Day 15 - Big Fork and Whitefish, MT

Today is the start of the third week of our trip and we both are about ready (but not quite ready) to head home. Started the day at 8:47 (yes, we were a little lazy today) with a Mocha and headed East on Highway 82, then South on Highway 35 to Big Fork, Montana.

The town is on Flathead Lake and has a small harbor, marina and some nice homes on the water. There are also a number of small shops and art galleries. We visited a few and Barb picked up a jar of Huckleberry Jam. Huckleberries seem to be a big thing here. Apparently they only grow in the wild, refusing to produce fruit if one tries to cultivate them. Bears love them, so those who do the picking must be watchful.

I couldn’t resist a visit to the only fly shop in town and to Barb’s amazement bought a second fly fishing hat to add to the one I got in Ennis. This one is a medium kind of green (that’s the best I can come up with) and has Big Fork Anglers embroidered on it. You just can’t have too many hats.

Back in the car we turned North on Highway 35 and then West to Kalispell, where we stopped for lunch at Costco. Yes Costco. We split a hot dog and coke. $1.50 for lunch for two. How can you go wrong?

With a full tank of gas (from Costco) we headed North on Highway 93 to the town of Whitefish, Montana. This is the town I mentioned yesterday and we did indeed spend several hours walking around what is a mix of shops, pubs and restaurants. We spent a considerable amount on time in one antique shop, which really had a lot of interesting stuff from old wood working tools to Chinese furniture.

Almost as surprising as buying two hats was winding up at the same brew pub two days in a row. How do things like that happen? Anyway, there we were at the Great Northern Brewing Company. Barb ordered her old standby Wheatfish (an American style Hefeweizen), while I had a pint of Pack String Porter. On the way out I admired the “Beer, it’s more than a breakfast drink” sign. How true.

Back on Highway 93 South to the motel and the process of selecting somewhere for dinner. Finally decided on Scotty’s Steak and Casino, where we split the 10 ounce burger with fries and two beers (both Oregon) for $15.20. Put that together with our $1.50 lunch and we eat pretty cheap or should I say inexpensive.

Tomorrow we are off to Sandpoint, Idaho. 87 miles today.