Cherry Picking

June 18, 2023

La Luz, New Mexico

We seen an article about an upcoming Cherry Festival in New Mexico. It looked like a trip worth it. Making the trip was only Michelle, Malia, and I. 

The drive to La Luz from El Paso is about 2+ hours. I did the initial drive, it was uneventful. The gas tank was low and I decided to stop at a Speedway to fill gas. I tell you it is the slowest pump ever. It took 10 minutes to fill in $20 worth of gas, but the price of the gas was under $3, so we waited until we couldn't wait no more. The guy behind us waiting in his car looked impatient, we told him it was the slowest pump, but he didn't car. 

The Cherry Festival was at Nichols Farm. The farm is on a not too wide ridge and the road got backed up while the cars entered the premises looking for a parking spot. It took over an hour waiting in line for a parking spot. Ridiculous! Never again!

Dusty wind started to pick up as we got to the entrance. It was nasty and I could feel the dust enter my mouth and nose. It was $10 per person for a total of $30. What a rip off! But the place was popular and very busy. The first thing we did was pick some cherries. The cost for a commemorative bucket was $30, which is pricy, but the customer gets around 4.5 lbs. of cherries. At this point, the cherry orchard was stripped of most of the cherries already. Only the top of the trees had cherries. The farm provided ladders which seems dangerous, but the ladders were stable. Michelle didn't want to cherry pick because of the height, so I climbed up the ladder and started to fill up the bucket with cherries. Malia was getting food. After about 20 minutes I filled the bucket with cherries. It took some effort to pull each cherry and put it in the bucket. 

After the cherries we went to buy an entire cherry pie. It was expensive at $22, but being that it was homemade nothing is cheap nowadays. I also purchases a piece of caramel apple pie which was good. I love how the south know how to make pies and America in general. We have good pies in America.

Amongst other things we did was buy cherry cider, ate cajun seafood pasta, drink lemonade, and listen to a live country band. It was a good atmosphere and one that speaks to what an American afternoon in the summer feels like. 

We spent around 3 hours there before heading home to El Paso. We tried to fill gas at Speedway again and even tried a different pump, but we were met with the slowest pump in the world again so we drove off and went home. 

Today was a good day to spend with the family. I wish Jared would have made it, he just stayed home and played video games. I wish he would have a better outlook on life. 

Cost: Entry $30, Cherries $30, Pie $26, Lemonade $6, Pasta $20, Tacos $12, Dream Catcher $24 = $148