Fall festivities
Every year, I swear I'm going to do something to take advantage of DC's short but oh so sweet fall weather, and every year, that good intention gets knocked aside for the siren call of lolling about on the couch. Not this year, although I can't take credit for that. G&T has moved back to DC after having lived abroad and is much more motivated to get out and about.
So Sunday, The Texan, G&T, and I braved the fields of northern Maryland to check out a corn maze that also offered pumpkin chunking. We were a bit worried as the fields surrounding the maze smelled just revolting - to the point to where we were gagging - but the maze itself was fine. They had an air cannon set up to fire pumpkins. For $10, you could lob four of them, or if you just wanted a taste of it, you could get two for $6. I figured I wasn't going to be making that drive every year to the maze so I'd better take advantage while I could and bought tickets for chunking four pumpkins. I should have bought tickets for chunking 20 pumpkins - SO AWESOME. You could steer the cannon a little bit and aim for a series of junked cars that were supposed to be reminiscent of Iron Man (the maze's theme, although G&T pointed out they were much more Transformer-esque). And it just makes your heart sing to see pumpkins whizzing for hundreds of yards, or, even better, splatting against a target. I had a 25% success rate, so I was pretty pleased. The Texan and I took a picture next to the air cannon for our holiday card (am not sure we'll be using it because it's not entirely apparent what it is), is how much I enjoyed it.
After we were spent all our tickets, we decided to try out the corn maze. I was a bit leery as I've heard these things can be pains in the ass, and I kept dropping hints that hey, the kids maze is right over here, why look, a maze for kids, gosh the kids maze looks like a lot of fun. Hints that were (rightfully) ignored by The Texan and G&T. Instead, we walked the maze, and after a few false starts, got to be pretty good at reading the map. Plus we could always place ourselves in the maze by facing toward the sound of the pumpkin cannon (it would crack very loud as it pushed out the air for the cannon), so it wasn't too bad. And if things had gotten really hairy, other people had clearly had enough and pushed their way out of the maze, so I knew escape was a possibility.
On the way home, we took the scenic route in the hopes of photographing some colorful fall foliage. We came across some but was unable to stop (no stopping signs) or were otherwise thwarted. Didn't keep us from enjoying the views.
Now I am fervently hoping that the fall weather will lead to a dry winter, or at least a winter that rains only between 11AM and 4PM, as before and after those times, I tend to be on the road on my scooter. I have ridden to work in the rain, thinking, how bad could it be? Turns out, pretty damn bad. Nothing like sitting around in a damp wool suit all day to make you rethink your antipathy to taking the bus to work.
So Sunday, The Texan, G&T, and I braved the fields of northern Maryland to check out a corn maze that also offered pumpkin chunking. We were a bit worried as the fields surrounding the maze smelled just revolting - to the point to where we were gagging - but the maze itself was fine. They had an air cannon set up to fire pumpkins. For $10, you could lob four of them, or if you just wanted a taste of it, you could get two for $6. I figured I wasn't going to be making that drive every year to the maze so I'd better take advantage while I could and bought tickets for chunking four pumpkins. I should have bought tickets for chunking 20 pumpkins - SO AWESOME. You could steer the cannon a little bit and aim for a series of junked cars that were supposed to be reminiscent of Iron Man (the maze's theme, although G&T pointed out they were much more Transformer-esque). And it just makes your heart sing to see pumpkins whizzing for hundreds of yards, or, even better, splatting against a target. I had a 25% success rate, so I was pretty pleased. The Texan and I took a picture next to the air cannon for our holiday card (am not sure we'll be using it because it's not entirely apparent what it is), is how much I enjoyed it.
After we were spent all our tickets, we decided to try out the corn maze. I was a bit leery as I've heard these things can be pains in the ass, and I kept dropping hints that hey, the kids maze is right over here, why look, a maze for kids, gosh the kids maze looks like a lot of fun. Hints that were (rightfully) ignored by The Texan and G&T. Instead, we walked the maze, and after a few false starts, got to be pretty good at reading the map. Plus we could always place ourselves in the maze by facing toward the sound of the pumpkin cannon (it would crack very loud as it pushed out the air for the cannon), so it wasn't too bad. And if things had gotten really hairy, other people had clearly had enough and pushed their way out of the maze, so I knew escape was a possibility.
On the way home, we took the scenic route in the hopes of photographing some colorful fall foliage. We came across some but was unable to stop (no stopping signs) or were otherwise thwarted. Didn't keep us from enjoying the views.
Now I am fervently hoping that the fall weather will lead to a dry winter, or at least a winter that rains only between 11AM and 4PM, as before and after those times, I tend to be on the road on my scooter. I have ridden to work in the rain, thinking, how bad could it be? Turns out, pretty damn bad. Nothing like sitting around in a damp wool suit all day to make you rethink your antipathy to taking the bus to work.
posted by Her Ladyship @ 4:06 PM
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