Great-Grandma and Grandma comes to town! Day 4-The Fruit Farm

Eric was able to take another day off work, so we planned a whole adventure day. First stop was a local fruit farm. We buy most of our apples, peaches, and apple cider here. It's run by these two brothers who have been doing this for years; in fact, the "little" brother of the two is over eighty. The area is hilly and beautiful, so we don't mind the drive. The prices, which are amazing, don't hurt either. Oh, and the taste is excellent.

The farm is rather unassuming. The main building looks like an old barn or warehouse. Inside is one of the oldest apple sorting machines I've ever seen. OK, it's also the only apple sorting machine I've ever seen. The children and I once saw it in action. I don't know what was more amazing: the way it actually sorts apples by size or the fact that even with the machine, much of the sorting work was done by people. The apples are grown by these brothers and their families, picked by them, sorted by them, and sold by them. I love businesses like that! And now that I think about it, I think the most amazing part was that despite the open gears and moving parts, an older gentleman let us get really close and took the time to explain it all to us.

But back to this day.
This whole big building is filled with apples. And as they get sold, we would see the workers bringing in more with their tractors.
On the walls are newspaper clippings dating back to the 1950s. I love history like that! Also, displayed on the shelf were some odd-ball apples that have grown in the orchard.
They weren't for sale. Otherwise, Mari would have loved to take home "those mama apples that were carrying their babies."

Once Great-grandma and Grandma bought us all apples, cider, and dried apples (thank you!), the kids pulled the wagons outside to load up.
We much prefer wagons to grocery carts.

And I much prefer this view to one of a busy parking lot and brick buildings.
It was another gorgeous day, so we headed out onto the property (with permission) for a little walk.
It really was awesome...the warm, sunny air, being with family, and the sight and smell of these beautiful trees heavy with ripe fruit. We all agreed we got a glimpse of heaven.