Foul weather holds off until Sunday afternoon, leaving plenty of time under cool gray skies for Cornichon & friends to launch a Flexcar and sail out to the farm. Once we get past Redmond, the familiar trappings fall off: shopping malls, housing developments, the last Whole Foods, the last gas station & mini-mart.
We ford the Tolt River at Carnation and sail into a vast theme park called Remlinger Farms. Indoors, a country market replete with home-grown produce and a full-service restaurant. Outside, in return for 15 dubloons, access to a country fair with tame rides. Families exit from Suburbans, SUVs and minivans, unfold their strollers and organize their toddlers in matching GAP hoodies. Dogs? No dogs. Farm animals? No farm animals (other than the pony ride pony). But plenty of scarecrows and pumpkins.
A few miles to the north, just outside Woodinville, South Farm 47 has an unpaved parking lot and a giant corn maze. (Insert forced pun: maize=maze.) Six dubloons for the maze, unless you're under 3; then it's free. No independent takers. Lots of pumpkins here, too, and toddlers riding in wheelbarrows. No animals except a couple of pygmy goats. Clap hands, clap hands!
