It’s mid-October and the temperatures are starting to dip for the first time this season. With a hint of color-changing leaves, I donned my best fall sweater and a vest to participate in the most basic autumnal activity of all: apple picking in upstate New York¹.

This is the third year I’ve been to Outhouse Orchards in North Salem, NY. In my opinion, It’s one of the best places to pick apples, since you can actually pick from the trees instead of resorting to huge barrels filled with pre-picked apples. It’s also dog friendly, so we brought Ruby to give her a break from all the sniffs of the concrete jungle (read: trash). They have a barnyard inspired corn maze (a maize maze, if you will) and sell fresh veggies and apple cider doughnuts.

We always start off with the maze. Without a map and with Ruby as our guide, we trekked through the maze, giving Ruby flashbacks of her days in Alabama fields. Although the pup tried to cheat a couple of times by cutting corners, she lead us successfully through without hitting a single dead-end.

Next, we ventured to the apple orchard. There, we selected prime apples for a pie baking sesh later. Lots of rotting apples laid scattered on the floor, ready for our boots to crush.  We went the last weekend for a specific orchard, which meant having to climb the trees for perfectly ripe apples. Ruby just went ham looking for field mice or something. We at least got her to chill for a few moments to snap a basic picture of her.

Once satisfied with our meager harvest, we packed it up to head home for a night of apple inspired baking. Hold up, though. What better to end our basic fall trip than with pumpkin spice lattes²?! Behold, Ruby’s first pup cup. Being as basic as she is, she slurped it down faster than any PSL-lover.

To end our perfect fall day, we made a classic apple pie. Luckily, it will last us a few days before we need to find the next fall activity.

What are your favorite fall activities? Do you have a special orchard or pumpkin patch you love to visit?

¹Yes, I know, I wasn’t really in upstate New York, but it was an hour and a half drive from my apartment, so close enough. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
²We didn’t actually get pumpkin spice lattes, sadly. We just made Ruby look basic af.