Hi, friends! I’m back today with part 3 of our South Dakota travel guide! In case you missed part 1 and part 2, Scott and I partnered with the folks at South Dakota Tourism to explore the eastern side of their gorgeous state in early October! Today, I’m sharing all our trip to the Country Apple Orchard! Visiting an apple orchard was high up on our list of things to do while in South Dakota, so we were very excited when we found out that there were two orchards less than 20 minutes away from Sioux Falls (both of which we visited!). First up on our list — the Country Apple Orchard for their annual Harvest Fest, complete with apple picking, hot apple cider and pumpkins galore!
We arrived at the orchard post-farmers market and pre-drive to Garretson, which we quickly realized was the perfect time to pick apples because we basically had the whole front half of the orchard to ourselves! The last time Scott and I went apple picking was a little over two years ago, but if you take a peek at those photos — you’ll see how different apple picking in the desert really is, so we were both very excited to have a real autumn, apple orchard experience!
Even though it had been raining the night before, we ended up having the most beautiful, breezy day at the orchard! The sun was out and the apples were ripe for the pickin’! So we enjoyed the sun, the sweater weather and picked a bag full of apples to take home to our family. We may have also had a little juggling fun during the apple picking process, but one apple was about all I could handle, haha!
Scott and I had the best time picking apples and quickly decided that we would need to check out the other local apple orchard before we headed home. There’s just something about being at an apple orchard that gives you ALL the fall feels — which is exactly what we were on the hunt for during this trip!
Before we headed out of the orchard, Scott told me that he brought something he wanted to take a picture of while we were there — a South Dakota ornament that he made before we left home! Scott and I very passionate about our states (in fact, we’ve built a whole small business around our passion for them), so bringing this ornament and snapping a photo of it in its own home state felt pretty rad! Now every time I see someone picking up an SD ornament at our markets, I’ll be able to share that we spent some time there in the fall of 2017 — it’s those special stories that I love sharing and connecting with our customers on, and I guess you can say that it’s kind of like blogging in that aspect! It’s those special stories that really bring us together at the end of the day!
I’ll be back soon to share part 4 of our travel guide, which will be all about our last full day in South Dakota — including our morning in Brookings, lunch + dessert back in Sioux Falls and a peek at the glorious falls themselves! Friends, don’t forget to share your South Dakota adventures with me! Have you ever been to Mount Rushmore, or gone to the Badlands National Park to see the bison? Let a gal know! Would love to hear your experiences!
A huge thank you is also in order for our friends over at South Dakota Tourism for sponsoring this post! Scott and I are SO thankful for opportunity to visit their gorgeous state and can’t wait to go back again soon!
-Chelsea xo