I wanted to take a break from my Alaska posts and get our pumpkin patch trip on here.
We met Nana in Canton, TX to go to Yesterland Farms.  They have a nice set up, but it really disappoints me how these pumpkin patches charge you to get into the farm and then charge you for over half of the rides and attractions.  Just not cool in my book!

However, the kids had fun even though they felt a little too big for some of the activities and rides.

We watched a pig race, walked through a petting zoo area and watched this calf chomp on the arm of our kids.


These water pumps were fun.  You put a rubby ducky on the shoot and pump the water to make it go down into a little pool.








Reegan chose the roller coaster.  You'll notice a little girl wedged between us.  She was riding alone and wanted to ride with us.

My grandparents first landed in Alaska in the 50s to work on the Alaska railroad.  My grandfather had worked the railroad in west Texas & east New Mexico and decided to pick up his family and move to Alaska.  They had 2 kids still living at home, my dad was in his senior year of high school and my aunt, Marie.  However, my dad did not move with his parents.  He was able to stay in a garage apartment of some family friends to finish out his senior year, so aunt Marie was their only child to move with them.

A year later my dad graduated high school and made his way to college in Las Vegas, New Mexico (yes New Mexico, not Nevada) where he met my mom and they were married by summer.  The intrigue of moving to Alaska never left my dad and somehow my mom caught the bug as well.  As my  parents say, they honeymooned the AlCan, the Alaska Canadian highway, in 1953.

The railroad holds lots of history and memories for my family.  I remember stories from my grandma.  The most interesting thing I remember was taking a trip with her to Skagway, Alaska.  It was a trip with my parents and 2 grandmas.  We drove our motorhome up through central Alaska, down to Whitehorse, Canada and took a train to Skagway putting our motorhome on the train (we sat in a train car for the ride).


While on the train she began pointing out various places along the way where they had worked the railroad.  It didn't take long before my grandmother had quite a crowd of people around her as she shared points of interest and tales of old, one after another.

Skagway is a beautiful location and is a popular stop on some of the Alaskan cruises.  If you ever find yourself on an Alaskan cruise in Skagway you MUST take the train ride tour.  It is a beautiful ride!!











At the giftshop I also found this book, which I plan on getting soon!!  Outhouses of Alaska!!  Outhouses are still sometimes all you can find in the middle of nowhere Alaska, other than a bush or a tree!!


Definitely add a train ride through Alaska's countryside to your list of things to do while in Alaska!