Huckleberry Days

What are huckleberries, you ask? Or at least, we did. They look and taste a lot like blueberries and they grow wild in the area around Whitefish, Montana. That wasn't far from where we were staying and we haven't been to a small town festival for quite a while, so we decided to take a look at the Huckleberry Days Art Festival on Saturday.

There were lots of artist's tents.

This pottery was probably inspired by huckleberries. I really like it.

This man turns incredible natural-edged bowls. We talked to him quite a while about how he finishes them. They have such a rich clear look.

Of course, there were clothes.

This woman not only wears an incredible costume, she makes great folk art figures.

There were activities for children, like this climbing pole.

We had good barbecue for lunch.

The festival was held in Depot Park in downtown Whitefish. This Great Northern diesel engine was on a track right behind the BBQ stand.

To finish our day's exercise we walked around the downtown area, where we saw this clock tower.

We also walked on the path by a creek that wanders through the town. It was very pretty.

We planned to buy a huckleberry pie on our way back the the RV park. But we weren't willing to pay $30 for one 8-inch pie, or even $5 a slice. A neighbor in the park told us sometimes the berries sell for $40 a pint so locals carefully protect the location where they find them growing wild. I guess the cost of the pie makes sense but we weren't willing to pay it.

Turnings Galore

It has been a slow-paced week for us, mostly because we have both been sick. We even went to the doctor on Wednesday--something we rarely have to do, except for our regular checkups.

But Saturday, we really needed to buy some groceries and it was the weekend of the annual Desert Woodturning Roundup in Mesa. So, we visited the turning show for a short time before doing our shopping. We had to drive the long way around to central Mesa because of the marathon race being held.

It was good to see all the wonderful creations on display, and to shop with the vendors. John found some tools and I bought a bowl blank. We enjoyed the roundup and now have enough food for a few days. But neither of us is well, yet. Maybe yesterday was too much. We didn't even go to church this morning.

The wood-turning projects ranged from beautiful to "how did they do that?" I can really appreciate all the work that going into some of the objects. I have never done work like this, but I do understand the basic mechanics involved.

But I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to accomplish other projects.

Finding Supplies

Last winter I learned to turn bowls on a lathe. When we planned our summer travel to Colorado, I knew I wanted to bring back some aspen wood for use this year. After research on-line, I learned I should look for standing aspen that had been dead for at least a year.

The next step was to find out if I needed a permit from the Forest Service to gather 2 or 3 4-foot logs of dead wood. Yes. So I paid my $20 for a permit to gather fire wood. That allowed me to gather up to 2 cords of wood. I certainly don't need that much. But realizing I had paid $16 for a piece of ambrosia maple that measured about 10" by 6" by 4", the $20 wasn't too bad.

I asked the ranger in the Rio Grande Forest Service office in Creede for directions to a good location to find my wood. He showed me an area that was no more than 10 miles from our campground, so Friday we headed out with gloves, a hand saw and a small reciprocating saw.

After inserting the blade in the small saw, John used it to start his cut into the aspen.

Then came the hard work, sawing two standing trunks that had been dead for quite some time and another that has already been cut down.

John did most of the work. I just served as gopher, carrying things to and from the truck. I carried 2 of the logs he cut. He carried the other. To top it off, we even found a large chunk of aspen that had been cut and used as a chair around the campfire. It was way to large for John to cut with our old hand saw, but it will be a good size for turning.

Success! Here are 3 of the aspen logs in our truck.

When we returned to our RV, I attached the Forest Service permit to one of the logs.

I look forward to working with wood when we return to Arizona for the winter.