PUMPKIN PATCH

WE OPENED WITH 1,412 BEAUTIFUL PUMPKINS! WE HAD A NICE VARIETY OF PUMPKINS, CORN STALKS, ALL KINDS OF MERCHANDISE TO PAINT, CARVE, DECORATE PUMPKINS!

DARRELL AND I WILL BE RUNNING THE LOT BY OURSELVES.

AT FIRST THE WEEKDAYS WERE PRETTY SLOW, WE HAD A FEW KIDS ON THE BOUNCIES DURING THE DAY. IT WAS PRETTY WARM, SOMETIMES THE BOUNCIES AND SLIDES WERE TOO HOT FOR THE KIDS TO GET ON. WE WOULD GET BUSIER IN THE EVENINGS WHEN IT WOULD COOL OFF.

WE HAD PROBLEMS RIGHT AWAY WITH ADULTS WANTING TO GET ON THE BOUNCIES AND BIG SLIDE. WE PUT SIGNS UP EVERYWHERE, BUT WE WOULD LOOK OUT AND THERE WOULD BE AN ADULT GOING UP THE BIG SLIDE WITH A CHILD. DARRELL WAS THE "SLIDE POLICE".  IT WAS VERY STRESSFUL, BECAUSE LAST YEAR AT THIS LOCATION AN ADULT PUT A CHILD BETWEEN HIS LEGS AND WENT DOWN THE SLIDE AND THE CHILD BROKE HER/HIS LEG.
I STARTED DECORATING PUMPKINS RIGHT AWAY....I HAD ALL THESE IDEAS I WANTED TO TRY OUT!

I THOUGHT FOLKS WOULD REALLY LIKE THE ALPHABET PUMPKINS, BUT SALES WERE PRETTY SLOW. SO, THEN  I TRIED THE FOOTBALL PUMPKINS, EVERYONE REALLY LIKED THEM, BUT ONLY SOLD A FEW. THE KIDS KNOCKED MORE OFF THE TABLE THAN I SOLD!

I MADE "BLACK CAT PUMPKINS"! THE KIDS WOULD WALK OVER AND TEAR THE WHISKERS OFF OR KNOCK THEM OFF THE TABLE!

I FINALLY REALIZED THIS PUMPKIN LOT WASN'T  THE RIGHT LOT TO BE MAKING "CRAFTY PUMPKINS". SO, DARRELL STARTED PAINTING THEM......THE KIDS LOVED THEM!! THEIR FAVORITE WERE  THE GOLD ONES!

OF COURSE WE CARVED PUMPKINS TOO!

WE SOLD A LOT OF THE PUMPKIN TEETH!

THIS LOT WAS SO MUCH BUSIER THAN THE LOT WE RAN FOR BENNETTS' LAST YEAR! ON THE WEEKENDS WE WOULD SELL THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN PUMPKINS!

AS IT GOT CLOSER TO HALLOWEEN OUR CUSTOMERS WOULD COME TO THE PUMPKIN LOT DRESSED IN COSTUME!

HALLOWEEN IS A HUGE EVENT IN SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA! WE HAD CUSTOMERS COMING IN TO BUY PUMPKINS TO  TAKE TO  THEIR  PUMPKIN CARVING PARTIES.  THIS POPCORN MACHINE WAS POPPING FULL BLAST MOST OF THE TIME!

ON HALLOWEEN DAY, DOUG CALLED AND  INVITED US TO A BARBECUE AT HIS HOUSE AT 5:00.  HE SAID WE COULD CLOSE AT 4:00. WE THANKED HIM BUT SAID  WE WERE  TOO TIRED.  WE FINALLY CLOSED AT  6:00 AND WENT TO OLIVE GARDEN AND HAD A NICE DINNER, CAME HOME AND SAT IN OUR RECLINERS AND HELD MAGGIE AND  MARLEE.   WE  WERE OPEN UNTIL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2,  WE CLOSED  AT 5:00. WE SOLD $32,000 IN PUMPKINS, INSTEAD OF THE 3RD BEST PUMPKIN LOT, THIS YEAR WE WERE THE SECOND BEST PUMPKIN LOT!

27000 BOUQUET CANYON

SAUGUS, CALIFORNIA WAS ONLY A FEW HOURS DRIVE FROM PALM SPRINGS, WE WERE SORRY TO LEAVE EMERALD DESERT RV PARK,  BUT IT WAS TIME TO GET TO WORK. WE  LEFT A LITTLE LATER IN THE MORNING  HOPING TO MISS SOME OF THE LOS ANGELES TRAFFIC. WE DIDN'T MISS IT....IT WAS JUST  AS BAD AS I REMEMBERED!

WE EVEN CAME TO A STANDSTILL FOR A WHILE.

I WAS SO GLAD TO SEE THE TURNOFF FOR NEWHALL  AVENUE!! WE WERE ALMOST THERE!

WE FOUND  RAILROAD STREET THAT TURNED INTO BOUQUET CANYON....

 AND THEN WE SAW THE ORANGE TENT!

WE HAD ARRIVED AT OUR DESTINATION!

 DOUG AND GREG WERE THERE WORKING, SO WE GOT TO CHECK IN WITH THEM. DOUG SAID THAT THIS WOULD BE A BUSY LOT, IT IS HIS 3RD BEST PUMPKIN LOT.

GREG HELPED DARRELL GET THE RV IN IT'S SPOT.

WE SLEPT GOOD, IT IS QUIET HERE. WE GOT UP AND STARTED WORKING.....SCRUBBED CASH WRAP FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.
THE NEXT DAY GREG AND CREW BROUGHT THE BOUNCIE AND BIG SLIDE.

THESE ARE BOTH BRAND NEW! OF COURSE, WE HAD TO TRY THEM OUT!!

DARRELL WENT DOWN THE BIG SLIDE....

BUT IT WAS TOO HIGH FOR ME....I DID GO  DOWN THE SMALLER SLIDE!!

ON SATURDAY MORNING I WALKED IN CENTRAL PARK, WHICH IS RIGHT NEXT TO THE PUMPKIN LOT.

I AM STANDING IN CENTRAL PARK TAKING THIS PICTURE.....THIS IS HOW CLOSE IT IS.  WE GOT OUR BIG MACS TODAY!

ON SUNDAY MORNING THEY BROUGHT OUR PUMPKINS AND WE OPENED FOR BUSINESS!

TONAPAH, ARIZONA AND PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

SADDLE MOUNTAIN RV PARK  IS A PASSPORT AMERICA PARK AND ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT  IT WAS ADEQUATE. THERE WASN'T MUCH TO TONAPAH AND THIS IS  SADDLE MOUNTAIN.  I WASN'T IMPRESSED.

WE LEFT THE NEXT MORNING HEADED FOR CALIFORNIA AND EMERALD DESERT RV PARK. IT WAS JUST A SHORT DRIVE TO PALM SPRINGS.

YOU COULD TELL AS SOON AS YOU CROSSED INTO CALIFORNIA THAT EVERYTHING WAS EXTREMELY DRY. WE SAW THIS ORCHARD OF DEAD TREES.

WE WERE AT OUR RV RESORT BY 12:30, THE TEMPERATURE ON THE TRUCK READ  102 DEGREES.

 IT IS A BEAUTIFUL RESORT, AGAIN, NOT VERY MANY PEOPLE AND WE WILL BE  HERE FOR 8 DAYS! 

WE WENT  SWIMMING AND TO THE HOT TUB, AS SOON AS WE COULD GET SET UP.

IT GOT HOTTER......106 DEGREES.......WHICH IS NORMAL FOR HERE. IT WAS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT  THIS WAS THE FIRST DAY OF FALL.

 THE NEXT MORNING WE WENT TO RITE-AID AND GOT OUR FLU SHOTS, WASHED  CLOTHES,  AND THEN SWIMMING AND TO THE HOT TUB....ANOTHER DAY OF 106 DEGREES.  WE WERE DRIVING ON STREETS THAT WERE NAMED AFTER FAMOUS  MOVIE STARS....

GINGER ROGERS, 

DINAH SHORE,  THE RV PARK WAS ON FRANK SINATRA DRIVE.

I WANTED TO GO ON A TOUR OF MOVIE STAR HOMES, SO ON SUNDAY WE HAD A RESERVATION FOR  THE BEST OF THE BEST TOURS. 

IT WAS VERY INTERESTING...... THE TOUR GUIDE HAS LIVED HERE ALL HIS LIFE, SO WE WERE TREATED TO A LOT OF THE HISTORY  OF  PALM SPRINGS.  HE WOULD PULL UP TO A HOUSE AND GIVE US HINTS AS TO WHO LIVED THERE OR WHO HAD LIVED THERE....MOST OF THE TIME WE WEREN'T ABLE TO GUESS. THESE HOMES WERE  JUST"  LITTLE GETAWAY PLACES...."

AND ELVIS PRESLEY'S HOME WAS AT THE END OF A STREET SO HE COULD HAVE HIS PRIVACY.

WE SPENT THE NEXT FEW DAYS RELAXING AND PREPARING TO LEAVE FOR SAUGUS AND THE PUMPKIN/CHRISTMAS TREE LOT. THE VACATION WAS COMING TO AN END!!