We decided to try the unthinkable: go to Los Rios Rancho Apple Farm for apple picking less than a week after visiting a pumpkin patch! I mean … that’s a lot of car riding, public diaper changes, potty breaks, and on-the-go snacking! But we were up for the challenge. Proud to say we did it (with only minor toddler troubles)! I blogged about the pumpkin patch last time here.
Here We Go!
It was such a fun week of firsts! My husband and I had never been apple picking, and we didn’t know what to expect, so we packed up and made the drive. Yucaipa, California was definitely not a quick trip, especially on a Friday. After driving almost two hours, and our littlest one on the edge of meltdown, we got to the farm to pick some red apples!
The Farm
The way it works (this was all new to us): Parking is free. You get to walk through their apple orchard and U-Pick any apples you want. Then they weigh your apples on the way out, and you pay $4 per pound. The Los Rios Rancho website stated you could only use the bags they provide (at $0.50 each), but I still took a couple of really cute baskets I got from Target. And I’m glad I did! (We only had to use their plastic bags for the weighing/paying). We found out there’s more than just Los Rios Rancho apple picking; earlier in the season you can also harvest strawberries, raspberries, and watermelons! Definitely need to make this trip an early September adventure next year, but they still had plenty of apples for us to pick.
Apple Picking and Dinner
We let the girls pick whatever apples they wanted (mostly with Papa’s height help). They were both so proud of their little harvest. Since we arrived so late to the farm, we took advantage of golden hour! We did our best to actually be in pictures with the girls. Then it was time for dinner so we made our way out of the orchard to get our apples weighed. It came out to about $30 worth. We stopped at their Farm Kitchen for the “Los Rios Rancho Famous Tri-tip” salad, a pulled pork Sandwich, and apple cider. The tri-tip and apple cider were delicious. And actually, the apple cider tasted exactly like Trader Joe’s apple juice. I had just enough time to briefly browse their gift shop before everything closed at 5pm.
We were there a little over two hours, but, with a little more planning, could have definitely done a longer day to really see and do the different Fall Activities.
Heading Home
In order to prevent ruined sleeping schedules on the way home, we packed everything we needed for bedtime, like pj’s, toothbrushes, overnight diapers, etc. And then we split the drive home to avoid an awkward late nap by stopping at Victoria Gardens. It was a nice stop to share a churro/ice cream treat at The Loop. We let the girls walk around a bit before it was time to get them ready for bed and finish our drive. They were knocked out before we arrived home, but my husband swiftly put them to bed. Mission accomplished! Such a fun day with our girlies, but will definitely go back earlier in the season to Los Rios Rancho Apple Farm!
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