The Mountain West

I recently returned from a trip to one of the only areas of the continental U.S. where I'd never been.  I'd refer to it as the Mountain West, basically a corridor running from the Yellowstone National Park area south to the Arches National Park area.

So "What was it like" I'm assuming you ask?  Let's work our way from north to south, starting with NW Wyoming, which includes not only Yellowstone, but also the Grand Teton mountain range and the Jackson Hole area.

There's a lot to see in Yellowstone, because it's such a big park.  While I did see bison, elk, and even a moose (but no bears), for me the most interesting were the geysers and hot springs -- a big chunk of the park essentially sits on top of a volcano, so this encompasses much more than just the famous Old Faithful geyser.  You don't often get a chance to see or feel hot water bubbling out of the ground.  Of course, you'll also see lots of prairie, and rivers, and even river falls, but more than anything you just see trees.  Endless amounts of trees as you travel miles and miles from one attraction to another.  In that regard, much of Yellowstone can be very boring.

The Jackson Hole area, which includes the city of Jackson, would be what you get if you crossed a rural middle-class cowboy with an urban affluent multi-millionaire.  The cowboy types are there for hunting, fishing, and camping.  The millionaire types are there for skiing, golfing, and glamping.  There was generally a fun, laid-back vibe, but at the same time very expensive, and very crowded.

Driving south from there, you'll see vast stretches of irrigated Idaho farmland dedicated to growing potatoes, with some notable acres set aside for barley.  Who knew they grew so much barley in the potato capital of southern Idaho?

Now we're in Salt Lake City, which is actually a town of only a few hundred thousand people within a suburban metropolitan area of more than one million.  Its main features seemed to be Mormon headquarters buildings and temples, with the lake itself a distant second.  Having said that, I was surprised by how much diversity there was.  I figured I wouldn't see anything but conservative white people around, but that wasn't the case.  This may be because the east side of town is anchored by the University of Utah.

Finally, there was Arches National Park, which sits next to the tourist town of Moab, Utah.  (An aside, Moab was a much larger, much more hip version of the tourist town of West Yellowstone, Montana, which sits on the northwestern edge of Yellowstone National Park.)  As opposed to Yellowstone, Arches is a relatively small place, filled with natural sandstone monuments, some of which happen to be arches.  One after another they appear, on short drives between trailheads, where most people leave their vehicles to take pictures and/or walk up to a few miles to get a closer look.  Full disclosure, I found it to be a more interesting (and exhausting) place than Yellowstone.

That's my version of the Mountain West.  Epilogue:  After this trip, I've been to 48 out of the 50 United States.  Only North Dakota(!) and Alaska left. 

A Fair Comparison

For decades now, my family and I have been big fans of the Iowa State Fair.  This includes not just attending it (we usually attend more than one day), but also competing in it (usually in food / baking categories).  The sites, sounds, food, etc. continue to entertain us annually each August.

Meanwhile, we've always wanted to personally compare it to other well-known American state fairs.  The list of other fairs that would qualify is short, maybe only Minnesota and Texas come to mind.  I've always been a bit skeptical about Iowans' claims to having the greatest state fair, without having attended any others.

After many years of talking about it, I recently spent a day at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul.  So here, I now give you the definitive guide comparing the Iowa State Fair (ISF) with the Minnesota State Fair (MSF).

Size

MSF is larger, both in terms of grounds area and attendance -- daily and overall attendance is roughly double the size of ISF.  A big plus for MSF was the flatness of their grounds, whereas about half of the ISF is on the side of a hill.  Parking can be an issue at both places, although both have park and ride options along with side street parking (both more expensive at MSF).  Advantage MSF.

Midway

Very similar.  Both fairs have midway rides, including separate areas for children.  Both have thrill ride areas.  Both have giant slides.  Both have sky glides.  Both have Ye Olde Mills!  MSF had what looked like a permanent, very large Ferris wheel structure, as well as a tower up which one could ride in a rotating, external compartment and see the fairgrounds.  Advantage MSF.

Grandstand

Again, very similar.  They also attract basically the same national concert tours.  Advantage no one.

Livestock exhibits

MSF has the usual cattle / swine / horse facilities, but the livestock area at ISF is larger, maybe by half.  This is part of an overall trend of the ISF being much, much more focused on farming and agriculture.  A related example would be that MSF had no area devoted to farm equipment displays, while ISF has a huge area for that.  Also, there were no pork or beef producer food tents at MSF, but there was a turkey federation tent.  Advantage ISF.

Agricultural / food exhibits

ISF is much more robust in terms of competing / displaying vegetables and horticulture.  One notable exception is honey / honey production, where MSF devoted more space.  ISF also appeared to have more had a greater number and variety of food competitions / displays.  Advantage ISF.

Cultural exhibits

There wasn't much difference in how much, but there were differences in how.  For instance, MSF showed more painted art, but little photography, which is the inverse of ISF.  Also, MSF had cultural displays in more buildings, where ISF basically sticks to a single building, maybe two.  Advantage no one.

Food and beverage

Basically, you can get any deep fat fried thing you might want at either fair.  Both also have buildings devoted to selling chocolate chip cookies in a bucket.  While ISF has pork chops on a stick, MSF has walleye on a stick.  (Curiously, there seemed to be no one selling pork tenderloins at MSF, which are a veritable staple at ISF.)  ISF does have a much, much larger craft beer tent, which is probably due to Iowa's encouraging craft beer laws.  Another oddity:  MSF has a lot of vendors still only accepting cash as a form of payment.  Advantage ISF.

Free stages / entertainment

Both have numerous free stages / amphitheaters for thrill shows and music.  While the ISF tends to have more shows and limit the live music until the evening, MSF had live music starting by noon.  Conversely, MSF holds its statewide talent competition in the evening, while ISF presents theirs during the day.  Advantage no one.

Environment

A big trade-off here.  The ISF is cleaner, partially due to golf carts and other small 4-wheeled vehicles moving supplies and collecting trash all day, making for traffic which visitors have to constantly dodge.  At MSF, you rarely see any motorized vehicles, but you also tend to see more trash receptacles and a bit more uncollected trash on the grounds.  (I later learned that MSF has both external and underground avenues with which to transport supplies and trash -- do not know if this is true.)  Advantage no one.

Rest rooms

Need a separate paragraph for this.  MSF had at least four separate, huge, clean, restroom only buildings on the grounds, to go with other one-off facilities.  Since they have many more people on the grounds on any given day, maybe this is more of a necessity, but it was still nice.  Advantage MSF.

Conclusion

MSF is more diverse, both in the people attending and the things to do.  ISF is more focused on farming and competitions.  Both the ISF and MSF are wonderful state celebrations that I would recommend attending multiple times.  No one could reasonably say one was 'better' than the other, so don't believe anyone who does.