Another super productive trip out to the trade show in Salt Lake City! We drove (yes drove!) out of Columbus tuesday morning and made it to western Nebraska for our first night camping right off the freeway. Wednesday found us once again in Ft. Collins, CO where we sipped fresh brews at Odell's and the New Belgum brewery before having dinner and heading north of town into the hills to search out our camp. After some temporary misplacement on the backroads we found our home for the night at an amazing campground. Pale Ales and a great fire under the stars helped us unwind before the busy days ahead.
The drive from northern CO to Salt Lake City is mostly downhill which was a good thing as the trusty Subaru we drove decided her front axles were tired and shook the car near violently the last few miles into town. Checked into our super secret hotel just south of downtown and found the local repair shop for the car. As we walked back to the hotel we found a Brazillion Steakhouse and had a feast for dinner.
Friday morning the car was fixed before the show even started and thus began two full days of nose the grindstone appointments with our main lines in the store and some new large lines just starting to trickle in. As usual the show is massive and the crowd can get thick at times as we swam through trying to make our many appointments on time.
Sunday we had a bit more breathing room to check out new products and set appointments for the closing day of the show, Monday, which we left wide open to wrap up with the new lines we want to add to the mix. Staying on top of the new and upcomming companies who are always pushing the industry foreward is the main reason we travel out to the trade show every year. There are regional shows closer to home that lack the new companies we are always seeking out. We want to keep the store fresh and always evolving which is why the big show in Salt Lake City is so important to our business platform.
Monday morning we checked out of our favorite hotel and wrapped up the show by placing orders with some real gems we found and seeing the last few companies we couldn't catch the first three days. After closing the show and having lunch at a great little deli we slipped out of town like we were never there.
Towards Boulder we headed and camped about half-way that night at an interesting campground where most of the campers seemed to be living on the grounds for an extended time. Up early on tuesday morning and made it to Boulder by early afternoon. Connected up with a brother-in-law who is working in Boulder for dinner and then the three of us headed down to Redrocks to catch Jethro Tull! What a great way to end our roadtrip. A bit of trivia for the rock fans out there: In 1971 Juthro Tull was the first rock show to happen at this beautiful music venue. A near riot broke out and the police were dropping tear gas outside the venue from helicopters! Needless to say rock shows were banned from Redrocks for the next five years. Think I am crazy? Go ahead, Google it...
After the show the sprint home began and just about 20 hours later we were home in our beds with our wives and dogs happy to have us back.
Keep an eye on the website for continuing updates about the new toys coming to a locally owned and operated outfitter near you!
