Love the Orchard

Over last weekend, we visited Evans Orchard again, this time with Iain in tow. While our friends the Bowes family love Reed Valley Orchard the most, we're too lazy to drive that far on short notice. So we chose Evans, where the apple fritters are possibly the most insane thing I've ever eaten.

The trees were especially beautiful:

But Evans is clearly on an expansionist tip. Check out the straw fort:


The side view looks like more fun:

And then there's this. Last year, it was a 3-story straw hill with a slide on it. This year, as you can see, it's a wooden castle with three levels, a tube, a slide, and this roly-poly area on the side:

Take a closer look: someone's been very creative with construction materials.



Did I mention the camel rides? Yeah, a camel in Kentucky. And a petting zoo. And pony rides (though, who'd want a pony when you could have a CAMEL!!?), and a bee-station where you can observe the life cycle and social behavior of bees, and a corn maze...

And a king-of-the-hill area:


And that's leaving out the cider, the donuts, the fritters (!!), the jam and honey and gifts and (last but of course most numerous) the apples. Did I mention pears? Asian pears, and something called a Honeysweet, that's tiny (a little bigger than a seckel pear) but really tastes like honey.

A good day, and I have to say I think Evans is giving Reed Valley a run for its money.

(there were also pumpkins to pick or buy)
(and vendors selling stuff)
(and a tent for picnicking)
(with country music)
(that nearly made my brother-in-law sick)

P.S. Today I feel better, but am still sick. My ear isn't transmitting sound very well, and it's still inflamed, but it doesn't hurt. My throat is worse, and I cannot speak. So that's excellent, since there's a faculty meeting today and I'm on the agenda. Also, lecturing tomorrow is going to be amusing, at best.