Maddie took this nice picture today as we returned to Ellijay this afternoon for some apple picking! She had the camera on the orchard, and took most of the pictures you see on the blog today, except of course the ones of herself.
Yes, it was raining. It was on and off, but it was enough to warrant keeping our ponchos on. Mom packed the ponchos we still had from Hong Kong Disney so long ago, if you can believe that. But we put those on and got on the tractor ride, which you can see above. It was just the three of us - the weather really affected the amount of people showing up, and on a Saturday too.
But nevertheless, we were determined to have a good time anyway. We had a bag big enough to get a peck of apples, and once we got off the tractor at the top of the hill, we got the standard description of the apples from an employee up top, and marched off towards the orchard rows to find the apples we were after. Of course we were after Jonagold apples, but this year there was another kind of apple we got a lot of: Enterprise. That's the name of the apple - it immediately made the geek in me think of Star Trek, and sure enough, there are speckles all over the apple as if they are stars printed all over it.
Maddie took this great picture and a many more as Mom and I were finding apples here and there on the trees. You had to walk further into the orchard as many trees were really picked over already. They lost a lot of trees last year due to a blight, and that reduced the amount of total apples on all the trees, as many were picked over. Additionally, it was very muddy and wet.
Maddie is showing her "it's very muddy and wet" face now. But again, we managed to fill a bag with apples. We got some Jonagold, some Enterprise, and then some Mutzu. I tried a Rome Beauty off the tree while I was there, but it was a little bland for my taste.
It was a lot cooler this week, and of course the overcast skies and on-and-off rain had a lot to do with that. We weren't sweating this year, but we were definitely wet and muddy, especially Mom, who took a spill over in the Mutsu orchards.
Maddie had snapped some photos here and there, and it wasn't a bad visit. There weren't many people there at all, and we got that tractor ride all to ourselves, which never happens - this place is usually packed. Too bad: this September Saturday was a bust for a lot of tourism, and I suppose next weekend will be super packed.
Meanwhile, we were doing just fine. Here below are some pictures from today's adventure in Ellijay.
We went over to the store area and got ourselves the free cinnamon doughnuts and the apple cider too, and we picked up some more cider to take home, along with peanut brittle too. Before leaving this afternoon, Maddie posed for some pictures over on the bridge and just past that point where the sunflowers were growing.
Before we went to Ellijay, we stopped by Bradley's Farms to talk with the family there. They weren't open for business yet, but they were open for some boiled peanuts. We just wanted to check in with the family, as Tony has had a rough patch with his health. He is improving, although today he was sick. We'll drop by in a few weeks when they're open and we'll grab some pumpkins from the farm. But for now, we were talking to the family to check in, and it was a wonderful visit. And... while there, they gave us some delicious muscadine slushies. Yummy!
This morning we did sleep in a bit. And after that I had Maddie over at Team Edge practice, where she had a great time. Yeah, especially with the rolling up the mat part afterwards!
She was doing some flying moves on the inflatable mat there, and also balancing upside down too, but mostly she was working with nunchucks and going through routines. We eventually got home after this, and got ready for our trip.
We're reading tonight, and saying our prayers too. It's been a wet day, and a cooler one too. It wasn't our favorite trip to Ellijay by a long shot, but it was still nice to head out together and get some apples.
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