"Let's take a weekend trip to Colorado," my friend Greek said to me on October 3. "There are some breweries I want to see."
"Colorado is my second favorite state. I'm in," I said.
We targeted a weekend in December.
Days later Greek texted me, "It's cold in December. How about we go in two weeks."
"Sure, why not."
Kayak for flight + Priceline for rental car = booked.
We stayed in between Boulder and Denver. We planned specific breweries to visit each of our three days in Colorado and otherwise went wherever our rental minivan took us. Town & Country led us high in elevation in hippie-town Nederland and to McDonald's for three straight breakfasts even though McDonald's now serves breakfast all day. Though, the main purpose of the trip turned out to be logging beers in the app Untappd.
We had great fun and learned a life lesson: we're too old for this shit.
Some photos from our trip are below. I also recorded parts of our trip and published a video, which you can watch on YouTube or directly below if your browser supports it. Cheers!
Avery brewery built a stunning new facility. It's awesome. Avery's Rumpkin beer has 18 percent alcohol by volume. It's not awesome.
Feeling on top of the world many thousand feet above sea level in Nederland, Colorado . . . until my thalassemia trait (low hemoglobin) revolted against the limited oxygen.
I rated this Titan IPA from Great Divide Brewery four stars on Untappd. Greek liked this rating. I later gave the Yetti beer two stars, which Greek gave a double negative toast.
Greek was so excited to see Dale, founder of Oskar Blues Brewery, that he was researching Dale's life and looking at pictures of Dale 12 hours later. Did you know Dale provides his employees with free massages (not personally) every week? Yeah I didn't care, either.
Greek weighed his suitcase before leaving so he knew exactly how much weight in beers he could take back home. He over-purchased, including this pack of six beers at Oskar Blues for nearly $80, and had to leave some for the maids at the hotel.
It would take me a while to get used to seeing this.
Newsweek — "Blogs like cancerslayerblog are just one way younger patients are addressing the absurdity of life with cancer with humor, rather than pink-ribboned, glassy-eyed earnestness."
“SECRETS is one of the more unique boyhood stories of survivorship and overcoming unexpected challenges during our maturing years. Rubenstein’s positivity serves as a reminder that no matter the setback, obstacles can always be overcome with the right mindset and a great support system around you. Children and teens with cancer or other illnesses will find SECRETS funny, truthful and inspiring.” — Doug Ulman, President/CEO of Livestrong
TWICE, the MEMOIR
“Benjamin Rubenstein is a gifted story-teller and the story he tells in TWICE is riveting. This is a stunning page-turner of a memoir, devoid of the mawkishness that often mars the genre. TWICE is brutally honest, sometimes rib-achingly funny and all the more profound for the author’s brave exploration of himself.” – Jonathan Kellerman, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"An inspiring and fascinating personal account of a long and often painful journey.” — Library Journal
"Benjamin shared his amazing story with me and my oncology massage students and brought a new perspective to our class discussion. His story is not like others any of us had heard. His humor, self-awareness and total openness inspired a real and valuable discussion about what it means to discover who you are through cancer treatment…and then about how you can go on to more than live your life after. — Lauren Cates, President, Society for Oncology Massage
“Listening to Benjamin Rubenstein. I think he might be superman. But funnier.” — Rebecca Nellis, Chief Mission Officer at Cancer and Careers
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