Peach Picking at Schnepf Farms

With visions of successfully canning fresh peaches and making peach jam in my mind, I headed out to Schnepf Farms with my kids, my friend, and three of her kids to pick organic peaches right off the trees.  The peaches smelled incredible.  The kids had a blast.

As one of the larger farms in the Valley, Schnepf Farms has a lot of amenities and hosts many events throughout the year.  Since we went during the week, most of the extras were closed.  I was disappointed not to be able to enjoy the peach sampling tent, but I didn't care that we were missing the amusement park-style rides.  There's a large play area on site that all of the kids, ranging in age from 4 to 14, thoroughly enjoyed.  Because Schnepf has a restaurant and a store on site, they do not allow outside food.

We each ended up taking about 20 pounds of peaches home.  Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to successfully skin and pit the peaches in order to can them, and fresh, ripe peaches do not have a very long shelf life.  If you are going to go out picking, either limit the number of pounds you pick or be sure you are going to be able to get them canned or frozen promptly.

The Ranch at Fossil Creek

I found the Ranch at Fossil Creek when I was searching online for things to do in the area surrounding Payson.  After our adventure at the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, we made the drive to Strawberry.  I drove right by the ranch the first time.  I turned the van around and pulled in, unsure of what to expect.

The llamas were visible from the driveway.  The goats had large pens.  The store was quaint and charming.  My 4-year-old was a lot more excited about the baby goats than my 11-year-old was.

After my 4-year-old got her fill of the goats, we went into the store.  We got to sample some goat cheese and goat fudge.  I went in with very low expectations, because I have hated the taste of all of the goat cheese I've ever tried from grocery stores.  Their cheese, though, was absolutely fabulous.  The fudge was terrific too. 

Although the web site says they offer tours of the ranch and the creamery, we did not do one.  I think reservations are required for those.  Nonetheless, it was something different and unique.  Well worth a stop if you are already in the area.

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park

Just outside of Payson is what is believed to be the longest natural travertine bridge in the world, at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.  For someone used to the desert scenery in the Phoenix area (and someone who spent over 25 years living in the Pacific Northwest), the lush greenery of the Payson area was a welcome treat.  I took my daughters, who are currently 11 and 4, to go explore the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.

There are several hikes that visitors can partake in.  We did two.  We started with the Waterfall Trail, which was mostly a pretty short, but steep, flight of stairs.  My 4-year-old did most of the trek down and back up by herself.

The waterfall at the bottom was...more like a water sprinkle.  Nonetheless, my 11-year-old was delighted.

The next trail we went on was the Anna Mae Trail.  It led to the underside of the bridge.  The trail itself was dirt, which meant it was easy to lose footing and slide on it.  There were areas where I felt like it was necessary to take my 4-year-old's hand.  It would be very easy to take a nasty fall over the edge in lots of places throughout the trail.

Unlike most trails, where it is smooth sailing once you reach the bottom, the challenge amped up once we reached the bottom of this one.  To reach the under-belly of the bridge, we had to contend with lots of rocks (many of which were slippery) and pools of water (on the way back, my 4-year-old ended up with a wet tennis shoe).  She was a real trouper, but still required assistance from me and her sister to reach the bridge.

Our verdict is that this is definitely worth the trip, in the spring or in the fall.  We brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed it while we were there.

Holiday Lights At McCormick Railroad Park

I wasn't sure what to expect when we went to Holiday Lights at McCormick Railroad Park, except that the parking lot wasn't very big so I wanted to be there early!  Our decision to go was somewhat last minute, as I tried to decide between that and something at Desert Ridge.  I have to say, though, that this will be a tradition my family continues every Christmas.  It was that fun.

We showed up, got a great parking spot, went to buy or train tickets, and having overheard someone say to someone else that they should get in line right then for the train rides beginning at 6PM, we followed suit.

We got in line pretty early, but we still had to wait for the fourth train before we boarded.  I turned around to look at the line behind us...

So, we boarded the train and we were off.  The ride lasts about 20 minutes.  The first 5-7 minutes go through the main part of the park, which, by the way, is a super fun place for kids of all ages to play.  The last 2/3 of the ride is where all of the light displays are.  All I can say is wow.  Whomever put that together did a really good job.  My kids were absolutely delighted!

They even had fake snow coming down off the end of one of the tunnels.  Words are simply inadequate to express how happy that made my kids!  (Those small white dots right by my daughter's hands are the snowflakes).

After we got off the train, we went to the museum train to visit Santa.  There was about a 30 minute wait and it did get hot in the train with so many people.

Following our visit with Santa, we let my littlest do some meet-and-greets with the costumed characters the park had walking amongst the crowd, take some photos in the cut-outs, and enjoy a carousel ride.

We concluded our visit in the model train museum.  My eldest would've happily stayed in there for hours if I'd let him.  He was completely captivated by all of the details in the model trains.  One of the big tracks was under construction.  One of the guys, who was working on what would eventually be a mountain, said that he was there 5-6 days a week and they expected that track and scenery to be done in about two years.

This truly was a wonderful family evening.  Next year, we will go on a day that my husband has off so we can enjoy it as a whole family.  On our way out, we looked and noticed that the line for the train had stretched all the way to the parking lot...

Adobe Mountain Railroad Park

We visited the Adobe Mountain Railroad Park last year and had so much fun that I scheduled a repeat field trip this year.  I simply cannot say enough good things about the park and the volunteers who staff it.

We started the field trip in the Park's Members' building, where one of the volunteers talked to the kids about the Park, the trains, real trains, and train safety.

After our presentation, we headed to the trains...

Even the little kids LOVED the trains!

The Railroad Park has over 16 miles of tracks.  We went out for a ride, going roughly 5 miles per hour.  We stopped and disembarked at the Museum.

After we looked through all of the train memorabilia, the huge electric trains and other items in the museum, we boarded the trains again.  The volunteers gave us two rides!

After the rides were over, the kids got to enjoy a play train, which was the Eagle project of homeschooled teenager Alex Bivens.

This field trip is so much fun.  The Railroad Park is open for public rides, complete with Christmas lights and hot cocoa, several days in December.  According the the volunteers, those evenings are very popular!

Poinsettia Festival at Gardener's World

It's the time of year, for those of us who do a photo card for our Christmas cards, to get that photograph taken.  When I heard about the Poinsettia Festival at Gardener's World, I thought that would be the perfect place!  So, we went with a friend and her daughter, who were thinking the same thing...although I believe she's going to use a beautiful photo she took of her daughter in a tree there, rather than one with the poinsettas....ANYWAY...

In the parking lot are the usual festival things - a few booths with wares for sale and some fair style food.  This is what we saw when we walked into the poinsettia retail tent...

I thought the retail tent was where the nicest photo opps were, unless you wanted to pony up for a professional photo out in the greenhouse.

We took a free tractor ride out to the greenhouse...

This is not even half of the greenhouse....

The amateur photo staging area in the greenhouse wasn't anywhere near as nice as the professional one, but the price was certainly right in amateur zone....

I did end up getting a photo of my three children for our Christmas cards that I was happy with.  For that alone, the trip was worth it.  We were only there for about an hour.  I don't know if they do more on Saturdays and Sundays (we went on a Friday).  It seems to me that they could've done a lot more to make it a real educational and entertaining festival...

The Mill At Crown King

Last weekend, we went with Boy Scout Troop 461 to the outskirts of Crown King so that the boys could do some mistletoe picking.  Outskirts actually makes it sound bigger than it really is.  We're talking well (26 miles!) off the beaten path nearest paved road here.  Once we turned off the I-17, I found out why Mapquest says it takes 90 minutes to get there!

After the mistletoe picking, apparently the tradition has been to head over to The Mill in Crown King.  It is aptly named...

Yup, that's in the dining room!  The restaurant has taken over the old mill.  It isn't much to look at from the outside...

...but it sure is beautiful to look out from....

My kids, being from Washington and loving the woods, absolutely love it out there.  The smells, the sights, the wildlife....but anyway, back to The Mill.  It's Troop tradition to eat there after mistletoe picking.  I'm a huge fan of finding obscure "mom and pop" restaurants wherever I go and trying them. 

My verdict?  It's fun for the tradition.  Would I make the drive out there just to eat there again?  No.