My wife and I are both off this weekend. It’s best to surrender the idea of doing any writing at all before it gets into my head. We decided to check out the huckleberry festival up in Donnelly.
Idahoans are crazy about huckleberries, and they have kind of a narrow window for picking them. Rumor is there are plenty about right now. Several years ago, I went up to McCall and picked a large baggie of them I made into fritters.
These huckleberries are actually blueberries, but don’t have that conversation with one of the natives.
We opted to leave the doggies home, because it’s been incredibly hot, and this was a day trip.
Hot wasn’t an issue at all once we got there.
Pretty scenery, though.
Donnelly was having a parade about the time we arrived and parking was non-existent. This place is tiny, but they even had a traffic cop on the main drag, which is also the state highway to more popular destinations.
We opted to drive to McCall and check things out later.
We had lunch at McCall Brewing. I had a lovely pastrami Reuben, and this Wobbly Man beer. It’s a smoked scotch ale, for those who are interested. It’s a wonderful beer and is occasionally available in Boise, where I seldom pass it by. McCall also makes a great Lemon Ginger Hefeweizen, and it has Ginger from Gilligan’s Island on the label. I passed on Ginger and had a glass of English Bitter as my follow up. I was pretty excited to even find a bitter, but it didn’t quite measure up to their more popular offerings.
After lunch, we decided to go a bit further and check out a campground, and possibly find a few huckleberries of our own. It’s a nice campground, but you could put all the berries in the palm of my hand. I think I’m in line for a huckleberry pancake tomorrow, but only one.
When we went back to Donnelly, it was raining like a mo%^*#F$@!er. Everyone got washed away, and boarded up for the day.
All the covers were down, and the vendors headed for shelter.
One stouthearted fellow operated out of a trailer, and kept his place open. I was looking forward to some pancake syrup, maybe a fritter, even some alcoholic concoctions. This fellow had ice cream and it was outstanding.
That was our day. Great lunch. Great beer. Pretty scenery. No huckleberries, but the ice cream was outstanding. As a bonus, I may have found a new campsite that won’t leave me hanging off the side of a cliff with my camp trailer.
In other news, the dogs got a new toy from Nylabone. They’re both crazy about it, but Otto takes the best photos. (Frankie never stands still long enough.)
He looks like a towel rack or a door knocker.
Shame about the Hucleberries, but the beer and ice cream looked very nice! And Otto looked very cool
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It made for a nice day together. We need one like that occasionally.
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I would not want to hang off the edge of a cliff.
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Once was enough for me.
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I was just about to ask ‘what are huckleberries’ but the blueberry comment made me think, hm, maybe they’re just blueberries by another name 😁
Ha, first thing I thought of when I saw Otto like that was on the bronze, sentient door knockers in ‘Labyrinth’ – too cute.
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They both love that thing. Doesn’t take much to make them happy.
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Sounds like you had a great day in spite of it all. 🙂
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We did. We never counted on the rain, but it happens sometimes.
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What an adventure! Your chronicle brought back fond memories. My brother lives in Spokane, and one time when I visited, we went into Idaho and picked berries. I thought they were blueberries, but maybe not! 🙂
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It made for a nice day. We were cold most of the time, but the last time I checked it was August. Temps have been in the 90s.
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Cute dog…
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Thanks.
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Sounds like an adventure worthy of a half hour sitcom episode. Otto does look like a door knocker in that picture. Not sure he’d let anyone knock though.
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It was still a good time. We might have to pick up another toy like that so they can each have one.
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Sorry you didn’t have much luck with berry picking. Glad you mostly had a good day though, and the dogs love their new toys.
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It was a nice day. Kind of a date night, but during the day.
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That is the cutest picture of Otto ever, Craig. I sounds like a fun day.
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Thanks. It was a good time. I’ll try to catch a photo of Frankie, but she’s pretty quick.
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Sounds like a fun adventure! I see the names of all these beers and think, I should try that, then I look at the prices and think again, lol
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They do get spendy, and I’m a sucker for a good label or name.
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What an adventure! Great that you found another potential camping spot, though, and the ice cream looks yummy. I agree. Otto looks like a towel holder. 🙂
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He’s so funny with it. It’s like he’s trying to show gratitude for us thinking of him.
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Otto is so cute with his toy. Glad you had a nice day.
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Thank you, John. Don’t show the girls or they’ll want one too.
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I know right. Gotta buy dog toys now. The tarriffs on China will put them up 25% on Sept 1
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That’s good planning, there.
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Haha! He really does! Doorknocker! He can guard your door 🙂
Bummer on the camp washout. It does seem you made the best of it. I had huckleberry pie when I was out west and I never got a clear education on why they’re not tiny sweet blueberries. I suppose it’s one of those things people yell about. I have those things, too. Anyway, I liked the pie. Never met a fruit I didn’t like 🙂
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Fruit is our friend.
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Oh, my gosh. He does look like a door knocker. Too funny!
Sorry about the rain and berries. Glad about the ice cream and beer.
Now I want something with ginger in it. Or with blue… I mean, huckleberries.
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I’ve had huckleberry beer before too. My daughter likes the occasional huckleberry Moscow Mule.
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Green Mountain has a blueberry coffee that sounds awful but is very good. My daughter and I both enjoy it.
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I really enjoyed this. My husband take off for day trips, too, to get away and spend some time together. Nothing super special has to happen. We just have fun. And your day sounded wonderful. I love blueberries, and my friend just brought me the most delicious blueberry buckle with a streusel topping. Enjoy your pancake:)
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That streusel thing sounds pretty good. Thanks.
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That ice cream looks delish – and you’re right about Otto looking like a door knocker, lol.
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My wife said we should hand a hand towel from it.
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I immediately thought of a door knocker for Otto (from one of those old English buildings) but a towel holder works too. Great photo!
And it sounds like you had an awesome day. Sorry about the congestion and rain storm but it sounds like you made your own fun.
I once ordered a box of chocolate covered huckleberries through a catalog, It was decades ago, but I seem to remember they were good.
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It was a nice day. Sometimes the goals are secondary to the time together.
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Huckleberries are definitely a hot item. We’ve had better luck finding them at back-country lakes than campgrounds. The easy ones to find always are taken first.
As I understand it, huckleberries and blueberries are cousins. Huckleberries are not domesticated, and therefore haven’t been bred for size the way blueberries are. But in the past two years, I’ve seen huckleberries in seed catalogs, so maybe that has changed.
I still think that finding a great berry patch is more fun than getting them from your yard.
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I do too. You can usually buy things from the store cheaper than you can go find your own. I just love doing it.
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I’m ashamed to say I don’t know what huckleberries are. I thought I knew all the berries because they’re my favorite fruits (Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries). Whatever they are, I’m sorry you didn’t get any. That ice cream does look good, though. Otto is a BIG boy! He’s so cute. He definitely looks like he’s posing. 😉 ❤
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He’s a whopper. He comes in at about 75 pounds. We may still score some berries before the season ends.
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I enjoy a good huckleberry crumble/pie. Ice cream isn’t my thing. But if they had huckleberry potato chips, I’d grab a bag. Flavored beer does nothing for me either. Give me a good ole Guinness and I am happy as a clam.
Otto looks like he is enjoying his new toy.
Better luck next time on getting your berries.
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Could still happen. The season isn’t over yet.
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