Apples, pumpkins, crafts, train rides, food and fun… All a part of the experience at Apple Hill.

This year, my family and I once again returned to Apple Hill. Our experience this year on October 12, 2013, was exceptional as always. During this visit, we visited Cardanini’s Pumpkin Patch (#42), Rainbow Orchards (#10) and El Dorado Orchards (#19). During this trip in particular, my children were finally at a great age to go out in the field and pick out a pumpkin on their own and boy, did they enjoy it.

Cardanini’s Pumpkin Patch (#42)

Cardanini’s Pumpkin Patch is a very quaint pumpkin patch conveniently located near one of Apple Hill’s busiest and well visited stops, High Hill Ranch (#1). It is actually right next door to it and their hay ride passes right through this location. While we were there, as it was our first stop, but also nearly lunch time, we grabbed a quick bite to eat. I had a delicious Tri-Tip sandwich and my wife and kids enjoyed a hot dog each.

When we finished our quick and relatively inexpensive meal, we ventured out into the pumpkin patch. This pumpkin patch still had every pumpkin on the vine and they were all ready to pick off the vine. When you first enter, you can ask for a pair of pruners to cut the pumpkin off of the vine. With our tool to cut the pumpkin off of the vine we found five very ample sized pumpkins to bring home.

While I paid for the pumpkins (a total of $20; I was blown away by the price by the way), the kids ventured through the corn maze (that was free for visitors to navigate through). They had a great time.

If you’re looking for something you haven’t tried yet at Apple Hill or if you’re looking for great people, pumpkins and inexpensive food for Apple Hill, this is the place to stop.

Rainbow Orchards (#10)

Next, we decided to take a drive to Rainbow Orchards. Now that we had our pumpkins in our car and mission the rest of the day was to relax, enjoy the sites and just experience the day. Rainbow Orchards is very well known for their “HOT apple cider DONUTS”. The line for getting some donuts wrapped around their barn/store area. They are very high in demand and well worth the wait. I would highly recommend a stop here just for the donuts.

While we were there, my daughter sat down to get her face painted. She chose a rainbow with a star. It looked very cute on her. She refused to wash her face for the rest of the day and she even made a deal to sleep overnight before she would wash her face paint off. We obliged, being the parents we are, we didn’t want to take away any of her happiness made during that day.

Being in the mid-high 70’s that day, temperature-wise, before we left, we grabbed some mini apple cider cartons. They were the perfect size to quickly quench your thirst as well as the size perfect for a kid to enjoy. It was very tasty.

El Dorado Orchards (#19)

Our final stop of the day was El Dorado Orchards. We stopped because they have a kid-size train to ride and our kids absolutely love train rides. In fact, we took them on The Polar Express last year; that’s how much they love train rides. Once we took a ride on the train, we again grabbed another snack. We had some nachos, a soda and chips to keep the kids’ hunger at bay for the ride home. While we were at this location I spotted something out of the corner of my eye.

It was a Nevada Wolf Pack sign. Richard Hight of Battle Born Metal Works, a Reno, NV resident, was selling some sports signs made out of metal. Each colored to represent the team. He had signs for the Wolf Pack, the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco 49ers and many more. He practically had every major sports team including the Nevada Wolf Pack. I just had to pick up the vintage Wolfie Nevada Wolf Pack logo sign. From what I hear from my contacts at Silver and Blue Outfitters, Richard is working on getting licensed by the NCAA and University of Nevada to sell them professionally, but for now, they are just a craft item that you can pick up just like many other craft items for sale at just about every location in Apple Hill. I must say that Battle Born Metal Works make quality merchandise and I would gladly buy another one should I run into him again in the future at a local craft show in the area.

Before we left, we were going to make an obligatory stop at Boa Vista Orchards (#3), but as luck would have it, El Dorado Orchards was selling Boa Vista Orchards Apple Cider right there on the premises. That just made my day. That Apple Hill growers were working together to make it convenient for the consumer, is just one example of the high quality, friendliness and experience you can expect during a trip at Apple Hill.

Even though we could only make one trip this year to Apple Hill, it was, like always a trip to remember. Our kids really enjoyed the day away from Reno and my eyes, sprit and demeanor always perk up when I get to visit one of my favorite places on Earth.

If you haven’t been to Apple Hill yet, you should definitely make the trip anytime from September through December. It is an experience to remember.

Let us know what you think

What’s your favorite stop at Apple Hill and why? We would love to hear your thoughts.

The Nut Tree Plaza is a nice pit stop off I-80 in Vacaville, CA for parents and kids alike to play and have fun.

Traveling to Northern California, my entire life, to visit family was a pretty regular thing. As a child, I remember stopping in Vacaville, CA to visit The Nut Tree and ride the train. At the time, Vacaville was truly a cow town until the Vacaville Premium Outlets were built. Sadly, in the late 1990’s, The Nut Tree closed until it was recently rebuilt as a shopping area. Located right off Interstate 80, The Nut Tree started as a roadside fruit stand and has since grown into a massive complex that includes a small airport.

Recently, my Nana (my grandmother on my mom’s side) and Mom mentioned to me that The Nut Tree had reopened and I knew, on our next trip to the Bay Area, we would need to make a stop; probably more so because of the memories I had as a child myself.

I was excited to find the kids area to be so well thought out. I think it’s a brilliant move on the architects of The Nut Tree’s part to mix shopping, a kids fun area, and eating; all in one place.

It’s the new and improved Nut Tree! Keeping some of the classic Nut Tree items, such as the rocking horses, life size giraffe statue, classic train and carousel and adding some new favorites such as a life-sized Checkerboard and Chess set all made for an amazing adventure with the kids. The Nut Tree Kiddie Area also includes mechanical rides that cost a quarter, all just steps away from Fenton’s Famous Ice Cream Parlor and a retail store of the Jelly Belly Factory (view our article about the Jelly Belly factory).

The kids were beyond excited and we even wound up stopping there a second time on our trip. The prices for the rides are affordable and the staff was incredibly friendly, even when the almost two year-old had a two year-old tantrum. We had lunch and ice cream at Fenton’s, which was incredibly yummy.

I highly recommend a stop on your way to the bay next time you find yourself in Nor Cal.

Have you been to The Nut Tree since it was rebuilt? What was your experience? Please share your thoughts. We’d love to hear how your visit was.

Where: Head west on I-80 towards San Francisco. Take the Nut Tree Exit in Vacaville, CA about 3-3.5 hours from Reno

What: Shopping, Food and Fun!

Need to know: The Carousel and Train are $2 per child. Kids under two get the first ride on each for free. For children under 42″ a parent is required to ride with them. Check out their website for more details about price and rules.

Extra Extra: Check out the Vacaville Premium Outlets while you are there, there is a playground for kids just outside the Restoration Hardware Kids Outlet.

Website/Contact Information: www.nuttreeusa.com/#/Play/

Take a ride on a real historic steam engine locomotive in the heart of the Nevada State Capitol at the Nevada State Railroad Museum.

Just about every child is enthralled with trains. When I was a teenager, I encountered my first train obsessed toddler. He loved Thomas the Train. Nearly all his toys were train-related and he even had videos of trains (Yes, VHS. Remember those?). I thought he was so cute and remember myself loving the experience of going to Carson City as a child and getting to ride the train. Now that my children, especially my son, are intrigued with trains and have Chugginton to watch and enjoy regularly, we knew it was time to take a trip to Carson City, Nevada to visit The Railroad Museum.

The Railroad Museum in Carson City is part of the State of Nevada Division of Museums and History. It’s a beautiful facility. It is immaculately clean and well cared for. The trains are maintained so well that one of the trains, the McKeen Motor Car #70, was recently named a National Historic Landmark.

Every weekend a different train is on the tracks for visitors to ride the rails. Check out their schedule.

While I feel like I practically grew up at this museum, this experience was especially meaningful for me to take my own children and share part of my own childhood. We also took their cousin, J, who was so thrilled to be there. It was great to see the childrens’ excitement as the train started up the tracks. We had a chance to climb into the engine car and feel the heat of the steam engine. We also spent the rest of our trip walking around the parked trains and racing on the handcar up and down the tracks. Our children, A and N, rode on that several times. The museum volunteer was so pleasant to our kids and very patient with the two of them as well.

When we visited the Carson City Train Museum in May 2012 on Memorial Day weekend it was extra special occasion because with the purchase of admission tickets, we got to ride the train as many times as we wanted that day.

The museum staff had most of their rail cars out on display and we got to go inside just about all of them. The McKeen Motor Car was the most luxurious to see.

We saw the old railway state line marker as well. It had an old picture with it that showed how the trains passing by would sometimes stop there on the way to California or on the way into Nevada.

We finished the day off with purchasing our very own wooden train whistles to take home, the kids still pull them out and play conductor regularly.

Overall, our experience was a fantastic one at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City.

With the new I-580 freeway open from Reno, a trip to Carson City is a piece of cake. Take a drive to Carson and ride the rails!

Where: North Carson Street, Carson City, NV.

What: One of Nevada’s three railroad museums and it is the largest in Northern Nevada.

Need to know: The Railroad Museum is only open Friday through Monday from Spring until Fall.

Extra Extra: Check out special events on Holiday Weekends.

Website/Contact Information: museums.nevadaculture.org | 2180 South Carson Street, Carson City, Nevada 89701 | Phone: 775-687-6953

South Reno’s Toll House Pumpkin Patch

Disclaimer

Before we began our reviews, we want to give you some backstory. This review was difficult to write, and we struggled over whether we should post it at all. We started this site with the hope of promoting local businesses to families around town. Businesses suitable for families and kids. We were hesitant to post something negative. Especially since we have so few posts at this point and since we’re so new to the blogging community and an organization in Reno, Nevada.

Our husbands helped in that regard. Would we want our close friends to have the same experience? The answer was an easy and emphatic, no. That’s why we finally decided to post this review.

Our goal with Windy Pinwheel is to inform parents around town about opportunities to enjoy time with their kids. It also serves to provide honest opinions from our point(s) of view. We understand that not all may feel the same way or agree with our assessment, but this is our take on the Toll House Pumpkin Patch located in south Reno.

Lauren’s Take

I wanted to like the Toll House Pumpkin Patch. I really did. I wanted to take my son there and have him experience the joy of my favorite season in all of it’s pumpkin and hay glory. Christine had purchased some Dealchicken.com coupons, so we assumed were getting a great deal on some classic honest family fun. Well, you know what they say about assuming…

Problems began immediately when we tried to enter the pumpkin patch. Christine had the voucher information on her iPhone and gingerly handed it over to the attendant. He asked us what it was. She explained they were the vouchers she had purchased online. He asked for the printed copies. Well, we didn’t print copies since we have the electronic version on the phone (trying to stay as “green” as possible and not waste paper). In a surprising spat of rudeness, we were informed that they only accept printed copies, couldn’t write our voucher numbers down, and they didn’t understand what was wrong with us. After all, everyone else printed them out. He looked as us in this moment like we were from a different planet.

Well, I was ready to forfeit my $15 right there and walk away. I’m not interested in staying in a place where the business owners don’t seem to care about my business. However, dragging the kids back to the cars would involve a lot of screaming. So, in the end, I drove home to pick up two printed copies of the vouchers so we would be allowed into the pumpkin patch.

In the interim, Christine dropped another $20 for 22 tickets. Each event in the Toll House Pumpkin Patch costs a certain number of tickets per participant. The bounce houses were four tickets each, the pony ride five, etc. After handing the printed vouchers to the attendant (whom at this point I was visibly annoyed with), I returned to find Christine and the kids inside of a bounce house. In fact, they were literally locked in the bounce house area. To make sure no one sneaks into attractions without paying, each one is locked with a cable lock. This is fine if someone mans the attraction at all times. Not so fine when the attendant walks away and leaves paying patrons locked inside. So, it was back to the ticket booth to get assistance to open the gate and let the kids and Christine out. My son didn’t take that part so well, being only three years-old and all.

Our vouchers included a train ride, and since the kids were excited about this attraction, we piled into the little train car and went for a ride around the property. Toll House has wooden decorations sprinkled throughout the wooded area of the train path (the train is not on tracks but on wheels in a modfied small motorized vehicle) of Halloween characters like Frankenstien’s monster, Snow White’s witch, etc. Alas, the cutouts looked decades old with pealing paint and broken arms. Needless to say, these cutouts did little to impress me; to a child, they wouldn’t care as much as I do about the appearance of these cutouts. There were also lights strung around part of the train course so the experience may be different at night, depending on the lighting, ambiance and what company you’re with.

Little A wanted to ride the ponies, so Christine dropped the last ten tickets (roughly $10) on a pony ride for her and C. A went up to the pony like a pro and couldn’t wait to ride. My son, on the other hand, took one look at the horses and said, “no way.” He refused to leave the gate, so we stood for the duration of the ride, cheering A on. After a five minute ride with the ponies tied to a circular track, the fun was over and A hopped down. We asked if we could get the tickets back because C chose not to ride. After all, he never went near the horse. We were told, “no refunds.” Annoyed and even more frustrated with this place, I took off and headed for the exit. I wanted off this crazy ride of an experience. Christine stayed long enough to hear the attendant say (I’m not joking here. These were his exact words) he was in a “mean mood today so there will be no refunds.” I’m glad I didn’t hear that. I would have lost it. A mean mood with a 3 year old? What; you’ve got to be kidding me!?!

By this time, I wanted to get out of there. There was literally nothing redeeming about this pumpkin patch, at all. The animals in a makeshift petting zoo looked miserable and sad, the hay maze (which was actually a hay pyramid with bounce houses on top of the twenty foot structure) looked dangerous enough to break a bone or quite possibly worse maim someone, the train ride was subpar at best, and for the final kicker, the pumpkins were ridiculously overpriced at $14 a pumpkin for a decent store-sized one. But what irked me the most was the abysmal customer service we received. Together, we spent over $50 at the Toll House Pumpkin Patch. You would like to think that would garner some sort of customer appreciation. We were wrong.

I’m not sure if it was the day we went (a late Tuesday afternoon), or moods were just off, but our entire experience was pretty awful. To be fair however, we left without trying all their attractions. The Toll House Pumpkin Patch also offers carnival rides (they weren’t set up when we went there), the aforementioned hay maze, a makeshift putt putt course (nothing fancy here), and apparently a greased pig competition (where the first person to catch the running greased pig wins cash) on the weekends. However, we didn’t want to give this place anymore of our money and decided to cut our losses.

It costs absolutely nothing to treat your customers with respect! I could have forgiven so much else that was wrong with this pumpkin patch had we received that. However, the terrible service merely exemplified and augmented the Toll House Pumpkin Patch’s other flaws. It is my recommendation that you skip this attraction and spend some quality family time at Apple Hill (view our write up about it here), where not only will you have a more enjoyable time, but you will be treated leaps and bounds better than Toll House Pumpkin Patch would treat a patron on its best day. Upon leaving, the ticket booth attendant yelled out to make sure we mention Toll House Pumpkin Patch to our friends. Don’t worry, we will.

Christine’s Take

I will offer this disclaimer in addition to our disclaimer above, I am very used to pumpkin patches held at farms that have a more harvest festival feeling versus the Toll House Pumpkin Patch which has more of a carnival atmostphere. So, perhaps my expectations were set up for failure from the beginning. These fall harvest festivals that we visited at Apple Hill and northern Virginia include a large pumpkin patch, live music, canned and baked goods for sale, corn mazes, slides to ride on with a burlap sack, livestock and demonstrations with them such as how to milk a cow, etc. Cox Family Farms is a good example of a place we visited while living in Virginia/Washington, DC metropolitan area.

When I saw the email come through on October 1st for the Toll House Pumpkin Patch, I immediately jumped at the chance to buy two vouchers which gave us, what I thought was enough entertainment for four people. I figured this would work for my family or for Lauren and I to take the kids.

Our daughter, A, loves pumpkins in the sense that she would have her own pumpkin patch on our front porch if we let her, so immediately when we arrived, she grabbed a Radio Flyer wagon and started loading up. She was excited to see the animals and my son was beyond thrilled that there was a train; or as he would call it a “choo-choo.” When we first walked up, there was no one to be found to “check in” with and I had no idea what to do exactly. So, we finally found someone, who we later discovered was the owner and, as Lauren explained above, he was not willing to take the vouchers via my iPhone app. I called my husband who printed them and Lauren generously offered to drive to our house and get the vouchers. In the meantime I knew the kids needed to get involved in one of the activities. Otherwise we would wind up with an entire wagon full of pumpkins and a heart broken child who would learn that we can’t take that many home with us (we didn’t know how much each pumpkin cost just yet).

I walked the kids over to the bounce house area and had to choose which one I would pay a total of 12 tickets for (keep in mind, I paid $20 for 22 tickets, so you can see how much one bounce house cost for three kids), the kids saw one that they liked and ran in. Unfortunately, the one they chose was a very old set of bounce houses and the kids quickly discovered there was no way to get to the top of the slide as dilapidated as the climbing aparatus was on this bounce house in particular. Regardless, the toddlers they are, they were determined. They always love a bounce house; even if it is in poor condition. Just about when the kids were done with this particular area, we saw Lauren return to the pumpkin patch. It was time for the train!

The boys were very excited and told us to “hop on”. In the mean time, we heard the owner telling the train operator that we had a “special deal” and were paid up for the train. Regardless of the frustration I had built up, I was determined to have the kids enjoy themselves. So we climbed in and started our ride. On a positive note, the train ride goes for quite some time around the property. We rode over a small creek and through a tree lined area. I can see how it can be lit up at night. It just might be really nice, but with toddlers I would be very unlikely to be there at dusk or further, at dark.

After the train ride, we walked to the back of the property and talked about all of the animals, made animal sounds with our kids and said hello to the cows. The kids chased some chickens and we discovered an area of dump trucks, ride on cars and plastic teeter totters. The boys immediately ran for the dump trucks.

While they were having fun we knew we still had ten tickets and four pumpkins to pick out. That is when Lauren and I walked with A & C to ride the ponies. A loves horses and rides them on her own already, so I knew this wasn’t going to be the most exciting for her, but she loves animals and she was excited to show her skills. She sat right up in the saddle like a pro and the operator started off being really nice. He complimented her confidence and walked the horse around the circle. Because C decided he wasn’t really interested in the horse afterall, we did ask if we could have the five tickets back and were told he could go to the hay “maze” instead, which I then said that we did not want the children playing in that area and was told “there are no refunds, I am feeling mean today.” By this point, I was ready to go home. I was incredibly disappointed in my experience. We picked out our pumpkins and headed out (as big of pumpkins as our deal would allow us, and they weren’t very big at all). I was so frustrated with the customer service we were given. Further, I was shocked and amazed that, as we were leaving, we were told to “tell our friends and come back soon.”

I feel that, for me, my most important reason for sharing this story, is that I consider my role with this site as being a voice for parents who want to give their children memorable, yet affordable experiences and with this particular experience I would not recommend any of my friends spend their money on it.

Have you visited the Toll House Pumpkin Patch? What was your experience like? We want to hear about it. Please leave us a comment and let’s have a discussion about it.