wonderful something to crowd my kitchen counter.

You can spend hours at the fair for free once you've paid the $4 admission for kids and seniors, and $7 for adults.

But you can also spend money. Lots of money. Here are some prices to help you budget your trip to the fair. The ride prices range from $1.50 to $29.95 if you dare harness yourself into the bungeelike Skycoaster ride. Games range from the 10-cent plate toss to $4 balloon-popping, pin-busting, arrow-shooting arcades; old-fashioned photos cost $16; computer horoscopes, $2; massages, $6; T-shirts, $6 to $36; an authentic cowpoke hat, $4.95 to $72; a packet of Polynesian potpourri, $5; a hand-painted saw-blade clock, $29; a chainsaw-carved black bear, $200. Or maybe you'll order a swirling spa at $2,500 and up, or a $300 blender.

There are a few ride specials this year, $10 Dizzy Passes (afternoons or evenings only on Sept. 11, 18 and 19) or $5 Kiddyland Express Passes (afternoons only on Sept. 14 and 21).

Otherwise, the good rides cost $3 and up; even the average ones are $2.25. Figure long lines at the newest ride, Kersplash ($3), a roller coaster that ends in a 32-foot water trough. You do get wet.

Then there's food. Puyallup's famous hamburgers, smothered in grilled onions, start at $2.50. Meals such as aromatic chicken and ribs barbecued over hot alder coals, teriyaki beef, tacos, Belgian waffles, fish and chips or pasta dishes can easily top $6 a person.

And after hours of pounding pavement, it's hard to say no to scones dripping with raspberry jam, fresh-squeezed lemonade, thick chocolate-dipped ice cream bars or a colorful, cooling Hawaiian Shaved Ice. Budget $2 and up for each.

A grandstand show? Today Tim McGraw is onstage with Martina McBride at 7:30 p.m.; tomorrow features Bill Cosby at 7:30 p.m.. Scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday are Montell Jordan, and Soul For Real with The Backstreet Boys. Tickets are $20 to $23. Rodeos, Sept. 19-22 at 6 p.m. and Sept. 23-24 at 3:30 p.m., are $10-$14.

Short of cash? No problem. There are several cash machines on the 160-acre fairgrounds.

Aching feet? Bright orange Footsie-Wootsie machines around the grounds let you sit down, plug in a quarter and get your feet massaged. For my money, that was the best deal at the fair! -----------------------------------------------------------------

-- If You Go

The Puyallup Fair runs daily through Sept. 24. Hours: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. Gates open at 8 a.m. daily. Puyallup Fairgrounds, 110 Ninth Ave. S.W., Puyallup. Admission: $4-7; children 5 and under free. Information: 841-5045.

The fastest route from Seattle is to take Highway 167 south out of Renton, about 20 miles, take the Highway 161 South exit, and then take the Meridian Street South exit directly to the fairgrounds. From Interstate 5 in Federal Way, take the Puyallup Exit 142B and head south on Highway 161 eight miles to the fairgrounds. Parking is $4.