Nomadic Life for Those Who Thrive on Fairs : Entertainment: Animals, rides and attractions are part of the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona starting today.

April Ford travels 10 months a year with the Great American Petting Zoo, slipping in and out of towns from Portland to San Antonio. One half of her extra-long trailer contains her bed, a shower and a propane stove; the back half sleeps a full house of deer, goats and wallabies.

“It’s a grind,” she said of her itinerant lifestyle, “but you end up thriving on it. I actually love it. The road weeds out the flakes.”

Ford is among the hordes of nomads who have invaded Pomona for the Los Angeles County Fair, which opens today and runs through Sept. 26. Several divisions of the traveling zoo have converged here for one of the nation’s biggest county fairs, where children can meet sheep, llamas, calves and potbellied pigs.

Some of these creatures have just rolled into town from the California State Fair in Sacramento. Some are newly arrived from the Oregon State Fair in Salem. And some were on display at the Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival, a 10-day stop that was Pamela Littell’s last place of residence.

“The shows are our home,” said Littell, 31, who in 13 years has accompanied the petting zoo to Hawaii, West Virginia, Alaska and Colorado. Littell, who gets her mail in Grant’s Pass, Ore., says most of her friends are other fair vendors and carnival operators. She met her fiance, a professional fly fisherman named Pat, during an earlier stop in Pomona.

“He was working then for one of the food services,” she said.

The L.A. County Fair is anything but Podunk these days, with a startling variety of rides and attractions. There will be thoroughbred races and monster truck demonstrations. There will be a cattle drive through the streets of La Verne. There will be a demolition derby.

There is an animated dinosaur attraction. There is a sprawling skateboard park. There is one of the world’s largest outdoor garden electric train sets. There is a ride called the “Ejection Seat” that will slingshot its riders 150 feet in the air in 2 seconds, then allow them to free fall for 100 feet before catching them. Musical entertainers will include the Four Tops, the Isley Brothers, Randy Travis, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Beach Boys.

Many attractions, like the brightly painted Shave Ice booth, are run by people who pretty much live on the road, some for the summer, some all year around.

“I do 36 fairs a year,” boasted Buddy Morris, who travels from May through October and sells his syrup-laced concoctions in Bakersfield, Fresno, Santa Clara, Chico, Napa, Santa Rosa and Calaveras County. He has done it for 18 years after being introduced to the snowcone-like treats in Hawaii. “I think I was the first Shave Ice on the mainland,” he said with obvious pride.

His wife and two children--Todd, 18, and Kim, 16--share in the business. Whereas Buddy is clean-cut, looking much like any other small-town businessman, son Todd is given to youthful fashion: a backward Yankees cap, earrings, goatee, big frog tattoo on his right shoulder and matching nipple rings. But the men share an enjoyment of the road.

“You get to go into all different towns and see different people every summer,” Todd said. “How many people get to do that?”

Sometimes, though, the road gets tough. On the way here from the state fair in Sacramento, the axle on the truck broke. They ended up stranded four hours in temperatures above 100 degrees.

“It seems like we always have breakdowns,” Buddy said with a laugh.

Byron and Jo Ann Mauch, who hawk customized air-brushed T-shirts, have limited their traveling recently to Los Angeles, Orange County, Del Mar and Ventura County. However, before their young son entered school, they crisscrossed the continent three or four times every year, racking up untold thousands of miles. They traveled in a circuit that took them to Vancouver, Toronto, Springfield, Mass., and different parts of New York state and Florida.

“As the motor home got older, it became less of an adventure and more of a struggle,” Byron recalled. “I started spending more and more time beneath it [making repairs].”

Still, the lifestyle had its advantages. They got to see the country. They rarely had to walk more than a block to get to work.

“We worked really hard for three or four weeks, then we’d get to go to the beach,” he said. “We’d get to take two weeks off before the next fair.”

Some of the places they liked to stop were places frequented by the western novelist Zane Grey. So they named their son Zane.

“He went to his first fair when he was three weeks old,” Mauch said.

On the free-flowing fair tour, your friends are generally the people who travel with you, with a few notable exceptions, said April Ford of the petting zoo. One exception is her boyfriend, Corey, who lives in San Diego. Corey drove 11 hours to see her in Sacramento and even farther to visit her in Oregon.

“That’s great,” she said, laughing. “I have a great personal life.”

County Fair Highlights

The 77th annual Los Angeles County Fair begins today and will run through the weekend of Sept. 26 at the Fairplex, two blocks north of the San Bernardino Freeway in Pomona. Horse races are run daily, with a first post time of 12:30 p.m. A sampling of weekend events:

Concerts--Grandstand Stage

* Randy Travis--today *

* The Righteous Brothers--Friday

* Violent Femmes--Saturday *

* Jennifer Paige and Blaque--Sunday *

General admission to most shows at grandstand concerts is free with regular fair admission, but reserved grandstand, box and stage-area seats are available at all Ticketmaster locations or by phone at (213) 480-3232, (714) 740-2000 or (805) 583-8700. All concerts begin at 8 p.m.

* Additional charge for concert.

Contests, Special Events

* Today--Asian Festival, Redwood Street, all day; Outdoor Festival of Lights, California Outdoor Living Hillside, 8-10 p.m.; Chinese Acrobats, Fairplex 4 Community Stage, 1, 4 and 8:30 p.m.; The Magical World of Dancing Horses, Horse Show arena, 1 p.m.

* Friday--Maxwell Coffee Day (free admission with an unopened can of Maxwell House Coffee); Pomona Day (Community Hero Ceremonies at Super Diner stage, 6 p.m.; Michael Mezmer, hypnotist, at Fairplex 4 Community Stage, 5 and 9:30 p.m.; Asian Festival, Redwood Street, all day; swing dancing, Heritage Farm, 6 p.m.

* Saturday--Hot Rod DeLuxe Party and Classic Car Show, Fairplex Park Infield, all day; Winnie the Pooh Breakfast, America’s Kids, 10 a.m.; Indian Market, Millard Sheets Gallery Patio, all day and the Nite Club, Anthony’s at the Fair, 8 p.m. until midnight.

* Sunday--Grandparents Day, America’s Kids, all day; Wood Carvers Contest, Court of the Redwoods, noon; Spam Recipe Contest, Creative Living, 1 p.m.; Milk Drinking Contest, Ring 2, noon; Don Normark book signing, Millard Sheets Gallery, 2 p.m. and an Evening of the Fresian Horse with “Zorro,” Horse Show Arena, 7 p.m.

Fair Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.

Admission: Today only, admission is $1.99.

General adult, weekdays $9, and weekends $10; 6-12 years, $5 on weekends, free for children 12 and under on weekdays when accompanied by a paying adult (up to three children) and free for children 5 and under every day; over 60, $7, except on Tuesdays, $3.50; carnival wristband (10 rides) Wednesday-Friday, $15.

Parking: General, $5; preferred, $8; premium preferred (hotel lot only) $10; valet, $15.

For information on other events, call (909) 623-3111.