Beer and balls: That's Colorado!

Disclaimer: It's late and I have more driving to do tomorrow. This entry will be photo heavy with more words later when I am ensconced at home without a busy day ahead of me.

So, I returned to the West for a little R&R this week. Or should I make that B&B? My friend and former co-worker Kelly lives in the beautiful city of Fort Collins in northern Colorado and she kindly offered her guest room to keep my expenses down. Kelly doesn't live in Fort Collins exactly but in a suburb called Severance. Talk about your true bedroom community: Severance has two banks, two bars, two schools, a drive-up liquor store and a convenience store/gas station. Other than that, it's all houses; sleep in Severance, work in the Fort.

In brief, before I just dump photos on you, let me say the highlights of my trip (aside from seeing a friend) were:

1. New Belgium Brewery tour - I want to work there! Fort Collins is an amazingly bike-friendly community and New Belgium is the city's poster child business for bike advocacy. The brewery was founded by a cyclist and there's a great story about the connection between bikes and New Belgium beer. Take the tour and you'll hear it right off the bat.

2. Estes Park - Our jaunt to the touristy Estes Park was dampened only slightly by the fact that most of the shops were closed. It was pushing 5 o'clock, but more importantly, we learned that many of the shops close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after October. D'oh! But that allowed us to focus on the herd of elk we saw as we left town, after a brief visit to the Stanley Hotel, inspiration for Stephen King's "The Shining." As a fan of horror, I was thrilled to have a photo taken there and to make a brief self-guided tour. And they have some of the coolest mementos in the gift shop. We were also blessed with a small herd of bighorn sheep along the roadside on the drive up to Estes.

3. Rocky Mountain Oysters at Bruce's - Kelly assures me the bull balls from Bruce's are famous state-wide. From the story of "Rocky Mountain Oysters ... a delicacy of the West" on the cover of the menu: "Through all the years, however, it appears that one of hte primary reasons for the staying power of this place is the Rocky Mountain Oysters. People from all walks of life enjoy their experience here. College students, often seated right next to doctors and lawyers, devour massive amounts of Rocky Mountain Oysters on 'All You Can Eat' nights. ... Without a doubt, it is Bruce's Bar that has helped put Severance on the map. This fact was reinforced when a sign was erected in the center of town, which bears the slogan 'Town of Severance--Where the Geese Fly and the Bulls Cry.'"

Yes, I devoured a basket and a half. I'm told a lot of folks will consume two or three baskets full. In my defense, I was pretty full from all the free samples at New Belgium. Honestly, the cuisine was delish, though I was a little taken aback to discover they weren't round. Those testicles have been pounded to tenderize the meat. Ouch! Personally, though, I'd serve 'em up in a brown paper bag, just for kicks.

There you have it, Fort Collins in a nut shell. No pun intended.

That's the Stanley (the Overlook in "The Shining.")

Our tour guide Suzie "Q" demostrates the proper way
to pour. We all got to try our hand at it.

The goal: a nice two-finger head.

Suzie doled out samples of Ranger, New Belgium's IPA. The
samples were precursor to a view of the bottling line. I
guessed closest (800) to the number of bottles filled per
minute (720) on the new line, winning me a fresh bottle of
Ranger. We received our glasses at 3:58 p.m.; the bottles
were filled at 3:21 p.m. That is fresh beer!