I'm Gone! Road Trip Home!

Beer Luvvas,

ASG has left Arizona! Yes boys and girls, my time in PHellX is over. After three years I have left for greener pastures - and better beer!

G's Dad flew down and we had a 2 day road trip back to Portland, OR. We chose to go North through Flagstaff and up into Salt Lake City since we knew of a couple pubs in SLC for us to enjoy a beer, or two, after a long day of driving.

Unfortunately, we didn't find anything next to HWY 89 in Paige, AZ for lunch.

We drove into SLC late, so we stopped @ the pub we were most familiar with on the South Side (Sandy/West Jordan) side of town: Hoppers! I had a pint of Madame X Stout (on Nitro), and G's Dad had the Rockwell Porter. Both fine brews, and each sip reminded me of my 2 month ski sabbatical a few years ago when I lived across the street.

Don't let people bad-mouth UT beer. Just because it's 3-2 beer, doesn't mean it's not a good quaff. It just means that you get full before you get wasted! Which makes driving home easier to manage.

The next day, we stopped for lunch in "Historic" Baker City, OR; and when we pulled off I-84 we were excited to see a billboard advertising the local Microbrew Pub: Barley Brown's Brew Pub. Unfortunately, they didn't open until 4pm; so we were unable to sample their wares. So we walked down Main Street to the local Tav/Sports Bar and each had a 22oz glass of Alaskan Amber. I love this state! Baker City's biggest days were around the 1890s, and yet the local Tav had multiple fine quaffs to choose from!

Finally, since we were driving through Hood River, we stopped and grabbed a growler from Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom. Knowing I was returning to Beervana, I forced myself to avoid the Hop Lava (it's available in multiple establishments within the city limits of PDX), and picked Simbrau - the Master Brewer's special Oktoberfest. It was fantastic! G's Dad and I polished off most of the growler (G's Mom had a couple small sips) over dinner in the old homestead.....

Yep, I'm in my mid 30's, currently unemployed (til Monday), and I've moved back in with my parents (til the wife joins me here in Beervana @ the end of October). Life is bliss!

Tomorrow I'll report out on my first afternoon back in Beervana - yes, I had a couple beers!

Prost to the fact that you can come home again!