Wednesday, October 07, 2009

An Apple A Day


The plan was to make it all the way to Kiyokawa Family Orchards in Parkdale to pick Honeycrisps.  We didn't quite make it that far as the Monkey was getting a bit anxious to get out of the car.  So we stopped at the first "U-Pick" + "Honeycrisps"  sign we saw outside of Hood River on Hwy 35.  Draper Girl's Country Farm was terrific.  Due to the coveted nature of the variety they charged a straight per pound rate, however and not $8 by the bucket as they did the other varieties. 
The Monkey went a little ape for apples, however (as you'd expect) and picked more than our budget of $10 would allow.  The clerk took pity on us and only charged $1.75 instead of the advertised $1.99/lb.  Which still beats the hell out of $2.99/lb in store.  We blew the budget out of the water, coming home with 20 + lbs of the biggest, most gorgeous honeycrisps you've ever seen.   I'd hoped they would last a few months, but at the rate they're disappearing I doubt they'll last two weeks. We couldn't wait to get them back in the car for a luscious, crunchy snack.
Next stop, Rasmussen "Funland" Farms in Hood River for the corn maize and pumpkin picking.  The Monkey and I were *so* close to bringing home this poor bedraggled fellow.  I haven't had an all-black cat in ages. Alas, he eluded our grasping clutches, much to the relief of Mr. Stang.
Undoubtedly he is a long lost descendant of one of those injured kitties Mom & Dad told us kids they "gave to a nice family farm out in the country" to recuperate and live out their lives happily chasing mice in a big red barn. Haven't seen any of the sofa-eating dogs, though that were supposed to be there, too.  Maybe they were busy chasing raccoons in the woods.

Sure, the pumkin picking is fun.  But not nearly so much as the Monkey's favorite pumpkin passtime - rolling the pumpkins in search of wiggly squiggly worms.



Because no weekend adventure is complete without a handful of slimy new friends.


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