An Excuse to Take a Holiday!

A Fall visit from Gramsie and Pops was the perfect shove we needed to make a family trip
back to the apple orchard we discovered last year.

~This time with a Grams, Pops, and a dad in tow.


























I am not feeling ambitious to attack bushels of apples this year, but have been wanting to take
AJ on that drive ever since I navigated it last year on my own with Hannah and the cousins
- just to ogle the landscape with me.  We appreciate those kinds of things together he and I, ogling
landscapes and such. :-)

We caravanned with some of our favorite down-hill neighbors; and allowing the children to load up
2 five gallon buckets (I didn't want overzealous pickers), we stopped for spiced caramel cider
and a salted caramel mocha.  That was an awfully good start to our outing! Whoever thought of
that, good job :-)

The air was crisp and the sun warm on our backs when we arrived.
The scenery was balm for the soul even though our color has been late this year and not as
brilliant as last seasons show.
Still, to drive down a country road by which old trees stand overgrown and gnarled
by years of neglect, holding russet and gold fruit just out of reach...
that is pretty hard to beat!

I drew out our apple orchard visit as long as I could, feeding the troupes a picnic lunch, taking
loads and loads of photos, and taking deep breaths of valley air.  I knew that when set to actual
picking, our buckets would be full in less than a handful of minutes.
I was correct.

Aloria found two within easy reach right away and was happily possessive
for the remainder of the afternoon as she nibbled them both.

 

After we left the apple orchard with our edible loot, we treated ourselves to a scenic drive back to town.
Up a questionable tread-worn path which the GPS called a road, we joked and laughed together all the
way.  It finally landed us back to a "civilized" barely paved road in which we crossed paths with two
other vehicles.  Just our kind of civilization. Ha!

Antiques shopping, new-to-us books from our favorite used book store, and dinner at a small local
brewery overlooking the river were the just-right ending to our day.  It was the kind of day that really
can't last long enough, and which one wants to repeat a few more times before this glorious season
ends.  We probably wont get back there this year, but we tried to fill up enough to tide us over until
those trees put out another crop.

Can't wait!