I partnered with Chevrolet recently to explore the Seattle area in an all-electric Chevy Bolt EV to find pumpkin treats and see how far we could go knowing that this car has a 259 mile range. We are doing Halloween a little differently this year-we are looking for events that give us more space and distance, we have a new pup in tow and we’ve decided to look for local treats so we can “boo” some friends. And I’ve included the pumpkin things and fun events we’ve found happening in Seattle in this post too.
Testing the Chevy Bolt Range from Seattle to Snoqualmie Pass
We have a cabin in Snoqualmie Pass where we spend a lot of our time so one of the first things we did after the Chevy Bolt arrived is we packed it up to head the 50 miles to the mountains. We brought a lot of things with us and were totally impressed with its trunk space. We also used it to drop off our recycling at the recycling station and again found that it could hold an incredible amount of stuff. And this even includes people too: for a smaller-looking car, we found the whole car quite roomy. My husband who is over 6 feet tall could even fit comfortably in the back seat which is not true in all vehicles. So this is a car that would fit our family of four with two-almost-teenage growing boys quite well for many years.
Fall road trips to Snoqualmie Pass from Seattle
Snoqualmie Pass is such a great road trip from Seattle this time of year. Low-hanging clouds and autumn colors make the forests extremely photogenic and the temperatures are comfortable if you dress in layers for the weather that you see and the weather that might happen. One of our favorite walks is a simple 30 minute stroll around Gold Creek Pond. There is usually ample parking and it’s a paved trail so it’s pretty accessible. We’ve seen some bikes on this trail recently-it’s for pedestrians only-but otherwise it’s a great way to get out into nature especially with young kids and grandparents and it’s dog-friendly too. The Commonwealth and Dru Bru nearby have ample outdoor seating and takeout food and drink as well if you need a stop before or after your hike.
Dog Friendly Pumpkin Patches near Seattle
More and more of our activities are being dictated by our little Yorkie Poo pup. We chose to go to Mount Si Nursery to get our pumpkins because of it’s picturesque location and because I thought the pup could wait in the car while we each quickly picked out the pumpkin we’d like to carve. Scout still hasn’t stayed home alone yet, so we didn’t want to leave him at home. We didn’t realize that Mount Si Nursery actually had a little pumpkin patch and Scout was even able to come along. There are many other farms nearby that are fun to stop along the way: we especially liked Frisky Girl Farms with its honor system farm stand full of fresh fruits and veggies. There is also an electric vehicle charging station at the North Bend Premium Outlets if you need to power up.
Farther away if you are looking for dog-friendly pumpkin patches, I noticed that Craven Farm has a few dog-friendly days this year-October 14 and October 31st. And I’ve heard that Picha Farms also has a dog-friendly pumpkin patch as well. Make sure you check before you go because these type of things are always subject to change.
Pumpkin treats and Halloween events in Seattle
We parked the Chevy Bolt at Woodland Park Zoo to use the Chargepoint charger there and found out that Woodland Park Zoo has a pumpkin walk this year starting on October 14 that is a one way loop of carved pumpkins. From the charger, it is an easy walk to Fresh Flours where I wanted to pick up a pumpkin almond croissant. Fresh Flours has the best matcha lattes and they also have really tasty and seasonal pastries. A la Mode pies about a block away has a holiday pumpkin pie too but it was closed when we strolled by.
A little farther up the neighborhood, Celine Patisserie also has a pumpkin croissant that if you pre-order to pick up through its website you might be able to hurry there and back within the 30 minutes of free parking at the Chargepoint charger at Woodland Park Zoo.
What we’re doing for Halloween 2020
We usually hang out with friends and trick or treat our neighborhood but this year will be decidedly quieter. We are definitely going to boo our friends though with some locally sourced treats. Jenny Cookies has the most adorable fall and Halloween cookies I’ve seen in Seattle and I pre-ordered some boxes online. Macadons also has spooky adorable festive macarons you can pre-order and pickup Halloween week. The Indoor Sun Shoppe in Fremont has cute little cacti if you want a ‘greener’ type of Halloween treat. And Fuji Bakery is making cute ghost cake pops and pumpkin shaped macarons.
In the Seattle chocolate world, Theo Chocolates has chocolate covered marshmallow treats and Fran’s Chocolates has cute little pumpkin chocolates too. Seattle Chocolates usually has a haunted factory tour and this year they’ll be doing drive through trick or treating on Halloween at their flagship store.
And Pumpkin for dinner in Seattle too?
We’ll also probably get a sushi platter from I Love Sushi a place we just started going to recently (We never used to eat a lot of sushi in Seattle because we’d always get sushi in Vancouver BC). A lot of places have easy pickup nowadays so we ordered ahead and the hubby and I drove the Chevy Bolt to pick up a vegetarian sushi tray. They even have a pumpkin roll in this tray so it’s perfectly festive for fall too. And sometimes just going for a drive to pick up food is a fun way to have a little getaway from the kids and dog and catch up on the day when we all seem to be at home ALL the time.
And how far did we drive in our Chevy Bolt EV?
We were a little sad to give back the Chevy Bolt. We drove nearly 300 miles on our pumpkin adventures and we charged a couple times to see what the chargers were like, but we also could have charged it more at home. I really enjoyed the way this car handled the road and my family was comfortable in this roomy-feeling ride. I love that with electric cars if you have a dryer plug in your garage, you can charge it from nearly empty to the 259 miles at home while you sleep (at an average rate of about 25 miles an hour). You can even monitor how much energy you have through an app on your phone. With electric cars you can say goodbye to oil changes and you never have to fill up gas again.
Have you ever driven an electric vehicle? And are you looking for all the pumpkin things this time of year too? If I find anymore pumpkin treats in Seattle or Seattle Halloween events, I’ll update this post too.
(PS. as stated above, I partnered with Chevrolet on this post to try out their Chevy Bolt EV and as always the thoughts and ideas on my blog are my own.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)