Friends Kevin and Jeff invited me to go apple picking. I had never been. People talk about it all the time here in the Northeast. I sort of viewed as some quaint attempt to stay in touch with nature. On the west coast, most people either have an apple tree on their property or know someone that does. The idea of going out to pick apples always struck me as a bit silly. However, a fall day spent driving out to the country to hang out in an orchard sounds like a day well spent to me. We went to a place called "Outhouse Orchards" in Westchester. Jeff said that it was not initially named after an outhouse. It had a Dutch name originally that sounded like "outhouse" that eventually morphed into the English. Jeff and I were both skeptical of that explanation.
Kevin had directions printed from Mapquest. The way to the orcahrd turned out to be very straighforward, but you would never know that from the Mapquest directions. We took a total of 4 wrong turns, each one put us about 10 minutes out of the way. I was starting to lose my sense of humor on the final wrong turn. But once we got there, all of our mis-steps were forgotten.
Jeff got us three 1/2 bushel bags and we headed up a hill to the orchard. Once I got my bearings, I let the dogs off leash. They mostly stuck with us, sniffing and inquisitive. Eventually, they got comfortable and so started to wander away a bit more, so I put them back on leash for a bit. Once they calmed down, it seemed safe to let them off leash again. As soon as I did, they both took off running as fast as they could without looking back. They were heading towards some people that had entered the orchard with kids. I had to get them back on leash. Oz was relatively easy to get back, but Gogo totally disappeared from view. Kevin helped in the hunt and he found her. He said she was quite proud of herself for getting so far away. I had an apple as we were walking around. I have to admit, they were delicious - much better than anything you get at a grocery store. We finished picking apples with the dogs on leash and headed back to the storefront. There were goats, geese, ducks, chickens, roosters, and rabbits on the property. Gogo and Oz were a bit tentative at first, but then decided they wanted a chicken.
Kevin and Jeff picked out a couple of pumpkins to take home and a homemade pie. We also got some homemade donuts for the trip home.
Getting home was relatively easy and uneventful. The pups passed out and didn't make a peep until we pulled into Chelsea.
I guess now seeing how much I enjoyed it made me realize that I do live in the Northeast and I don't have a lot of opportunities to hang out on a farm. And the puppies always enjoy the chance to run free in nature for a bit, as long as they can come home to a warm house and The New York Times chair.