Wet and Cold
Nov 5th, 2008 by Cynthia
Over the weekend family paid us a nice visit and I decided to take us all to the Fruit Loop and visit some of the local farms out in the Hood River Valley. It is so beautiful out there that even the damp weather could not spoil its gorgeous views.
Our first visit was to Nutquacker Farms. Here they grow Colossal Chestnuts and the day of our visit they happened to be having a chestnut roast where we were able to try freshly roasted chestnuts. To those of us from the West this is quite a treat. In fact this was the first time we had every tried a freshly roasted chestnut. I was pleasantly surprised by how starchy they tasted.
I unfortunately did not take any pictures of the chestnut farm thanks to the rain coming down rather hard during our visit. However, here is a picture of some of the chestnuts we purchased to be roasted at home.
After our stop at the chestnut farm we decided to pay a visit to Rasmussen Farms. They still have up their fall festivities such as a corn maze and pumpkin bowling so I knew that visit would be a hit with my two younger kids. Thankfully the rain let up during this visit and the kids got to run around and have a lot of fun. I was also able to take some nice pictures.
U-Pick Pumpkins! But I was more impressed with the view.
My daughter running through the corn maze.
In the distance in this picture you can see one of the many orchards that the Fruit Loop is known for.
Despite the cold dampness of the day we all had a really nice time. Some readers may remember me posting about the Fruit Loop in the summer. Back then we paid a visit to a lavender farm for some U-Pick lavender. This link will take you to that previous post.
I wish we’d get some rain! But then when you get it, you want sunshine pretty fast. Here it has been hot and humid. Feels almost like rain. Just not as refreshing.
Brenda
Hi Brenda,
*sigh* We just started November and I am already missin’ the sun. It’s going to be a loong winter at this rate! -Cynthia
You can have some of my rain! In fact take all you want as I am already sick of it!
Hi Cynthia, welcome back! We missed you.
Glad you guys got out to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. I’ve never heard of the Fruit Loop before, sounds like a fun drive with bonus treats! I lived in Vienna one winter and remember the street vendors roasting chestnuts in barrel fires and selling them in paper cones. Yum!
Hi Karen
Funny you should mention the street vendors as the nice ladies serving up the chestnuts told us about this very same thing. They said in Italy roasted chestnuts are sold on the street the way we might find hot dogs sold here in the States. I found that to be so interesting! How lucky that you got to experience that first hand! -Cynthia
Hi Cynthia! Glad you had a nice visit with your family. Looks like you picked some great activities for young & old alike. That corn maze was entertaining for your daughter I bet! lol I’ve never had roasted chestnuts either, they look delicious.
Hi Racquel,
-Cynthia
I wish I was able to take a picture of the chestnuts roasting but I was afraid the rain might hurt my camera. It was interesting to watch them being roasted.
My daughter and son got a big kick out of the corn maze. It was the cutest thing as the farm had a fairytale scene set out throughout the maze and you would stumble upon it as you traveled through the maze. Lots of fun.
Sounds like a fun time! It was weird today, I went out to pick Peanut up from the bus stop and a thunderstorm was just starting. Maybe that’s not too strange to people from warmer climates, but we’ve already had snow up here.
Hi Cinj,
Brrr, to think you have already had snow! We had a brief thunderstorm ourselves yesterday which was rather odd for us too. But the snow is coming I can feel it…. in fact the mountains behind us have already had a light dusting of it the other day. -Cynthia
Ohhhh… we’ve been watching that weather up north hoping we would get a little down here in So. Cal. and we did get a bit earlier this week. It was lovely to have some rain so early in the season for us.
Hi Shelia,
-Cynthia
Oh, how I miss the days when the rain would come and go! I’ll send you some rain every now and then if you promise to send me some sun.
Gorgeous pictures, Cynthia! Mind if I borrow one for my desktop wallpaper? Thanks, I knew you wouldn’t mind sharing *wink*.
Hi Granny
-Cynthia
Of course I don’t mind- in fact I find it to be quite the compliment!
That corn maze looks like a blast! And that does appear to be a REAL pumpkin patch too - where real pumpkins are picked off real vines? (Here they tend to be fields where truckloads of pumpkins from Pennsylvania are dumped)
Hi jgh,
I believe you are right that it is a real pumpkin patch. And funny that you should be mentioning that as I was thinking the same thing when we were visiting it! I have been to patches where the pumpkins are brought in and it was so nice to see real pumpkins available for u-pick. The misty day coupled with the pumpkin patch made me think of The Great Pumpkin! -Cynthia
Welcome back, Cynthia. That was alot of pumpkins! I wish I had a few of those for my compost bin….
Hi EG-
-Cynthia
Thanks for visiting my blog today! Some of those pumpkins looked like they were ready for your compost bin!
Hi Cynthia, Sorry to hear about the wet weather, I wish I could send’ya some of the beautiful weather we’ve been having. Those Chestnuts look so good, I LOVE roasted chestnuts, I was so disappointed when I learned that all of our native trees were lost to blight in the 40s that is why it is good that there are farms that can preserve the species.
Hi lzyjo,
I’m trying to accept the wet weather is here to stay but I don’t want to! Spring and summer went by so fast this year. I wish I could enjoy one more month of sun in the garden…. -Cynthia
Hi Cynthia,
I missed you! Glad you are back. Looks and sounds like you had a great weekend, and I think that’s what weekends are for, spending time with our family.
Hope you brought home pumpkins for bread later on. Those nuts look great! Of all the strange things to carry around with me I have a chestnut my son gave me many years ago, at the time I tossed it in my back pack and it’s still there. I take it out, rub it and remember how little he was the day he gave it to me. silly but I love it. Many people have asked me why I have a nut in my back pack, I just smile and tell them i’m not sure it’s just always been there.
Have a great weekend
`Karyn
Hi Karyn,
What a sweet story about your son and the chestnut! I love little treasures like that. In my mind those are the things that are priceless in life.
You must have read my mind about the pumpkins!
I’ll tell you more about that in a future post….;) -Cynthia