Picking Apples in the Far North

On Thursday we took a field trip of sorts.  We loaded up bags, bins, peanut butter and jam sandwiches,
jackets (just in case the foreboding sky made good its threat), stroller, camera, and children.
Armed with a tip from a friend, and only a hopeful guess for a map, we drove north on a small
two lane highway until the road we sought appeared veering east just in the nick of time - not many yards
ahead we would have been forced to U-turn at the Canadian port of entry.

The scenery in this piece of our far northerly lands was breathtaking!  The fall colors only made it more so,
and the children and I agreed it reminded us of Vermont as we saw it last October.

After driving at crawl speed (which nobody minded with such awesome sights to take in) we found our
destination.  The farm was pristine, the driveway empty.  There was a note on the door which read in
friendly scrawl:

"If you are here to pick apples,
go right ahead.  
Pick whatever you like.
If we aren't back yet,
there's a scale in the shop you can weigh them on.
30 cents a pound.
You can just leave the cash.  Or send it.  Or whatever.
......."

So we did.

There was a beautiful Cherry orchard facing the rows of apple trees. With golden leaves scattered over the ground, it was simply enchanting!

Wondering if I had enough cash in my wallet - even at 30 cents a pound - I called a halt to the picking.
I wondered just how many pounds we ended up with, all four 18 gallon totes nearly full.  The boys
were impressive pickers, but all the children kept up well since the apples were right within reach.
(It was a little difficult to convince them we should weigh and pay for our loot before chomping in!)

Weigh them we did though, and met the owners of this lovely place as they told us a bit of its history
and explained their hopes for their newly planted blueberry patch (we will DEFINITELY call them next
summer!!!).  It was no small matter getting the apples to the shop, and had the farmers been there when
we arrived, they would have told us to drive right into the orchard.
That might have been helpful to know.
Good thing I brought muscle :-)  "Put your back into it Olie!  PUSH, Cousin!"

That about sums it up, except for the drive home... which was every bit as wonderful
as the drive there only this time I captured a couple pictures.
Between crunchy bites of apple, and numerous plans for what appley concoctions
our 240 pounds of fruit could be transformed into... everyone agreed it was as perfect as
a day can get.
And were ready to go back tomorrow :-)