We loaded the dogs into the truck this morning and headed for the massive Holiday Warehouse an hour west. We were on our way to spend the morning with a crowd of senior citizens and, hopefully, to bring back a load of Christmas stockings for a little project I've been working on.

Around 10:30am, we pulled into a packed parking lot. From one end of the huge lot to the other, white Buicks and Oldsmobiles sat bumper to bumper with aging pickup trucks. It was Tuesday morning and the outlet was packed.

As Michelle and I pushed our way through the front doors, the crowded parking lot suddenly made perfect sense. Blue hair flashed between racks of Holiday merchandise as old women puttered from one aisle to the next, searching out the perfect ingredients for a Christmas project or two. Behind them, their husbands struggled to keep up with the frantic pace, their arms laden with the daily bounty.

This wasn't our first time at the Christmas Outlet. We made a trip out last year to collect stockings for the same project. Unfortunately, we were later in the season last year and their inventory had begun to look a bit pekid. So this year, we ventured to the store a good month earlier.

Having been there before, we knew exactly what we were looking for and exactly where they kept them. We made our way directly towards the back of the store, dodging a few slow and confused shoppers along the way. In the back corner, the bottom shelf was still full of stockings. We quickly counted out a box full and made our way out of the store and past the old men waiting by the front door for their wives.

Our shopping done, it was time for pie. There's a good country diner out near the warehouse and they've got an impressive selection of pie on their desert menu. Since we weren't quite hungry enough for a full lunch, we bellied up to the front bar and ordered ourselves some coffee and pie.

One of the clearest signs that Fall has arrived is when the local diners begin to serve pumpkin pie. Michelle had a huge slice of delicious pumpkin pie as we watched the waitresses bicker and argue in the kitchen.

Fall has arrived and the foliage should begin to peak within the next week or so. But today, with the last remnants of Summer dwindling slowly away, it was a perfect day for a drive. And pie.