You’re running out of time for that trip to the country to find the perfect pumpkin to carve for Halloween. No one should feel obligated to go quite as far as Ric Griffith, the West Virginia man featured in a little write-up in the Post yesterday (this picture is not to be believed).

If you want just a pumpkin or two, here are some suggestions for places other than the local supermarket, if you’re willing to drive or can bully someone else into taking you. Besides, why shouldn’t picking a pumpkin be part of the total autumn experience, like drinking cider, taking a hayride, getting lost in a cornfield maze, or riding a camel? That’s right, the ever-present, traditional symbol of autumn, a camel. Consult the individual pumpkin patch Web sites linked for a full listing of activities, as well as hours of operation and cost information.

>> For people who get uneasy traveling too far outside the Beltway, a number of relatively close options exist. Burke Nursery and Garden Centre in Burke, Va., has all the hayrides, kids’ activities, and farm animals of the countryside, just a scant 18 miles from D.C.

>> Centreville, Va.’s Cox Farms is popular, with good reason — slides, tunnels, mazes, live entertainment, rope swings, and hayrides attract families from all over the Washington region. This Sunday only (October 22, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.), you can take in Master Pumpkin Carver Roger Holtorf as he slices and dices pumpkins in a live carving demonstration. Learn from the master, and then do attempt these stunts at home.