Saturday at Orchard Landing Apple Farm turned out way differently than I thought it would—in an amazing way! I figured Steven and I would spend a couple hours there by ourselves then go home, but my family ended up coming, and we connected with folks working and visiting there. We spent the entire day there and had a great time!

We arrived at 11:20 and started our day in the shop, ordering cider drinks and talking to the owner, Karen. We asked her about the plane we’d seen taxiing out just after we landed, and she told us it was her mother-in-law, on her way to pick up her son from college. (Her 78-year-old mother-in-law, by the way, who not only flies airplanes but does all sorts of incredible things. That’s who I want to be when I’m 78!)

We asked what college he went to, and she said Iowa State, so of course I had to mention we both graduated from there. Turns out she and her husband are Cyclones as well, and Karen also has a degree from the College of Design. It’s always fun to meet fellow alumni, and a special treat when they went to the same college!

I could sense I was edging on being yappy (should I mention my cider slushy was alcoholic?), so we let Karen get back to work and went outside to hang out, where I butted my way into a conversation taking place out there between four folks. Hey! They were talking about going to Eureka Springs, AR, and how they’ve never been there before. I’ve been there three times! I had info to share, such as you absolutely MUST SEE the working bunnies.

They were really kind and talkative. I gave them a bunch of Eureka Springs tips, got their phone number (hi Jon and Lynn!) so I could send them some links, and found out they live in the same small town in Minnesota my dad’s cousin does. Small world!

Those folks were rescued from my yappiness when my parents showed up. We had all brought picnic lunches and enjoyed eating them outside (there was a bunch of outdoor seating and we had brought our camp chairs too) and catching up.

During lunch another plane showed up (a lot of people came in their cars while we were there too!). I was hoping we’d get a chance to talk to them, but didn’t want to be rude (ha) and abandon my parents. Later, Steven somehow ended up in a conversation with them without me, but then called me over so I could fill in the gaps in his memory. He was trying to share airports we’ve flown to and stuff we’ve done but was forgetting details.

Kim to the rescue! Ha. Our brains work differently. For example, Steven can fly an airplane and… I can remember random unimportant flight details. We complement one another!

Their names were Pete and Jacqueline, and we had a great time chatting and joking around with them. Pete’s the pilot, and while Jacqueline enjoys being along for the ride, she’s not planning to get her license, like I am. So she was simultaneously impressed with all the aviation knowledge I’ve picked up and teasing me for making her look bad. (Steven chimed in about how much I know and even called me his copilot!!!! Which made me feel good.)

They were both so outgoing and fun to be around. We swapped numbers, and I’d love to hang out with them again sometime.

My snister and her family arrived around 2:35 and we all hung out (most of) the rest of the time!

At one point I walked into the shop to use the bathroom and my mom looped me into a conversation with the grandson about Iowa State University (I was trying hard to leave the family alone!!!), and eventually the grandma was telling us about a problem with the ball on her truck and how the dealership couldn’t figure it out. I wasn’t following but said “My dad’s a mechanic and he’s outside doing nothing! Maybe he can fix it.”

So I go outside and tell Dad I volunteered him to work on her truck and I think Steven was like “omg Kim.” But then he and my dad were into trying to figure it out with the grandma and grandson.

It was the tow ball in the center of the truck bed and the mechanism inside of it had broken (???) and they couldn’t get it out. I left Dad to it and went to walk to the orchard with my snis and her family and Steven.

When we came back, Dad had gotten the ball out! Woo hoo! And the family gave him some apple turnovers to thank him, aww.

What an interesting day, huh?

We had told my family we were going to leave around 5:00, which was also when the orchard closed for the day (although they were having a barn dance at 6:00—that would have been fun but we had to get the plane back!). So we made the most of hanging out together, while also doing our flight planning for the trip home, and making sure to get what we wanted from the shop before they closed (two bags of apples and one of their t-shirts for Steven—I had bought a crew neck for me, and apple turnovers for everyone else, earlier).

It was so great to see them all! I totally did not expect them to want to drive 1.5–2 hours to go to a random orchard that is more geared toward adults than children, but they did, cause they’re awesome. Can’t wait until the next time we’re all together!