Across the Lake

Already?

On a beautiful but slightly chilly day last week, we set out to visit an apple orchard that is located almost exactly across the lake from our town. Even though it's only ten miles wide at the most, each side of Lake Winnebago is completely different from the other. On the eastern shore, a two lane highway gently winds around the hills, through farms and quaint little villages. While on the west side, where we live, it's flat as a pancake with six lanes of traffic racing past miles of urban sprawl. Needless to say, it was a nice day for a drive in the country.  

Not to sound like a total geezer, but this place was nothing like the orchards I remember. These trees were very short and the fruit was practically growing on the ground. It would be so easy to pick apples here, which you can do if you want to.

I've been avoiding apple orchards ever since high school, and was a little wary about this trip until I realized the actual picking part was optional. Back in the day, my experience resulted in countless slivers from old wooden ladders and hoards of wasps ready to fight you for every single piece of fruit on the tree. White, four gallon buckets still fill me with dread. 

This was totally different, more like an arboretum than a farm and the apples were gorgeous!

Of course, there were plenty of mums and decorations for sale, too. That improved things a lot!

So we brought home a couple bags of apples and mulling spices.

Along with cider, half a dozen apple cider donuts and a bunch of other stuff we really didn't need. It's very important to support local businesses! It was a fun trip.

You can't have apples sitting around the house without making a pie so today, His Madness decided it was time to get to work. Also, we had eaten all the donuts.

A little mixing madness?

The finished product. Looking delicious!

Is it time for another trip around the lake?

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!