Apple of my eye

What better way to kick off a birthday weekend than to throw a none birthday related party. How should one follow up on a successful party? Apple picking of course! Saturday Crystal and I packed up the car (we got in it) and went west to Carter's Mountain. We went apple picking for the first time last year at the very same Colle di Carter and had a splendid time. This year proved to be even better as the weather was cooler and the trees weren't picked over.

The drive west is pleasant, the flats of Richmond turning into the rolling hills of Charlottesville is a sight. From there it is a half mile from the 121 exit and you turn left to climb. There are very few instances in which my SUV feels rugged and manly, the trip to the grocery store is a bit, um, lacking. The road up to Carter's is a steep grade and eventually turns rocky, testosterone laden if you will. By the time we reached the mountain top we had dust in our smiles and we were raring to pick.

Golden delicious and granny smith were the only two apples that were ripe to pick and opted for the golden. Most of the good apples were really high up and I can't see all that well so Crystal spotted them and I snipped them with my pro apple stick skills. The first one we got we shared on the spot, but the rest went in the bag for later. We ended up with two stuffed bags and headed out of the orchard for hamburgers and apple pie. Bellies and apple bags full we went to the man mobile for the ride home.

When we got back to Richmond we picked up Halo 3 from Costco, Macy from the house of Hattan and went home. At 6:30pm we meet up with Kat and Gabriel for dinner at Kabutos. I filled up on steak, chicken and tasty Sapporo. It must have been slow because we had our own chef, but he still performed like he had a full table, a true professional. We end up going to the mall for a quick walk and to get a Cinnabon before heading home to turn in.

I spent Sunday, my actual birthday, sleeping in and playing Halo. It was a great way to whined down a very busy weekend and it feels great to be 26. By the way, we have plans for all our apples, but more on that in the next post.