Today was the day we added a Christmas tree to our living room. Needing an authentic experience I found a cut-your-own tree farm in Castro Valley. So after work we zipped on out there to get a tree before dark. With my trusty GPS we found the place without trouble, obtained a trusty saw, and drove off into the wilderness. This tree farm isn't like we have them back in Connecticut where you park and walk around the property with a little cart. It's more like property which is up against the Chabot Regional Park. So you drive along an access road to the various lots which go out a couple of miles down the road. We drove out towards the back and found some good size trees to look at. We got out to take a look around, but left the camera in the car, so we don't have any pictures until we got Albert back to the car. Yes, sometime between cutting it down and carrying it to the car Jess named our Christmas tree Albert.
Anyway, there was a bunch of trees and they were all incredibly well pruned and full. I don't think we would have, growing up, spent hours in the cold if our tree farms had trees like these. They all had almost perfect shapes. I was very impressed.
So, we picked out Albert which only took about 5 minutes, cut him down, and carried him to the car. We came prepared with a tarp to put down on the roof to help prevent scratching up the paint, and some rope.
Jess was skeptical of my ability to secure the tree to the car properly. But I knew the secret of the tow anchor points (or whatever they're called).
After some adjusting and tying and knotting and such we had things ready to go:
Albert enjoyed his last stint of freedom and gave us no trouble on the way back (which involved a rather roundabout path in order to avoid the highway, I didn't think 70 mph would be much fun with a non-baled tree strapped to the roof).
We got the tree home and into the tree stand. On Jess' insistence we are not allowed to decorate it until Saturday when we will decorate it and then watch The Muppet Christmas Carol.
I told Jess that I wasn't sure our tree trip would count since we could still feel our toes and fingers when we finished, and there wasn't 3 feet of snow, and no one was crying; but she claims that it will count anyway.
Haha! I LOVE the tree and the fact that you got to cut it down yourselves! Awesome.
I'm also impressed that you were able to get that tree on top of your car and secure it with that wimpy looking rope. LoL Props for that.