A Fall Day in the Mountains

I have always enjoyed seasonal activities, so last Sunday Liam and I joined some friends at Riley's in Los Rios Rancho, near Yucaipa. It's a great little place you can go to pick apples and pumpkins and enjoy some great BBQ and apple pie. There's even a little country store there if you'd like to do a little shopping while you're at it. It was great to get out of the city for awhile and enjoy a beautiful mountain day. This was the first outing I've had with Liam that I felt he was ready to get down and walk around, and--as you can see from the pictures--he had a lot of fun exploring his surroundings. I admit a major motivation for me in making the trip was to get a few cute pictures of Liam playing in the pumpkin patch and toddling around the ranch. I may be biased, but I think it's safe to say, "Mission accomplished!"

Look at that big boy getting around in shoes!

Liam did a great job getting around in spite of the uneven ground. He did take several tumbles, but none of them seemed to phase him. I was also happy to see that he doesn't seem to mind having shoes on--they didn't seem to trip him up very much, either.  Since Liam is still new to walking, I was able to keep up with him pretty easily this time, but I have a feeling this job won't be so easy in the near future! On this particular trip my main responsibility was to keep him from putting things he picked up off of the ground in his mouth. For the most part he was far more interested in the dirt than the bright, orange pumpkins, which is why in most pictures you see his little hands holding the dirt and other debris he collected during his explorations. Yay, dirt!

Mommy and Liam--this one is my favorite. 

I call this one, "Baby of the Corn."

Riley's at Los Rios Rancho

I had another wonderful autumn outing this year at Los Rios Rancho with friends. For me it really is worth the drive over to Yucaipa to get a taste of the fall season that I used to get at home in Illinois every year. Pumpkin patches, orchards, roasted corn, genuine BBQ, cider, homemade apple pie, and a cute little country store all come together to work their magic. I'll never quite be able to forgive Southern California for its almost total lack of an autumn season, but thankfully the surrounding mountains help make up for the deficiency. All things considered, it was a great day and a very good way to kick off November.

The sign reads, "Rock flume, circa 1909."

Trust me, they use the phrase "corn maze" lightly.

All of us: Joe, Debra, me, German, Melissa, Amy, and Devi.

Good Stuff

Sunday Eric was out of town visiting a friend, so I went with some friends in search of a little autumn fun. We found our way to Riley's apple orchard in Oak Glen. It was overcast and a cherry-red nose, see-your-breath chilly day, but we had fun in spite of the cold. It was just the sort of activity I was looking for to really get into the fall season. To start things off we grabbed a bag and a picking pole so we could pick our own apples.

With it being the height of the fall season, the only apples that were left were pretty much on the very top branches of the trees. Luckily we had one of the longer picking poles, so we were able to reach just about everything we could see. After picking a bagful of apples, it was time to satisfy our appetites. They had plenty of great homemade dishes to choose from for lunch. I went with the BBQ tri-tip sandwich, potato salad, and cowboy beans. And, ahem, an apple pie to go. Fortunately the food was piping hot, because the tables inside were completely full and we had to eat outside in the cold. At one point, the temperature had dropped so much the light drizzle turned to hail for a few minutes. That was a bit of a surreal moment. It was definitely the first time I've seen hail in California. The tri-tip was really, really good. After lunch we took some time to check out the country store, perusing all of the goodies it had to offer. I ended up with a gallon of cider, an apple pie, and some blackberry preserves--plus some of the apples we picked.
By the time we were getting ready to leave the clouds were darkening to a forbidding steely gray. I don't know if you can see it well in this picture, but if you take a look toward the tops of the mountains, you can see the snow starting to dust the trees up there. It was a beautiful view. As fun as my day outside of the city was, my favorite part of it was getting home and settling under a blanket with a warm piece of that apple pie topped with a generous helping of vanilla ice cream. Now that is good stuff.