Hoppy Days Are Here Again

It rained all last night and all day today. But apparently this is a good thing for the farmers, since it has been excessively dry this summer. 

Carol and I had a sumptuous breakfast at Loula's Cafe across the street from our Airbnb. Each of us got served breakfasts that could feed three people. But somehow I managed to put mine away. 

Afterwards, we headed over to Pam and Mike's farm to help with the hop harvest. The routine went like this: Mike would bring in an armload of vines. We all would grab a vine, pull off all the hope flowers, dump them into a bin. And repeat. And repeat.

The smell was intoxicating. It smelled like the best brewpub I've ever been in.  Here's the crew working on a giant pile of hop vines:


Here's one with Mike, Pam, and Carol in the back:


That's the stuff, right there!


And the workers didn't go hungry. At lunchtime, we had a feast. Mike made pizzas, Pam made salad, and we had fresh pears from their orchard.

These hops will go to Great Northern Brewing Company. Maybe next summer, I will drink them:


This evening, we went to the Last Chair Kitchen & Bar with Mike, Pam, and Pam's mom Judy for a delicious dinner. Great food and fellowship was a great way to end our stay in Whitefish.

I'll be sad to leave Whitefish, but I'm looking forward to our next stop: Nelson, British Columbia.

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