Hayrides and More on a Perfect Autumn Sunday

 

Because of rain two weekends ago, we postponed Pennypack's annual autumn festival until Sunday afternoon, October 27.  Though it didn't end up raining on the date the event was originally scheduled, the sky that day was still mostly overcast and the Raytharn Farm trails were muddy; in contrast, last Sunday offered a perfect fall weekend, so I'm glad we waited.

The hayrides are popular with children, their parents, and their grandparents.  Our wagon will accommodate about 25 people for a 45-minute ride.  The first two rides weren't full, but the third ride was "sold out" and wouldn't hold another person.

You can see from the images that the native grasses are at their peak right now - tawny and beautiful - but the trees in the background remain dull green or muted shades of tan and brown.  Pennypack's forests are never as vibrant as the New England forests on October calendars because we don't have many maples in our woods, but this year's colors are not be among the best regardless.

There's a 10-acre private in-holding in our grasslands: a gentleman's horse farm.  While the in-holding breaks up the sweep of the grasslands, it nonetheless adds an  accent to the landscape.

Following the hayrides, children had an opportunity to decorate pumpkins and have their faces painted with Halloween themes in the Visitor Center.  A few kids took advantage of early leaf-fall to dive into a pile and have a great time.

Submitted by David Robertson
Executive Director