This slideshow requires JavaScript.
There is still time if you are in the area to take a trip 10 minutes east from Topeka or 20 minutes west from Lawrence along Highway 24 and visit Gary’s Pumpkin Patch. Unless you had your “fun” bone removed, it is impossible not to have a good time. Hurry though. Gary’s will open again on Wednesday the 26th and close for the season at 6:00pm on Sunday the 30th.Laura and I returned to Gary’s once again Sunday with a group of KU rowers. Senior rower Emily Starr had an “in” for us. Starr’s family home sits right in the midst of the Pumpkin Patch. She has worked on site since she was five years old. Entertainment options grow every year. While many appeal to youngsters, the long line of cars winding their way down gravel roads to Gary’s testifies that the young of heart will still have a great time.
Do not miss the jumping pillow. This inflated balloon shaped like a massive pillow sits very low in the ground for safety. Beside being able to fly high, jumping on the pillow proved to be quite a workout. It gassed Laura and I after our non-stop session as well as the rowers. To recover, we took in the pig races, the slides and other amusements before tackling the directional challenge of the corn maze.
The eight-acre corn field is a test of everyone’s sense of direction. Every year, a computer program creates the maze pattern based on the number of corn rows. In the daylight Sunday, we moved through the maze easier than our first attempt years ago in the dark.
At night, with few reference points visible, we wandered and really were lost at times. Finally, we felt we were on the correct path until a worker, leading other lost souls, whispered to us, “You are going the wrong way.” We immediately began to follow him. In the process, we discovered a key element to success which proved correct again Sunday. In a sign of the times, those lost can now text a number with a location code for needed-clues.
My tip would be to get seriously lost at Gary’s. It is hard to find as much fun in something as simple as a corn maze without allowing yourself to get lost being a kid again.
