Outdoor Fall Activities
Happy Friday everyone, and welcome back! Can you believe it’s already October 18th?! More than half-way through the month! Canadian Thanksgiving is done, and we’re well on our way to Halloween, and then everyone’s favourite time of the year will start not long after… I’m definitely smirking because I know plenty of people who can’t stand the holiday that falls on December 25th, but I love it.
But before I get too far ahead of myself here, it is in fact, still fall! This year, I’ve made getting out and doing some classic fall things a priority. I always talk about wanting to go all over the place, do all of these different activities, but just never get around to doing more than maybe one thing, so I’m really happy that I got to do so many this year! Without further ado, let’s get started:
Go Apple Picking at an Orchard
This is probably the one fall thing that I usually end up doing because I enjoy it so much. I went in college to an orchard nearby, because, well, long story short – I had a project that involved creating an entire campaign around Izze natural sodas, and they have an apple flavour. Anyways, I really enjoyed going, so it’s something I always seem to make time to do. Now… funny thing is, I don’t actually eat (raw) apples. I’m one of those people that’s extremely blessed to have the intolerance to the enzyme in the skins of apples that makes you extremely itchy, so it’s not exactly something that I enjoy experiencing in my pastime. But, a lot of apples are fantastic for baking & I can eat apples cooked, so I generally like to pick a small bag, bring them home for either myself, or someone else in the family to make an apple crumble (I haven’t exactly perfected the skill of making a pie from scratch), and enjoying that. I also always grab a small container of apple cider. Other than a good ole PSL or hot chocolate, apple ciders are the perfect fall drink since you can have it hot or cold, and both taste amazing (… and may also taste amazing with a splash of something else in it, depending on your tastes). The only downside of going to an apple orchard, is the wasps are really bad, because of course, you’re in amongst a mass amount of sweet fruits that they’re attracted to. If you’re like me, and are terrified of wasps, it may not be your favourite way to spend your day, but like I said, I’m not exactly a big fan, and I usually can push through it. If you can, and you’ve never been apple picking, I’d say go for it! It’s a good time.
Get Lost in a Corn Maze
This year was my first time doing a corn maze, shockingly enough! If you know me in person, you know I’m the self proclaimed queen of fall (no seriously, I have a fall birthday, so like… it’s allowed. I’m not just another white girl who loves fall… who am I kidding, yes I am), so it’s funny that I’ve never, at least in my adult life, done a corn maze before. To start, I’m usually… key word here being usually, very good with directions, finding my way out of places, and all that kind of stuff. Whenever I travel to other cities, I’m the designated navigator because I'm usually the one who has the easiest time figuring out how to get around. But this corn maze was CONFUSING. I mean, it was the more complicated maze between the two at the orchard, but I was very, very lost, and I think most other people that were in there were too. Eventually, my friends & I did find our way out by following literally everyone else who was trying to get out, but I would be lying if I didn’t have a moment of thinking I may now live in that corn maze! But all that being said, we had fun, and I do recommend giving it a try if you haven’t done so before. The great thing about corn mazes is there’s usually one at the apple orchard, so you get to tick multiple fall activities off the list all at once. Maybe just have an escape route or emergency plan in case anyone does get lost, hahaha (Just kidding – you’ll definitely find your way out, and these places have to have emergency procedures for exactly these kind of situations).
Visit a Pumpkin Patch
The classic symbol of fall – pumpkins. Is it really fall if you don’t go to a pumpkin patch? Ask me now, I’d say absolutely not, ask me last year, I’d say “I’M TRYING TO GET TO ONE, OKAY?!”. This is another thing I just never was quite able to make time for in the past few years for some reason, and I don’t know why because it’s really a lot of fun, and pumpkins are my favourite! (Yes, I love PSLs, don’t come for me) The pumpkin farm we chose to visit had tons of pre-picked pumpkins for you to choose from, which was a fantastic option if you were looking for a massive pumpkin, whether it be orange or white, and didn’t want or couldn’t carry it from the field. They also had pre-picked speciality pumpkins like those pink & blue ones that are all over Instagram (yes, I’m guilty of having bought them). However, if you’re looking to literally go into the pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin, I have three suggestions from you to pick from (haha, get the pun there?):
Have someone with you who is really strong, can walk a long distance in mud with a heavy pumpkin, wearing something that they don’t really care about.
Bring a wagon, if you can to put the big pumpkin(s) in.
OR, just pick a small, lightweight pumpkin in the patch, and get your bigger one from the pre-picked pile. (The farm we were at had wheel barrows & wagons you could use to bring the pumpkins to the cash & to your car in the pre-picked area by the entrance)
I opted for the small pumpkin option. Mostly because, well I didn’t have a wagon, which honestly would’ve been really difficult to bring onto the tractor that brought us out to the field anyways, and I was wearing something nicer and didn’t feel like carrying a 50lb pumpkin. The pumpkin that I am holding in the below photo, I did pick off the vine, so I feel like I did what I went there to do. That little pumpkin is now proudly sitting outside where the neighbourhood squirrels and chipmunks are probably taking little bites out of it… *sigh*. Anyone got any tips for that?
In all seriousness though, one thing I was not prepared for was the fact that pumpkins actually have prickly stems, so if there’s one other thing I’d suggest before going is if you’re going to pick your own pumpkin, bring gloves! And lastly, before moving onto the next activity, I just want to mention that at the end of the season when you are done with your pumpkin(s), a lot of farms / animal sanctuaries are willing to take those pumpkins to feed to the animals, so if that’s a thing you’d like to do, do some research for farms in your area, and I can guarantee you’ll find something!
Go on a Scenic Hike
Last, but definitely not least, going for a hike! This is actually one of my favourite things to do in the fall because not only is it a great way to disconnect from social media for a little while if you want to, but when you go with your partner, friends, family, whoever, it gives you an opportunity to really talk. I went for a hike last year with my boyfriend, and I’m not going to lie, we did a sort of hard hike around a lake that has lots of steps, so I was pretty sore the next day, but it’s definitely one of my absolute favourite things we’ve done together in our eight year relationship because it gave us the opportunity to be truly by ourselves and talk.
As far as hiking goes, I particularly love going in the fall since the greenery isn’t so green anymore – the colours are just stunning in the fall, making for some seriously beautiful photos (my boyfriend is a photographer, so of course, he’s always got his camera with him, and I just love taking photos). Not only are the colours gorgeous, but the weather being on the cooler side allows you to be more comfortable during your hike. I personally can’t stand being clammy-sweaty in the summer, so I much prefer to wear layers in the fall, and take them off as needed, but still stay comfortable.
Well, I think that pretty much sums up my favourite outdoor fall activities. I’m sure a vast majority of you reading this have done most of these things before, and know that they are great, but if not, I hope there’s some new ideas in this for you to try or check out. I’m sure some of you have also probably noticed that I didn’t include things like a haunted hay ride, or anything scary… that’s because I don’t like them… at all. Don’t ask me to do any of that. I will absolutely decline. I love Halloween, don’t get me wrong, but I will never sleep again if I do any “haunted” anything, so I hope that is not the content you are looking for from me, cause if so, this is not the place to find it, haha! Thanks everyone for reading and checking out the blog. Til next time!
