Two Hokies and a Poodle

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Bates Nut Farm

I love fall. In fact, I love it so much that I put fake leaves all around our apartment, with gourds and pumpkins and corn. AJ was confused at first, but he has since gotten used to the leaves on the ground, and ignores them. I also regularly spray the Autumn Leaves and Pumpkin sprays from Bath and Body Works, and wear my orange pants to pretend that we are having a fall! Even though the weather and the leaves don’t change in beautiful San Diego, the annual season events still go on, so we spent an awesome Sunday afternoon driving into the mountains to enjoy a fall day at the pumpkin patch. As a little girl, we would always drive up to pick out our pumpkins, take adorable pictures, pet the animals, and buy candy in the little country store there. We have the cutest pictures from when we were little of visiting the patch, and my mom was nice enough to look over an hour to find one! :) Laura, James, and I made the 40 mile trek to Bates Nut Farm to pick out the perfect pumpkins in San Diego! The patch was just like I remembered; only cluttered with hundreds of little kids and their parents. The massive pumpkins were still there, and I am still amazed not only at how big they are, but how someone could spend that much money on a pumpkin. Though they were only 30 cents a pound, we saw someone check out with one that weighed 90 pounds! You do the math... I bet it doesn’t add up to how much you spend on pumpkins over the course of a few years. The large pumpkins remind me of James and the Giant Peach, as there is something that just isn’t natural about that. The pumpkin patch has changed a bit over the years, as there is now an espresso bar and taco stand, along with an entire mini carnival to entertain children and keep parents happy (the espresso of course). And the tacos add a bit of Southern Californian flair. I did miss the warm apple cider and homemade pumpkin pie that we were used to in Christiansburg, but just being at a pumpkin patch was a nice step in experiencing fall. After finding the perfect pumpkins to take pictures with, we visited the adorable country store to buy some candy and nuts, including my all time favorite all sorts licorice that I discovered there so many years ago. Yay for childhood fun and pumpkins!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

you look so much like your mom in those old pictures. so cuet! love aunt sandy

Anonymous said...

Sam's had those Pumpkins for $6.88! I couldn't believe how big they were.