The Cross Country Trip & I have a wine job all in one post!!

First, a special thanks to the family and friends that were ever so gracious enough to let my brother and I couch surf across our vast country.  I am grateful to have you all in my life!!! 

And the tale continues.....  

We left Hudsonville, MI on Sunday morning after much time at the Lake, on the Michigan wine trail, and gorging ourselves with home cooking, we left full, satisfied, and ready for the trip.  It was basically clear sailing until we got to Chicago, TRAFFIC JAM.  Chicago is known for its horrible traffic and to make things worse we arrived the last day of Lollapalooza!

 
We made it to Milwaukee around 2pm (YES we gained an hour, we were so pumped) and went straight to the beach for some beers and bocce ball.  More beach!!

After some serious sun and suds we went straight back to my friend Mike's and Trevor's place for some Michigan wine.  The wine we chose to crack was the St. Julian Pinot and it was a show stopper.  Not only was everyone impressed with it at the crib but even when we went to Balzac http://balzacwinebar.com/ the Michigan wine beat every wine we had and we had a lot! The only thing we weren't able to do was to compare it to a French Burgundy, that is why I may or may not have bought a case of it!

On to Balzac, for those that have been know what it's about, for those that haven't I will quote my brother, "delicious, that was the best meal I have ever had!"  If you find yourself in Milwaukee or if you live in Milwaukee, GO TO BALZAC now and get the mac n cheese, crab cakes, lamb skewers, roasted duck nachos, manchego brulee.. get it all!!!  GET IT ALL.  Sorry for all of the shouting but its that good!  

The next day we were off to South Dakota to stay at my friends farm.  We arrived and were immediately put to work helping harvest the corn.  We were repaid with an awesome awesome meal.  Basically, everything except the meat was grown on the farm and was as fresh as could be.  Literally, soil to plate.  We had corn (of course), fresh tomatoes, carrots, homemade bread, potatoes pulled straight from the dirt.  It was the freshest meal I have ever had.  Also, the most flavorful!

Corn!!!

The drive from Milwaukee to South Dakota was pretty brutal, about 9 hours of corn and a straight road.  What we didn't know was that this would be the theme until passed Denver!!  The sea of corn was a sight to see (hahah sea/see, you didn't know I had talent did you?) 

Next day was our big trip to Denver, 10 hours!  Much of the same that we had in South Dakota, the day was filled with more corn and then desert and of course our beloved straight road.

The insane straight road!!!

We pulled into Denver and my brother noticed that my car wouldn't GO when you hit the gas.  We noticed that the AC wasn't working very well ever since we left Hudsonville.  When we stopped the read end of the car was making a loud annoying noise.  Luckily, Scott new of a legit mechanic, 500 dollars later, and new fuel pump... we stayed in Denver for 2 days which was great, we needed the rest.  We were also fed like kings, Scott's wife Mayra made us some superb Brazilian food complete with desert!!

Felt shady at first but these guys were the best.  Thanks Victors for getting my car done in a day!

Next stop Salt Lake City.  We decided to take the scenic route through the mountains which probably added an hour of time, it was well worth it. 

Followed by more desert..... noooo!!!  For the most part my brother had the great privilege of driving on the super flat roads.

hahaha, so flat, so flat and boring

We arrived at Salt Lake.... unfortunately there are no pictures of the night out in Salt Lake.  I will just say that we bar hoped to 6 or so bars and the next day wasn't too pleasant! ha!

Next stop Reno, where we were treated like kings.  Chef George and Sous Chef Amber cooked us up a superb meal and we put a serious dent into their wine collection.  12 delicious bottles (shared among 7 people, it wasn't just us), great music, even better people!!!

Next day....... we made it to San Francisco!

This isn't San Francisco, just a picture on the salt flats. 

THIS JUST IN.......... as promised by the title of my pose.
I have more exciting news to report, some of you may have heard, I have been offered a position at a winery!!!  This is a lead that I thought went dead but it reemerged from them depths.  Its all still very fresh, I  interviewed today, met the crew and head back to wine country tomorrow to find a place to live!!!  After the interview I looked at apartments all day!  I'm so exhausted. 

Good night, and godspeed.