Aside from visiting museums, scenic wonders and historic sites, I also enjoy attending local festivals or expos. This week was the Pet Expo at the Orange County Fairgrounds. All the years of growing up in Los Angeles, I’ve never been to the Orange County Fairgrounds let alone the Orange County Fair in the fall time.

As some of you know, I have two cats (Kitty age 7 and Baby age 5). I had them both in Minneapolis and they made the journey west with me to Los Angeles in 2001. I drove the 2000 miles and they took a Northwest Airlines Flight!

At any rate, the Pet Expo had numerous exhibits. The emphasis of the Expo are the importance of responsible pet care of a wide variety of pets, teach the principles of proper pet selection and training, offer a vast array of fine pet products, promote pet adoptions, and help people to better understand and appreciate all the wonderful ways in which pets make our lives better.

There were numerous booths and shows (including bird shows). There were exhibits on cats, dogs, small animals, reptile and fish. Of course there were also numerous booths and exhibits on products to buy for your pet.

The Orange County Fairgrounds also hosts the weekly Swap Meet (or Market Place) on Saturdays and the Farmers Market on Thursdays each week. Since I was already there for the Pet Expo I decided to also explore some of the fair grounds and find out a little bit more about the Orange County Fair and Fairgrounds.

Shortly after Orange County was created in 1889, the Orange County Community Fair Corporation was formed. This group put on a small fair in 1890 that included a horse race and a few exhibits in Santa Ana. In 1894, another group, the Orange County Fair Association, Inc., took over the organization of the Fair.

The first Orange County Fairs were primarily livestock exhibitions and horse races. At the turn of the century, a "carnival of products" was added and the Fair became an annual event. In ensuing years, the Fair was held in Santa Ana, but after World War I it was moved to Huntington Beach for two years and then back to temporary grounds on East Fruit Street in Santa Ana.

In 1916, the Fair was taken over by the newly organized Orange County Farm Bureau. The first OC Fair Board was elected in 1925 and the Fair relocated to Anaheim, across the street from the Orange County Hospital. In 1925, a rodeo and carnival were added to the Fair.

After World War II, the state formed the 32nd District Agricultural Association and made it responsible for the Fair. The state then purchased land occupied by the Santa Ana Army Air Base and some of it was earmarked for a new fairground. The Fair was first held at the new site in 1949 and it soon was designated as the permanent Fairgrounds. In 1953, the City of Costa Mesa was incorporated - the new city included the Fair's location. From 1949 to the present, the OC Fair has grown from a small, community, five-day celebration to a 21-day festival that is one of Orange County's most eagerly awaited annual events.

I am hoping this fall to finally visit the fairgrounds when it is in all of it’s glory. Unfortunately, there were no photo opts for this trip of the week…but there are some exciting trips coming up!

Next week, I am leading a group of 10 people on a camping adventure to Joshua Tree! And in a few weeks I will be going on the California Gold Tour with my mom including her first camping trip in her 71 years