I could not believe that I left the house without my camera, however! Someday my brain may focus more on capturing memories through the lens, but I'm more about living the memory, I guess. (I'm grabbing some great shots from Flickr to fill in the blanks.)
Here are our favorite haunts....
We leave bright and early -- right after grabbing donuts from our favorite bakery down the street. And the trip begins.
We stop at the Osborne Nature Center in Strawberry Point for breakfast.
First pit stop is usually at Pikes Peak. The bonus is the breathtaking view while you wait for everyone to take their turn in the privy.
We usually scope out a roadside farmer's market or two along the way. There are usually great deals on squash, pumpkins, hedge apples, and onions. It's a good thing we take a Suburban to haul back all of the finds of the day!
All of the gents love to stop to get smoked catfish and other goodies at Valley Fish & Cheese in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. I usually wait near the car since I am not a big fan of fish. I will admit there is always something new to see at this place. It is a favorite of all of my gentlemen, from Mustang Man on down!
Next stop is Mt. Sterling for cheesecurds and other wonderful cheese creations. This year I found apple cinnamon cheese. We haven't tried it yet, but it sounded interesting. Of course, we save some of the cheesecurds for lunch. The gents love to test the freshness by seeing if they "squeak".
Then, we're finally headed for the big event -- picking out the apples! The gents love to sample the cider. We always grab caramel apples, cider, several varieties of apples, and usually share a Queen's apple too. (Queen's apple is sliced open, drizzled with hot caramel, topped with whipped cream and a cherry.) Cider donuts also make it into the shopping cart every year. Sunrise Orchards is our favorite place.
On the way back home, we stop for a picnic lunch. We also get to stretch our legs at Effigy Mounds.
The trip is not complete without a peek at the top of Mt. Hosmer in Lansing, Iowa.
It's a full day, but so worth it!! This is one of my favorite autumn traditions, introduced by my parents-in-law. Sometimes they take a side trip to the cranberry bogs. Now and then we also include Backbone State Park. This time, we had to be home in time for a youth dance, which I didn't plan on attending, but ended up taking a Suburban full of youth that night.
That's all for today, boys and girls.
Until next time...
4 comments:
That sounds fun! I am making Apple Cinnamon Yogurt. Cheese. Tell me if it is good.
All that sounds soooo fun! It's nice to have traditions. :)
I love seasonal traditions. In my family, we also pick apples. My Mom and I core, peel and freeze them to use throughout the year. I love ANY warm apple dessert with ice crem. Yum!
That sounds wonderful sis! I know that the boys will always cherrish this memory as they get older, congrats on keeping it up over the years.
(side note) smoked mud puppy...ick! :-) After having owned a couple fish tanks I can't even get near the stuff without thinking it smells alot like the filters from those tanks when they need changed. But if you can enjoy 'em more power to you.
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