Pumpkin Hunting

This past weekend, my amazing husband told me he had planned a pumpkin hunting date.  I love dates and I love pumpkin hunting so I was all for that idea.  I thought we’d do what we normally do and go to Sauvie Island, fight the crowds, pick up a pumpkin, and head home.  Boy was I wrong!

We got in the car with our pumpkin spice lattes and headed south.  Sauvie Island is not south.  I knew there was something better in store right off the bat.  We drove for a little under an hour, driving through gorgeous fall colors, having wonderful conversations, and sipping our drinks.  Nate then told me that in order to get to the pumpkin patch, we had to go on an old school ferry.  So stinking exciting!

Not long after that, we ended up at Heiser Farms.  Oh boy, was this place awesome!

There were so many great things to do.  Most of the activities were for children, of course, but I just imagined what it will be like bringing our kids there (yes, if we’re still in Portland when we have kids, that’s where we’re taking them!).  There were pony rides, slides, tricycles, water pump races, a miniature train, corn maze, hay maze, firetruck rides, hay rides, a petting zoo, and so much more!  All of it was so cheap too!

(Nate and I named this guy Li’l Sebastian)

Best of all, there were pumpkin cannons!

These cannons were no joke.  They demolished these cars!

Oh, and guess what… we got to shoot them.  No big deal.  (Ok, it was a big deal!!!)  It was so fun to have the crowd watch as we got to shoot pumpkins approximately 350 feet in the air or at cars.

Nate’s coworkers son knocked the top car off the jeep with him pumpkin.  It was awesome.

And speaking of Nate’s coworker (the person who told Nate about this awesome farm), because of him, we got to ride in a tank.  Yeah, we take our pumpkin hunting seriously.  Jim’s dad knows the farm owners so got special perks – and passed those perks on to us.  On Nate’s ride, they even shot off the gun (blanks, of course) and did donut holes in the mud!

After one ride, a lady came over to ask if she could have a tank ride.  She was told it was “family only”.  It was awesome to know people for once.

After all the festivities in the main part of the farm, Nate and I took a hay ride down to the pumpkin patch.  Once we got there, we took a turn about the corn maze.  I realized that I’d never been in a real corn maze before.  I had only ever been in corn trails.  It was fun to get lost, go in circles, and finally find our way out.

Finally we picked our pumpkins and headed home.

When we got home, we set our pumpkins out to guard our door.  I love the warty pumpkin and white pumpkin.  They make my heart happy.

I also got some fun gourds to make a new coffee table centerpiece.

All in all, it was an amazing day!  If anyone in the Portland or Salem areas are looking for an awesome pumpkin patch without crowds I couldn’t recommend Heiser Farms more!