Anytime: Gays Mills

~E

This time of year, one of our family traditions includes a trip to Gays Mills, Wisconsin. We always pick a Sunday in October and drive to Wisconsin to visit the apple orchards and look at the most beautiful foliage in the Mid-West. When I speak of traditions, this is one trip that has never, ever changed for my family. We go through Wisconsin, making one stop after another, never going anywhere new - never going to the old spots out of order.

Our first stop is in Fennimore, WI. This little shop has amazing cheese curds and the most perfect photo opportunity. We have photos of my siblings on the mouse, "Igor," every year since I was about 3. My sister was unable to come along this year, but my brother and I didn't take that as an excuse to avoid a photo and had some fun making our mother laugh!




After Igor, we drive down the road to Boscobel - the town with the big turkey! We stop at the A&W and have lunch. The boys love to have a root beer in a frost mug but an order of fries will do for me. From there we walk over to the Liquidators. I remember this store being so packed with junky little trinkets that you could hardly walk. They've organized it much more this year and to be honest, it kind of takes away from the overall effect of the store. And buying a $1, 1,000 piece puzzle to save for Christmas break just doesn't exist anymore! Bummer! I did get a cute pair of earrings for $.99 though.



From there we move on to the little shops that have apples, pumpkins, squash, potatoes, and other random things I wonder what people do with.



My father had to go pick my aunt up so we had a little extra time between stops. My brother was adamant that we did things in order so we found this gorgeous path and piddled around until my dad got back. There were so many cotton-pickin lady bugs it was scary, but other than that it was absolutely beautiful with a capital B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! I think in the 20+ years we've been going, this was the most colorful!!!




On our drive to Wisconsin, one random thing I mentioned to my mother was that I have very few photos of myself from high school on! I bring my camera everywhere, but often forget to hand it to someone else to take a few with me in it too. Here's a photo of my brother and I. Check out how much taller he is than me and he's six years younger! I definitely got my dad's genes there! Side note - my dad got me in for 11 at the state fair this year!!! Yep, not kidding! I'm 25 and I got in for 11! It's a running joke in our family, but my husband said it's the last year he's going with us if they make me go as a child again.




And here's one with my mother. We are both laughing because we were being inappropriate with those leaves in her hand. I never really noticed, but Sarah thinks we look alike??? I do see it in our smiles. What do ya think?



My brother being creative!





Our next stop is where we get caramel apples and fight over who gets the extra caramel at the bottom of the bowl. We watch the goats climb high only to be teased by people feeding them with a pulley system trying to get them to reach for the food and fall. This year my mom and I split a piece of pie. I know, for those who know me, this is a huge risk to mix food items into one. I loved it, but I did get my ice cream on the side, not on top!




The next stop is where we sample cider and apples. My dad always robs the guy sampling meat at this shop. He gets a sample and has all of us grab one for him too, and then he still goes back over and over again. I can't believe they never turn him down!

This shop is the largest and is always packed with people. We always buy hot donuts from this place and they are to die for! Mmmmm!!! I went to find a bag of apples to buy and when I came back my brother had already eaten four. Last year my grandfather met us and I remember finding him a chair so he could rest at this shop. It's times like these that make me understand why we do certain things exactly the same way every year, why it's OK to drive 8 hours in one day just to eat and buy food.

Here's our annual family photo in the same spot every year, minus my sister Eve. I look like I'm trying to take flight and Eric is having troubles staying awake, but it's as good as we get for family photos I guess!









My wish is that every family has traditions and know how important it is to keep them up, no matter how much time takes or how busy they are.