Strawberry Festival

We went to a Strawberry Festival last weekend and arrived in the morning to find a lot more patrons than we anticipated being there, and also possibly than the farm anticipated being there. Parking attendants seemed to be directing traffic to any open area, including, apparently, areas not owned by the farm. When we pulled in, we were directed into an area that had deep tire marks which appeared to be made by farm equipment, after a few rainy days. As we parked I wondered about the possibility of getting stuck in the mud.

We picked strawberries, luckily a friend arrived before us and stood in line and got a container, so when we appeared it was handed to us. We did find some good strawberries, but we really had to look for them, as it was already picked over.

The kids seemed to have fun though. We left as the festival was beginning as the lines for food and drinks and pony rides were extensive. As we walked to our car and loaded in, I watched a minivan, identical to the one we recently had, get stuck in the mud.

I'm not entirely sure why, but they unloaded the entire extended family from the van and then got it out and left it to the side which they directed more traffic out. The family still stranded. When it was our turn, the front wheel drive vehicle I was driving went back just fine, but as I put it in drive, got stuck. The attendants told me to "rev the engine and step on the gas" when I asked them for a push. Obviously that drove the front tires further in. When we were good and stuck, and had drawn a crowd, and their efforts to push us out were fruitless, someone finally got the tractor. They hooked us up and to the kids' delight, we were pulled from the mud by the tractor. My friend took photos for us. We left to the applause of a small gathered crowd. The kids waved to the audience.