2 posts in one day!

Okay, so about a year ago Smap and I went to Aspen with his mom, his brother Alex and his wife Kate. It was a very nice trip. It helped me take my mind off of losing my dearest grandmother, Nernie (she passed right before we left). Smap's mom, Barbara, left Aspen the day before we did, so she made it back to K-town just fine. Alex and Kate's flight back to San Fransisco was four hours prior to ours. They flew out of Aspen just fine. We didn't have such luck. As soon as they flew out, the clouds started rolling in and we got stuck! Smap and I missed the last free shuttle to Denver, so we had to rent a Ford Explorer with some really rich old man, and a very young married couple from South Africa. The five us set off in a semi blizzard for Denver around 4:00 that day. We got to the Denver airport in one piece around 9 pm and dropped off our passengers. Since Smap drove the truck, the old rich guy paid for most of the rental, so we had it for the entire next day. Our flight wasn't until like 6pm the next day too, so we had a day to kill in Colorado. As soon as we dropped off the passengers, Smap asked me, "how far is it to Fort Collins?"... He knew I had been there before (7 years prior). "An hour and a half"....I say, and as I look at him, I see a huge grin. "We're going to the New Belgium Brewery then tomorrow". Yep, we did and here are photos to prove. Of all the breweries in the world, I have only been to one before, and I have been to this one TWICE! Yep, two times...

This time at the brewery, Smap and I had such a good time. We made friends with all the people working there (I think we got there as soon as they opened for the day). We got our own private tour and tasting. They usually only let you taste each beer once, but we pretty much got whatever we wanted. Also, they gave us so much free stuff since we were from Tennessee and since we were buying so much other stuff. I could live in Fort Collins. It is such a cool town. We really like this brewery because they are COMPLETELY off the grid and they are employee owned. They give a really cool cruiser to all their employees after a year of employment.

Smap and I are really into being green these days, so we appreciate and spend our money on items/services/food from companies that are green.

Anyway, I wanted to share the spontaneous unplanned trip from last year. Hard to believe this was a year ago. Hopefully, I have a lot more fun times to share soon.

Peace Out,

Rach