Do we have festivals because we love apples? Or do we love apples because we have festivals?

My parents have taught me much over the years. Even in the 18 months of living with them before I moved, I realized they still had some good lessons in them. The ones that stick out most in my memory:

• There IS, in fact, a right way to load the dishwasher. Anyone who says it doesn't matter how the utensils get loaded is lying to you.
• Retirement is the bomb. I can't wait to get there someday.
• It's important to be careful when you leave a door to your home open, even for just 30 seconds. You never know when a quail or 2 will decide to come visit. That was a lesson M&D taught by showing me firsthand.
• Whenever there's an opportunity to take a trip or have an adventure, take it. Might as well, right?

That last lesson I've been actively applying in my life since moving East. I jumped on a New York City trip (previously mentioned a little while back) after being here only a week. I've explored DC and its various streets and museums when I've gotten the chance. And last weekend, I found myself in Pennsylvania, close to Gettysburg. My roommate, Erika, is from there, and the National Apple Harvest Festival was going on that weekend, so it just made sense. We went out there with 2 boys from our ward and headed out for a weekend of fun and adventure. And I think we found it.

We left Friday night, and 2 hours later we pulled up to E's grandparents' home, where her grandma, "Ma," had prepared a lavish feast reminiscent of the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving. After we'd stuffed ourselves full 3 servings later, we made it to E's parents' home, where the stars outside were gorgeous, sitting in the sky just out of arm's reach. Pennsylvania's beautiful, and we could recognzie this even without seeing much of it that night.

Saturday was Festival day. After a short outing to E's niece's soccer game, we made our way to a smaller, local apple festival, where E made a scarecrow for our porch, and I enjoyed a local bluegrass band play some rather excellent music. "Ma" and I danced to their foot-tappin' beats while her husband, Grandpa, teased her for her silliness. Ah, grandparents, how wonderful and similar they all are. Per Berkley's request, I've included some pictures, since I finally had the memory to take some:

(The truck was just a really cool, old red truck we saw. Turns out, the boy with the rattail was not the only boy there with one - his twin brother had one, too, of course. I was sad I hadn't seen them together before...And they were not the only ones with such luscious locks; I saw a good amount of well-groomed mullets as well. I loved this giant tractor wheel, so I took a glamour shot or 2 in it. The Boro Boogie Pickers were really good, and the girl had a great voice. Plus, she was near-perfect on the washerboard she was playing. The 4 of us with Billy Bob the scarecrow, in/on the previously mentioned tractor wheel.)

This mini festival was just a warm-up for the National Apple Harvest Festival we went to after. The NAHF  opened that weekend, opened again the following weekend, and then closed shop. So we made it for the opening day, and it. was. AWESOME! I've never seem so many apple products all in one place before. On our way there, we stopped at Mr. Ed's fudge shop and Elephant Museum, which was a strange place, but had some great fudge. He is apparently a legend around those parts. When we made it to the NAHF, I went to get a soft pretzel, and lo, there was Mr. Ed himself right in front of us! We met him, and I actually was a little creeped out by him, but I tried to brush that aside and move on. We left the festival with arms overflowing with apple products, mostly purchased by Erika and Mike, to satiate their thirst for apples.

(Me with Miss Ellie the Elephant, Mike enjoying Mr. Ed's Homemade Fudge - turns out, it's as good as their faces express. Us with Mr. Ed, the Elephant Museum man himself. His head was a little too close to mine for comfort, and the unbutton shirt showing off his white chest hair and gold Elephant charm necklace were all grounds for the discomfort he caused me. Us leaving the Festival, ladened with savory apple goods.)

The NAHF was no Walworth County Fair, but it was still memorable in it's own right - even if it didn't have any deep-fried candy bars or spinny rides that make you throw up said deep-fried delights.

We followed the festivities up with a movie and then called it a night. We were tackling Gettysburg the next day, and we needed our rest.

In Gettysburg, we got the audio tour for our car and explored the place accompanied by the sultry voice of the Gettysburg Audio Tour Narrator. First off, the place is beautiful. We had a perfect day there, with the sunshine to show off the beauties of the land, and a slight, crisp breeze to welcome in Autumn. As far as the history lesson, I have to admit that not a lot of new information stuck with me. I recalled a lot of the basics I learned in History class, and I incorporated a lot of historical facts from some other neighboring wars (namely, the French-Indian War and the Spanish-American War) with the intent of morphing them into Civil War history. I was excited to see the "Barlow Knoll" and I tried to listen to the Narrator explain that part, but all I really got was that Gen. Barlow was young, something was wrong about where they were stationed, the soldiers got scared and fled, Barlow tried to get them to come back, Barlow was wounded, and the whole situation was relatively bad. Sounded like a great place.

But I did enjoy Gettysburg, even if I subconsciously tuned the Narrator out while he hastened to teach us facts of our beloved country's near self-destruction. But it was quickly overshadowed by the impressive store that is Boyd's Bears. This ridiculous 3-story red barn, dedicated to all things bear and American Country, was rather impressive in its exhausting quaintness. I imagined small, rural homes all around the neighboring countryside decorated in over-priced, disgustingly cute tchotchkes of bears and vegetable-shaped animals. It seemed to be a booming business, though, and so I salute them for what they've accomplished. May they and their bears continue to be prosperous.

After such a finale, all that was left was to go home. I was sad to return to a home with no large yard of sprawling hills, no farmland to care for, no apples to eat. But then Erika and I remembered the pie we brought home, and the home-grown memories came rolling back with each bite of sweet apple pie.