1000 miles to see Wilco

I've recently returned from my trip out west. Matt, Jen, Jen's brother Kevin, Dan and I drove out to Boulder, Colorado to see Wilco perform at Red Rocks on July 3rd. We ended up heading out at the beginning of the week, and made a little vacation out of it.

Matt and I wanted to camp, the other three sissies wanted to sleep inside. Jen was able to find a campground/mountain lodge combo where we ended up staying.

We left Chicago around 5PM on Monday night, headed to Granville, IL to pick up Kevin. We went for taco night at the local cheap bar before departing for Boulder. We made the trip over night, in one shot. Luckily, with 5 drivers and a minivan, it wasn't too tough, and was quite a bit more comfortable than I anticipated.

We arrived around noon to beautiful weather in Boulder. As soon as Matt and I finished setting up the tent, Jen and I put our suits on, grabbed a couple of cold beers, and headed to the pool. Our first night, we met a couple of Kevin and Jen's local pals out on Pearl Street in downtown Boulder for drinks and dinner.

The first night, there was a bit of a storm. At this point, we also realized the zipper to our tent door no longer worked. Matt fashioned a new type of closure, which seemed to work for the entirety of the day.

Day 2 was spent in Fort Collins, CO touring breweries. We ended up stopping at: Coopersmith, New Belgium, ODells, Ft Collins, & Left Hand Brewery. This was fun, but also seemed like quite a bit of different beers that I didn't necessarily care for. Thankfully, the tour at New Belgium was free and the beer tastings were no more than $4/person at each place.

The evening of day 2, we spent our time around the campsite drinking and playing cards. Until the storm hit. Then, Matt and I cleared out the tent & ended up sleeping in the van for the night.

Day 3 - Jen, Dan and Kevin drove to Rocky Mountain National Park while Matt and I walked the 2.5 miles into Boulder to find some tarps for the tent. Luckily, Boulder is beautiful and they have some great walking paths, so the walk wasn't too bad. We ended up finding an Army-Navy Surplus Store and found everything we needed. We headed back to the campsite to fix our campsite. Thank goodness for Matt, I wouldn't have had any idea what I was doing otherwise. Tent fixed and the evening of day 3 was spent at Matt & Nikki's house in Longmont. It was a nice, low-key night, with delicious burgers and brats on the grill.

Day 4 was the day of the Wilco show. We all did our own things during the day, most of which I spent doing homework for school. My online class had begun, and luckily (and surprisingly) the campsite had free WI-FI (and free breakfast!). Matt and Nikki met us around 2, so we could head down toward Red Rocks early.

We stopped at a sweet bar on the side of the 2-lane highway - Rocky Flats Lounge - where the bartender was both tending bar and cooked. You could also buy du-rags at this particular bar for $12. It was a Packers bar, and we only stopped there with hopes of seeing the Cubs/Brewers game (we didn't).

We made our way to Red Rocks, were able to park just as a hail/rain storm broke out, leaving everyone in their cars (drinking). Apparently, in Colorado, rain comes and goes in the matter of minutes.... so, luckily, we only were stuck inside the car for about 15 minutes. We drank, we lined up, we ended up in the 10th row for the show. It was an absolutely stunning setting and a rocking concert. I know everyone doesn't get Wilco (in the sense of why they're popular), but if any of those people had attended this show, I would be willing to bet they'd change their tune.

Day 5 - Matt and I went to Chautauqua Park to "hike." I use quotes because I don't hike. Unless it's flat or close to flat terrain. We lasted there about 30 minutes before deciding we'd head up to Nederland. Jen and Kevin joined us for this trip - we stopped at a brewery in Nederland for some drinks and headed back to camp. We had planned on staying until Sunday (Day 6) - but everyone was tired & ready to head home. So, we decided to leave sometime later that evening.

Breaking down camp was sad :(

We ended up back in Chicago by noon the following Sunday, which gave everyone some time to relax before heading back to work the following day.

Overall, a very enjoyable time. The drive wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting - if anything, I suggest anyone who plans on driving that far in one shot, do it over night, and have multiple drivers.

All pics will slowly be added to Facebook...

A following post will focus on my first day at Kid's Work Chicago (which was today!)