From the Mountains to the Midwest

I-70 out of the Rocky Mountians

With our season over, the only problem we had was leaving the Vail Valley. This problem was caused by the 3ft+ of snow that had fallen over the last two days of the season. The ski resorts were closed but winter was far from over. With Interstate-70 being the only road out of the valley and being closed it was not looking hopeful that we would make it out anytime soon. To our surprise we woke that morning to a window of blue skies after days of dense snow falls, so we packed the car and got out while we could. Lucky we did, as it ended up snowing another few feet the following days, so we may have not have been able to leave for days. Now, when I say we packed the car, we jam packed every inch of that little Subaru Impreza to the absolute brim. We were riding back to Chicago with our friend Matt and all three of our possessions. It really was a tight squeeze!

Our first stop was at Matt's uncle and aunts in Denver. Enroute we stopped in at Avery Brewery in Boulder, had a few sips in their fantastic tasting room enjoying some amazing beers from a brewery we had enjoyed over the winter. We had a quick walk around Boulder too, but it was very cold so our look around town was brief. Winter here gave a very different vibe than what we saw whilst visiting last summer. Eg, not as great of a place to be homeless when its -10C versus 30C. But still, there were a few spaced out hippies/bums playing drums with buckets in the street. 

Avery Brewery, Boulder

Now, we had originally planned to just make a small trip to Fort Collins the next day and stay with Matt's cousin. Unfortunately the weather was not playing part and there was some serious snow accumulation happening in that area. So we made a late decision and headed off at 2pm on a 10 hour drive to Des Moines, Iowa where we had a couch to crash on at Matt's sister's boyfriend's house. A long drive but entertaining due to the good company. We drove 700miles/1100km. The weather was so cold and with it being snowy/wet the car grew some impressive icicles, this being the only cool thing to happen across the whole 400 miles in Nebraska.

Car Icicles

Enjoying craft beer

This long drive had made the trip much less daunting as we had driven the bulk of the journey now and in an unplanned way seemed not so bad. Now off we headed to Iowa City, a bustling collage town in, you guessed it, Iowa. We spent two nights staying with another one of Matt's sisters, and mostly just acted like students for a few days. We went to a good few bars and really enjoyed the student prices. We obviously took the task of drinking a Boot, a boot shaped beer glass which contained nine pints at the very reasonable price of $10.50, and even craft beer at that. So Matt, Amy and I ordered two for the three of us. I really wish we didn't. It was just so much beer = a bit too much joy! After a nasty hangover, we did finally get the first and only curry of my whole time in America and then proceeded to have another good night out at the bars. 

And off to Chicago we headed...

Stopped into a big truck stop