Exhaustion Ensues On Last Day

 Celebrations are imminent!!  It's finally the last day of the Pumpkin Patch.  The SECOND before the last day was another epic example of gazillions of people in a small space.  It started off nicely enough with a donut!  In less than 15 minutes of walking, I was sweating like my horses when I rode them at cutting horse events.

It was HOT!  The bad news is I completely forgot my phone, so no great pictures of the crowds.  Trust me, you aren't missing a thing.  For the most part, people were very nice.  I was stopped numerous times by people saying it was their first time here, and how much they loved the place.  Of course it helps that I always tell the Time Travel Tractor riders which scenic train car to ride in.

You see if you pick the right one, and forget to wave at Sneaky Pete, he throws dynamite in the creek near you and it explodes into a watery geyser.  At the end, the volcano explodes in the same way.  They love it!!

From the day before, there was a slight oops in the handicapped parking area.  Maybe that's why they have a handicapped license plate.

No lost kids on this day, but I did have a great time chasing two hooligans out of the Corn Maze.  Why they think it's fun to throw heavy pieces of corn at others is beyond me.  This time I got a description and went in with a plan.  I went around the back side and listened until I located them.  Then I snuck up on them, said OUT NOW in my best scary voice and watched them run for the exit.  It made my day!!

One of my favorite things to do is give the Hay Ride drivers a break, mostly because it gives me a chance to sit down for about ten minutes.  Oh the bliss!  This is little Timothy who works the Barnyard Squares agriculture entertainment as I drove by.  The animated puppets play tic tac toe, like the old celebrity game Hollywood Squares.  It's pretty fun to watch and tells kids where food comes from, which amazingly most do not know.  

As usual, there were many ugly adults on the slide who were yelling and screaming because they PAID FULL PRICE and their kid was too small to ride.  They really get carried away, but I stick to my guns and send them to the office.  There are three posters they walk right by which say 38" minimum and No Refunds.  I am always sure to smile and be pleasant when I give them the news.  Why would you want your 3 year old to go down a 50' slide anyway??

For once we actually had a few extra people who helped me give breaks so I could keep an eye on the corn maze.  Not two but THREE tractor drivers ran the entire day.  I worked the slide and the Time Travel Tractor to keep it moving as fast as possible.  We were jammed until 7:45 when most everyone disappeared.

That is except the birthday party in the barn.  In spite of the warnings they had to pack up at 7:30, they sat there and did nothing.  I told our little Hostess I would take care of it.  When I'm exhausted and my feet are killing me, it's the perfect time to tell people to go home.  

Ten minutes later they had not moved.  They actually thought we should clean the entire area and stack their stuff in our wagons.  Sorry ... this is not McDonalds, nor is it the Hilton Executive Suite.  YOU clean up your mess NOW PLEASE.  I stood with arms folded, ready to call in the troops.  They finally gave up and cleaned up their mess.

So it's the last day.  Dave is right, I will probably be bored almost immediately, or at least after the first two days.  However, Monday morning bright and early, I have to drive 75 miles to get my sewing machine repaired.  I certainly picked a bad day for that.

The sign says we are open until 4:00 today, but I'm hoping it's wrong.  But wait .. there is still more to come.  The RAMP OF DOOM will be brought out today.  Instead of paying sixty five cents a pound for pumpkins, it's an all you can stuff into a wagon day for $25.  If it makes it over the RAMP OF DOOM, you get them all.  Anything that falls off is ours to keep, or in reality, ours to dispose of.

Total miles walked yesterday:  11.30.  I think that's a record, or so say my feet.

Total to date:  229.64