Is that a pumpkin or a giant orange elephant?

We had a smashing good time at the Stillwater Harvest Fest & Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off. And as the empty glass suggests there was more to do than weigh pumpkins. There was a chili competition. I sampled several yummy kinds of chili. BUT......I had to save alot of room for the beer tasting.

I have some very exciting news. A world record was set at this year's fest. Before this the largest pumpkin weighed in at a measly 1,725 pounds. But a pumpkin from New Richmond tipped the scales at 1,810 pounds! (not pictured) The farmer said that he planted the seeds in April and that the little pumpkin didn't even start growing until June 26th. After that he said you could literally watch it grow. He expects it to take around 12-14 hours to carve by the way.

Huge watermelons and long mystery veggies.

Honey, I made a wrong turn.

A little flooding. All the moisture this year made for record pumpkin growing I guess.

My friend Christina and her husband Travis. They didn't want to miss a moment of the pumpkin kayak race. You heard me.

Our local news personality Eric Perkins was among the 4 pumpkin racers. What a hoot!

This guy just doesn't know how to steer a pumpkin. Can you imagine?

Yes, that's a real deal gondola.

We climbed what seemed like 1,000 steps to take this photograph. I may have burned off 1 sip (among many) of beer. Darn we missed the pumpkin drop. Next year...