Days 10 - 15! In the Land of Beer and Honey Mead...

So, turns out leaving your home, travelling across country, and living in a van is really easy, as long as you're not always travelling and living in the van.  We haven't spent a night in the camper since Great Sand Dunes!  We've had comfy beds, home cooked meals, and restaurants for the last 10 days, and now even home-brewed beer!

Enter the Wilsons...

We've known Jim and Gemma forever but they've been residing (with son, Jack!) in the Denver area for about 5 years, currently in Longmont, CO.  Longmont is a cool little town outside Denver and next door to Boulder where the craft beer industry was basically born.

Which is really convenient because Jim likes beer, a lot.

So much that he keeps a keg at home!

We promptly emptied it when we got there so Jim loaded up the little guy in the Caddy and we went to get more.

Yay Beer!

Nothing like a cruise in the Caddy to get a keg of locally brewed beer...

While at Boulder Beer we might as well have lunch and sample the beers...

Gemma and Angie can't contain their beer excitement!

New beer is heavy, but we don't mind.

Avery Brewing was nearby so we had to sample those too...

Kipper made a new friend.  Here he is with "Alice".

Awww puppy love.  This is one of the few times they weren't rough housing.

Angie, Jack, and Gemma take a plunge at the neighborhood pool.

Meanwhile Jim and I were running errands in preparation for a July 4th BBQ.

Zoom in on this photo and you'll see that there's 4 racks of ribs resting on that keg, 

rubbed with Jim's special seasoning.

He not only made his own rub but also a homemade BBQ sauce.  So good.

Jim, doing what he does best...

...although he does this pretty good too.

The ribs were awesome!

Later we got to take in a good ol' fashioned fireworks display that the city of Longmont provided.

The neighbors put on an equally impressive display.

After fireworks, Jim,poured us some of his homebrewed beers, barley wine, and honey mead.  All were delicious.  Here's Jim pictured with his award winning "Hoodlum" homebrew.

We had such a great time hanging with Jim, Gemma, Jack, and Alice that we stayed 6 days!

We would have gladly stayed even longer but it was time to hit the road.

Thanks Jim and Gemma!  You really spoiled us with your generous hospitality!