Wil Hunter bought this property around the corner from me for almonds. He found out too late that one section of the ground had been saturated with some kind of fertilizer not conducive to almonds. When you've got lemons, make lemonade, or better yet, grow pumpkins, which just love the amended soil.
Originally a dairy farm, Will kept this 100 year old barn, rebuilding it to today's standards, keeping yesterday's look and all the feed stanchions. It makes a perfect barn to house pumpkins for sale, as well as host weddings, birthday parties and soirees!
They grow all their own pumpkins, including the big ones you see in the back. There are pumpkins everywhere!! Grab a wagon, load up the kids and pick your own! Probably not a good idea to come on a Monday or Tuesday. That's when the schools bus their kids out here for a lesson in agriculture. The Hay Bale classroom is the perfect place for kids to learn what's involved in producing the food they eat.
All around the property are zinnias and sunflowers in full bloom, along with the bees that come to pollinate. The entire place is surrounded in corn, some as high as an elephants eye!!
This side view of the barn shows the picnic area they added this year where you can enjoy a snowcone or soda with the kids. They won't be sitting for long however, as there are lots of things to do here!!
You want pictures? They've got places set up just for that. Just drag your screaming kids up on the truck and pretend they are happy campers while Grandma takes a picture.
The kids are screaming because from the picture-taking opportunity, they can see the bounce pillow. Take their shoes and socks off and they can go under the canopy and bounce to their hearts content on the largest pillow in the Western United States. It's amazing how the kids just LOVE this one. It's really good exercise ... the kids will crash as soon as you get home ... and it keeps them off the internet!
Yes I tried it, but there were too many things bouncing around. I almost knocked myself out. Better to sit on the sidelines in the shade and watch the kids have fun.
Along with the time tractor dinosaur theme, here's the Dino Dig. At the end of the day, it's well covered again, waiting for the next archeologists to stop in and dig up dinosaur bones. This was a big hit with the smaller kids.
With so much cool stuff going on, the tricycle races didn't get much use on this day, but they're here if you want to give it a try. I made one full loop before crashing into the hay. What? You didn't think I could ride a trike?? Hey, I'm just a big kid!!
There are more photo opportunities, but honestly I didn't take much time for pictures. I was busy keeping my eyes on the ground. When I walked in, I immediately spied a $20 bill. Since there was no one around at that moment, I snatched it up and gave it to Scott Hunter. You never know, someone just might say they lost some money, and Scott could hand it over. If I had asked if anyone lost it, twelve hands would have gone up.
A short walk through the corn field will land you at the Critter Corral where two of the cutest ever goats will nibble your fingers. There were two calves also, but they can be pretty stinky, if you know what I mean.
In that case, step thirty feet to the North for face painting .... free! Not the best I've seen, but the kids didn't care. They just wanted a green snake on their face. YIKES!!
There's a hay ride through the corn maze, as well as walking trails where you can download an app that has a map so you don't get lost. Every so often, you'll run across pumpkins that look like this. Weird, creepy warty varieties ... PERFECT for Halloween!!
To the West side is the Time Travel Tractor, taking eight cattle cars of kids back through time. They'll see Cowboys and Indians, Gold Miners hammering in their mine next to the waterfall, an Indian Village with horses and dogs and finally ..... they travel clear back to the time of the dinosaurs.
There are ones that eat grass and ones that will eat you! There's a couple of mama's with their nest of babies too!! Of course I couldn't forget the massive T-Rex!! They are all life-size and the kids just LOVE IT!!! I promise I'll get pictures! Look out for that last one that tries to jump on board!!
Today I have to actually perform a real function ... an audit at the Elks Lodge. On the way back, I'll stop in for more pumpkins!!
Thank you for the roadside assistance information. I guess everyone's prices are going up, as insurance tends to do. I'm pretty sure I'm covered under my Progressive policy. The Good Sam plan was double coverage I chose to get when I made that first Alaska trip. At this point, no one has been able to beat Progressive prices on my rig, but Quartzsite is coming up, meaning it's time for another quote. You really have to get quotes every year and compare, compare, compare!!
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