Schnepf Farms' Pumpkin and Chili Festival

So today my girlfriend and I took our first day trip since I started the blog, and seeing as I want to keep everything unique and out of the ordinary whenever possible, what better place to go than a huge farm in the middle of nowhere! Schnepf farms is one of Arizona's many rare jewels. Just about anyone that has been in the valley for a few years has probably heard of it but very few actually take the trip unless chaperoning their kids field trip. While our trip out fell into the cheap trip category, most of the year admission is free so if you were strapped for cash you could have the day for under $10, it's dry and dusty, you deserve a nice cold water and a soda! The reason we had to pay for admission is the fact that we went out for the annual Pumpkin and Chili Festival that runs Thursday - Sunday during the month of October. I'll explain more about the festival throughout the rest of the week, as well as details about The Nest Haunted House. The farm is located in the town of Queen Creek which is only about 25-30 minutes away from the Chandler/Gilbert/Tempe/Mesa areas and around 45 minutes from central Phoenix. It's an easy place to get to, just take the I-10 eastbound to the Riggs Road exit, take a left (that's East for people bad with left and right like myself) and follow it out about 15 miles or so until it dead ends into Ellsworth road. Take another left (North) about a half mile and then take a right (East) on Cloud Road. Cloud road will also dead end into Rittenhouse Road and you'll want to take another right (South) and go about 200 feet to the entrance to Schnepf Farms, you can't miss it.

So what the heck is the Pumpkin and Chili Festival and why should I pay for it? This festival is a yearly event held Thursday - Sunday every weekend of October. My girlfriend and I had already planned on taking a trip out there that night to go to The Nest Haunted House, but once I saw the word chili, it suddenly became a day trip. One of my favorite foods is a good bowl of chili, the spicier the better! Admission for the festival is normally $14, but if you plan ahead and swing by a Fry's Grocery Store, you can score them for only $12. While this may not seem like a huge savings, it's enough to pay for your gas out there. A great upside of buying the tickets at Fry's is the fact that they will also print out a 2 for one coupon for hamburgers at Sonic, so you can grab a cheap lunch on your way out of town! They open their doors at 10am every day, but I would recommend getting out there late in the afternoon, sometime around 2-3pm so that you can drag your feet and be there for the fireworks. In addition to the pumpkins and chili there are a ton of other attractions during the festival such as a petting zoo, a 4 and a 10 acre cornfield maze, a roller coaster, various carnival rides, silly shows (I'll mention a few of these tomorrow!) , various little shops, off-road bikes, a hay ride, even a miniature golf course! Best of all, everything that I just listed is included with your admission which makes the $12 price tag well worth it.

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