Traveling back west

After Leaving Arkansas I had no clue where to go, the south was going to be hot and humid going back east would be a lot more travel and humidity! So west it was with a stop in the newly crowned LA Olympic city of Oklahoma City, OK staying at Core 4 Brewery in the downtown area. This was a fun stop as the couple who owned the brewery were some of the coolest people I have met and their beer was great! Talking with them I really heard a lot of my goals and hopes as they talked about their brewery as a change maker in their community. Like most downtown areas they have their issues, I saw that with plenty of police activity while I was there, but as change makers they are pushing through, they are active in their business association and they have a charity they work with every month. The one they were supporting when I was there was one that is integral to the LGBT community in OK City. I asked them why they chose that one they said that it saved lives.  It blew my mind again as the media keeps playing up the rugged individualism in this country but again I stumbled into a business that gets that the only successful country is one that cares for their neighbor.
From OK City I went to Albuquerque. I realized in this stop in Albuquerque that it is one of those places that is a total home base for me. Even though I have been back to Albuquerque many times since my grandparents left and died I actually drove by their house, the little sliver of a lot looked the exact same and when I stopped I had to laugh as I remember a picture of me when I was 13 in a white linen blazer and pants with a salmon linen shirt my grandmother bought me. The memories made me tear up so I had to reset reality and went for Mexican. OMG I had the biggest stuff sopapilla I had ever seen smothered in the New Mexico red chili (I never did the green chili thing) that was so amazing! 
I headed out to Ft. Collins but before leaving Albuquerque I got to see one of the funnest parts of Albuquerque, the Hot air Balloons in the early morning, a great send off and final memory as I doubt I will make it back to New Mexico in this trip. 
The drive to Ft. Collins was uneventful which allowed me to enjoy the scenery, well as much as I could make out through the haze of fires and heat.  In got into Ft. Collins just in time to get a tour the famous New Belgium Brewery. Though part of a conglomerate now, Fat Tire beer was something that holds many good memories as it was the favorite beer of one of my better friends in seminary and we would often share a six pack when we could find it.
That Night I stayed at another harvest host site and then headed to a KOA in Utah with the thought of going to Boise, ID but a combination of a fire and heat had me detour to Idaho Falls, ID. I found a campground on the Snake River a little over a mile from the downtown area which was perfect for biking down there. I really had no expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a community that was delightfully simple for a tourist town with lots of local shops and pretty devoid of the typical tourist trap. The town hosted what might have been one of the largest farmers markets I have been on in my tour and the unique products made me jealous for the people of that community and unlike so many farmers markets thing were fairly reasonable, I bought a bone for joy that was bigger then her head yet was only $5.  What was really unexpected was the distillery that I found.  The owner/distiller was a woman who totally embraced the community, so much so that she named her vodka after a historic burlesque drag performer and leader in the community named Hotcha, not something I would have expected in Idaho, but one of the biggest things I have learned on my trip is that things are often different then you’d expect.