We Go Buy Pumpkins

We've been having some gorgeous fall weather here in Oregon. Cold and somewhat grayish mornings slowly warm into brilliant afternoons with cornflower-blue skies, million-watt sunshine, and changing leaves in a full complement of autumn hues. With nothing pressing to get done this weekend, Andy, Alton, and I decided to ride to Lakeview Farms, our favorite local pumpkin patch. When you arrive at their parking lot near the barns, guests at Lakeview purchase a ticket for $3 that gets you a trip out to the pumpkin patch, which you can access either by a train ride or a boat ride, and you get to pick which one you take out there, then back! Each ticket also gets you $1 off a pumpkin purchase. With available extras to buy like snacks, pony rides, corn maze, centipede tractor rides, and gratuity-only face painting, you can really spend a day at this place having fun for still only $20 or so. Locals, I highly recommend it.
But first, the ride! Andy mapped out a route to the farm since it would be our first time cycling there, and we tried to skedaddle out the door by 8a.m. (we were only running like 15 minutes late).

It was sunny but cold, so we pumped our legs briskly to get the blood flowing. As you can see from the picture above, Andy and I opted to ride our longtail bikes today, the extend-o frame bikes with extra long decks on the back to hang useful adjustable bags and strap down all sorts of stuff. Normally, Alton's blue kid seat is bolted to my Xtracycle Radish that you see in the background; this is my "station wagon," the bike that always has all my stuff ready to go, with room for more. But for today's trip (an estimated 12-13 miles in each direction), Andy offered to carry Alton on his bike, aka Big Red, since Andy is a stronger/faster rider and the extra weight on his bike made us more evenly matched for stamina. So my two guys got all bundled up for the crisp morning and took the lead. Once we got to the northernmost border of the city, our route was mainly on country roads that were semi-commercial and semi-residential. On the sunny street in the picture below, we saw a deer bounding through the trees on someone's property!

One of the streets we navigated was actually a slightly more busy rural road--still not too many cars this early in the morning, but we were disappointed at the microscopic shoulder and impatient Saturday morning motorists. But eventually we arrived at the gravelly driveway of the pumpkin patch (below), which was not yet very crowded for a stunning fall day!

"Lakeview" Farms really does include a lake! In the background you can see the boat ride on the water, while Alton proudly displays one of his pumpkin selections.

He partook of the face painting...

...and got a lollipop for the ride home. Time to hit the road for our afternoon plans, which (originally) included picking up some papers at Andy's work, a haircut for Alton, stopping by REI, and lunch. The weather had other ideas.

The sun is beautiful in all these still shots, but what you can't see is the incredibly gusty wind, blowing as hard as it can from the east, which of COURSE was the direction we were now headed! We zigged our way south a bit before turning left onto the next road, and Andy turned back to me in his saddle to encourage me to get as close as I could to his back tire to benefit from the "draft" off of his bike in front. I rode as close as I dared (and waited until no cars were coming to snap the picture below with my phone), but it still felt like the wind was stopping me in my tracks with every puff.

Our optimistic plans now abridged, we pedaled hard into the gritty air and went straight to lunch, where we wolfed down carbohydrates as quickly as possible. Worn out by sun and fun, Alton said that he felt sleepy, so I reached into my two-wheeled station wagon to pull out the neck support that Alton calls his "pillowpet," which is a little cushion that I made for him to more comfortably nap on the bike. It works kind of like an airplane neck pillow, only in reverse, so that it keeps his chin from hitting his chest under the weight of his bulbous helmet after he falls asleep in his little seat. He reclined in that cock-a-mamie way that only kids can, but didn't actually doze off.

So of course, he insisted on hitting a park on the way home. Andy and I took turns stretching our limbs and groaning on the park bench while Alton scampered happily over the jungle gym.

When all was said and done, it was a 35-mile day. We were gone for a total of 9 hours, so clearly we took our time with the ride, the family fun at the pumpkin patch, the re-energization over lunch, and the park detour. Enjoying the fun that comes our way, making schedule adjustments, and just plain taking our time are some of the things I love most about family outings by bike, where we really get to slow down and leave the hectic at home.