Spontaneous trips are the greatest. Whether a weekend road trip up the coast or a day trip somewhere outside of Portland, I find the unknown to be most exciting.
Of course, with two kids in tow, I can only be so spontaneous these days. Yet it's still a thrill to pack Frick and Frack into the back seat of the car, not offering any clue as to where where we're going or what we're doing until we've almost reached our destination. That's exactly what I did last Friday morning.
At 8 a.m., I stared at my day's to-do list, which included mopping the kitchen floor and cleaning bathrooms. Suddenly, spending quality time with my beloved children seemed a grand idea! So, I decided a trip to Bauman Farm and Gardens was in order.
The things I will do to get out of scrubbing toilets...
Bauman has received rave reviews by many of my friends and acquaintances. It's a well-known spot for pumpkin hunting in the fall, but also attracts huge crowds during that time. Instead, I wanted to experience the farm and gardens minus the throngs of people.
First, I looked up directions to our destination and checked the hours of operation. Then, I showered, got the kids dressed, packed sandwiches, fruit, water, chips and chocolate (always helpful for bribery if needed). We jumped into the car at 10:00 a.m., bopped to tunes on the radio, and arrived at our destination in almost exactly one hour.
The kids are used to these "adventures" as I refer to them. The 2 year old thinks they're great; the dubious 7 1/2 year old, not so much, This is another reason I wait until we've reached our destination before revealing where we're headed. I don't have to listen to "Moooom, farms are smelly." Or "Gardens? That sounds boring. Can't we go to Out of this World Pizza instead?" So, as we approached the Woodburn exit, I finally revealed the name of our destination.
Silence. A promising response.
Friday morning turned out to be an excellent day and time to visit with plenty of parking and no throngs.
First, we visited the farm store which, compared to a lot of farm stores I've visited, is clean, spacious, and provides a nice variety of knick knacks, home decor, baked goods, produce, ice cream, and hard cider brewed right there on the farm.
Of course, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to try samples of the cider and chat with one of the Bauman cider experts, Steve Westling. Steve explained that hard cider is a new venture for Bauman which began selling hard cider at the farms earlier this year. The fruit comes directly from the farm, and in cases where that's not possible, only locally sourced Oregon products are used.
Just past the farm store, you'll find Bauman's nursery filled with an extensive variety of plants, trees, and enormous hanging baskets bursting with color. The endless rows of hanging baskets are breathtaking. My oldest had a fabulous time collecting the flowers and petals that had fallen to the ground to create her souvenir bouquet.
Although, I could have lingered there for hours, Frick and Frack had other plans as soon as they'd spied the petting zoo past the nursery. We had a blast feeding, petting, and talking to the goats, chickens, bunnies, sheep and a lone, poorly-mannered llama who was only interested in communicating if we provided him with pellets to eat. Otherwise, he would only show us his backside.
As if the petting zoo wasn't enough fun for kids, we discovered the gem that truly made our southbound adventure worthwhile: the play yard.
The play area is set up in four unique sections. The first reminded me of a medieval fort with tunnels for chasing and huge pipes propped up by mountains of hay for sliding.
The next is a covered string of connected wooden boxes with a variety of windy, bumpy and smooth slides out of which children are "pooped," according to my 7 year old.
I nearly lost my 2 year old to the buckets and construction vehicles in the covered sand pit. Seriously. I had to climb in and manually remove him from the pit after 45 minutes of play. He would have gladly slept there overnight if given the chance.
Meanwhile, the 7 year old burned energy on adjoining climbing wall and "tire garden."
Eventually, I was able to coax the children away from the play area to eat our picnic lunch amid rows of lush hanging baskets. Not a bad setting to enjoy our PB&J's!
Ice cream cones and fudge from the farm store brought us to the denouement of a successful day trip. It also bought a few minutes of quiet for this tired mom as we fought the I-5 afternoon traffic heading back to Portland.
On the way home, in a quiet voice, the 7 year old conceded "that really was a fun place."
VICTORY.
