Harvest Host Hops-Hopping

We are making our way to Amana Iowa for two events: FROGtoberfest with the Forest River Owners Group and Homecoming with Jason and Abby Epperson of RV Miles. Since we had a few days and not too many miles, we decided to find breweries that are Harvest Hosts along the way and hops-hop across Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa on our way to Amana.

10-56 Brewing Harvest Host

Our first stop was 10-56 Brewing in Knox Indiana. I chose this brewery for two reasons. One, it’s a short drive from Shipshewana where we just spent 10 days. Also, it was a good distance for our friends Kathy and Steve to join us for a night of fun.

Kathy and Steve recently got an upfit from ABC Upfitters and they were excited to give it a spin. Harvest Host locations are perfect for that!

After just a couple of hours (and crossing into the Central time zone) we made it to Knox and were greeted by the brewery’s owner, Mike.

Time Travel

With the change in time zones, we arrived almost before we departed. So, time travel is possible!

Mike pointed out the two sites with electrical hookups, and we told him those could be saved for the third RV he had arriving. We didn’t know who that was, but we knew neither us nor our friends would need power. So Mike recommended the lawn. We found a great level space, and Tony pulled the camp chairs out of the truck as I set up inside. We didn’t have to unhook the truck so it was a quick, easy setup.

We sat and stared at our phones, and had text conversations, until Steve and Kathy arrived. Tony coined the new term for staying at Harvest Host breweries: brewdocking. We waited for them to set up (they also didn’t need to unhook) then we made our way inside.

Beer and Dinner

We perused the beer list and tasted a couple of samples, then we each made our choices and, drinks in hand, went outside to sit under the cover. The weather was unpredictable. Naturally, we wanted sun to charge our batteries. We got some, and we also sat through a couple of intense rain showers.

Undaunted, we just ordered another beer and found our picks on the food menu. We started with pretzel bites with cheese. Tony ordered a pizza (individual size) and I got a blue cheese and bacon burger.  Steve and Kathy also had pizza and a burger. We had a few beers (well, some more few than others) and chatted away the afternoon.

On the menu, I read that the term 10-56 is the police code for drunk pedestrian. Mike is a retired Indiana State Trooper. Also, I learned their first beer was brewed with hops with the designation 1056, so they figured the name was meant to be.

After hours

When we had had our fill of food and beer, we went to Kathy and Steve’s rig. They have a Mini Lite 2506, which is the floor plan we are currently drooling over. Theirs is the original floor plan so the bathroom and bedroom are different, but the dinette is the same. We were able to comfortably sit around the table to play a game. We considered playing Hand and Foot, but that does take some time so I brought over our YamSlam and we played a couple of games. Oh, and Tony shared a crowler from Goshen Brewing Company.

Well-lubeercated (I coined that term just now) and gamed out, we headed to our trailer for a nice long nap. The weather is great for boon docking: not too hot so no air conditioning is needed. A little more sun would have been nice, but by the time we headed out the next day we were all filled up.

Morning

In the morning, we sat in our camp chairs thinking a propane fire pit would be nice. The third Harvest Host guest, who also had a Flagstaff trailer, came over and chatted with us for a while. They are on their way home to Wisconsin. We sat there long enough that the brewery opened again (noon) so we went back inside for lunch before heading down the road. I had a caesar salad, and Tony got the blue cheese burger. We didn’t have beer with lunch, because we needed to drive.

After lunch we finished packing up our chairs, and said our farewells to Steve and Kathy. We headed westward, to our next destination about 60 miles further along.

Freebird Farm Harvest Host

Our next destination was not a brewery, unfortunately. Apparently I waited too long to request a stay and the two breweries we could have chosen were both unavailable. So I picked a lovely small farm instead. I’ll make it up in the next few stops! Don’t worry, we have beer in the fridge so we won’t go thirsty.

We did leave Knox later than anticipated, and crossed back into the Eastern time zone, so we didn’t get set up until after 3:00. The sky was still cloudy but we didn’t get any more rain. We didn’t have to unhook but we did put the back truck tires on blocks to lift the front of the trailer ever so slightly. Tony set up the Starlink and we got busy getting stuff done. When I couldn’t sit still any longer, I wandered around the farm and took pictures of the pigs and horses. Then I walked across the road and took a selfie with the corn field.

We saw a really spectacular sunset. Tony wasn’t hungry after that burger he ate for lunch, so I made a sandwich. We turned in after it got dark. The location is really peaceful, other than the two dogs that had bark-fests a few times in the night.

Unfortunately, the farm store was not open, so we weren’t able to shop. We got ready for our 90 mile trip to the next brewdocking station.

To be continued…

We do have a few more days of travel before we get to our Amana Colonies destination, and I’ll report on those later in the week. For now, we just finished eating lunch and it’s time to record this week’s podcast! Happy Camping!