title Pumpkin Picking at Alstede Farm, Chester, Morris County, New Jersey - 24th October 2018 intro Thanks to a car borrowed from Phil and Tania, we get to go "up country" a bit and do a spot of pumpkin and apple picking at Alstede Farms in Chester, New Jersey. It's a pleasant trip, with orchards, pumpkins, some goats and a ride around in a trailer pulled by a tractor. Plus, we buy the world's biggest pumpkin - for $20 or something stupid - to carve up for Hallowe'en. Before that, we drive over to the boat pond in South Orange so that the boys can go mad in a playground for a bit, then follow that up with a stop at PieZon Pizza in West Orange - a place that from the outside, it has to be said, looks less than promising, but which does have genuinely good authentic-style pizza. imgp5913 Four sets of oars form a sort of roof imgp5914 Isobel and the boys wander up Cherry Lane imgp5916 A County of Essex sign imgp5918 A playground in tall-ship form imgp5919 Fred runs around whilst Harry looks out imgp5920 Flags, and the Orange Resevoir imgp5924 Swan pedalos on the Orange Resevoir imgp5925 Isobel gets up imgp5930 Fred pokes a statue imgp5933 A bunch of traditional US traffic lights imgp5934 Inside PieZon Pizza, with its cool sign imgp5935 Harry and Isobel, at the counter, look over imgp5936 Fred and Harry imgp5938 There's some sort of bird of prey in the sky imgp5939 Alstede Farm imgp5940 Isobel gets the entry tickets imgp5944 The boys wander off with a fruit box imgp5945 Harry runs around in the orchards imgp5949 We head off into the maize maze imgp5952 We roam around in the "beginners" maze imgp5955 The boys look worried imgp5957 We reach the centre of the maze imgp5958 Fred and Harry look out over the maize imgp5960 Fred and Isobel leg it imgp5961 We're at the next waypoint imgp5965 Harry runs out of the maze imgp5966 The boys lean on a fence imgp5970 Harry stops on a track imgp5973 The boys in the rows of apple trees imgp5974 Fred's box of apples imgp5975 We head off up the hill imgp5978 Fred and Harry look for more apples to pick imgp5980 Harry and Isobel imgp5986 We arrive at the pumpkin field imgp5987 The boys are overwhelmed by the pumpkins on offer imgp5989 Harry and Fred both choose massive pumpkins imgp5992 Harry contemplates a big orange vegetable imgp5994 Harry hugs his pumpkin imgp6003 Pumpkins, and a cross on the hill imgp6006 We haul our booty back to the pay point imgp6007 Striding along the track to the sales shed imgp6010 Fred hauls a pumpkin up to the counter imgp6013 Harry has a sit down on the trolley imgp6017 Fred hauls our collection to the car imgp6021 We roam around a bit more imgp6023 The famberly on a trailer imgp6038 There's a cool derelict house on the Hay Ride imgp6045 Isobel on the Hay Ride trailer imgp6050 Pumpkin patch sign - in case it wasn't obvious imgp6059 The ride is over imgp6061 We stop off for hot chocolate and get free popcorn imgp6063 The boys do hot chocolate imgp6069 Harry does his best "statue of Liberty" imgp6070 Fred does the Liberty thing too imgp6071 Fred wanders around the pumpkins imgp6072 Harry's amazed by a pumpkin imgp6078 Fred looks like a Farmall Cub tractor imgp6081 The boys mess around on an old McCormick Farmall imgp6085 Harry pulls a lever imgp6088 Fred's too tall for the face-cut-out picture thing imgp6089 The Alstede Farm Shop imgp6092 Pumpkins are piled up outside the door imgp6096 Fred, Harry and Nosher do pumpkin carving imgp6098 It's a family pumpkin carving session imgc2569 Goldberg's café, all in red imgp6099 Autumn colours reflected in the pond