The Flower Farmer

Bizarre "Soviet Style" soda for sale.

We visited The Flower Farmer  in Canby to check out their pumpkin festival.  They offer a train ride which goes through three tunnels and winds its way to their awesome hay pyramid.  What makes this hay pyramid so crazy, is that at its bottom level,  doors lead into a hay maze that must be navigated in total darkness!  Jasper and I went through together, occasionally using the flash from our camera to light the way.  After that, he felt comfortable running through it with groups of screaming and giggling kids.  (They do have an emergency lighting system installed, just in case.) Nearer to the top of the pyramid is another, smaller maze that must be negotiated on hands and knees, and does not have (much) total darkness inside.  The pyramid itself is really tall, and kid after kid felt the need to stand at the top with arms outstretched, shouting, "I'm the king of the world!", sometimes in a foreign accent.  Word must have gotten out about this place!

About a mile away is the Molalla River State Park.  The parking area leads first to a large grassy area, then to a big open meadow, but if you continue to follow the path by the river, you will soon come to a delightful trail through woods.  The woods are lovely this time of year.

A word of warning- if you have small children, you should know that there is a popular off-leash dog area here, and not everyone is willing to obey the leash law outside of the enclosure.  We encountered  several of these, enough to think it wasn't a fluke.  Jasper was approached by a growling dog, so I immediately picked him up.  The owners (who had a toddler with them) were offended, and insisted that I put Jasper down because their dog was "friendly".  I declined.  I unfortunately know two moms whose lack of caution lead their children to be mauled by "friendly" dogs, and don't care to follow their example.   I'm especially wary of off-leash dogs that accompany families with small children, because this does not automatically mean they are "good with kids".  Some dogs are instinctively protective of the little ones in the family and can be surprisingly aggressive.  I see breaking the leash law, and reacting rudely to a mother who picks up her child without comment, as the height of incivility!  It seems unwise to trust such strangers with the safety of my child.  Can you tell this made me pig-bitin' mad?!?

No visit to Canby is complete without a ride on the Canby Ferry, which only costs $2 per car, and whisks passengers across the Willamette. Passengers are welcome to get out of their cars and enjoy the view from an observation deck.   It's a stone's throw from the Molalla River State Park.