Latest Escapades and my latest blog: 2 Hour Appreneur

For those of you that follow this travel blog, I wanted to let you know that I just started a new blog called the “2 Hour Appreneur“.  The new blog is the result of a new experiment I am trying out. For the last year, I have been infatuated with mobile apps and people who build them.

Since I love business and life hacking, I thought I would perform an experiment to determine if a person can start a business building iPhone/iPad/Android apps and work only about 2 hours a day doing it. During this journey, I will document everything along the way.

If you are interested in this topic and would like to get an email each time I post to it, go to http://2hourappreneur.wordpress.com, scroll to the bottom right of the page and look for something that says “Follow Blog via Email“. Enter your email there and you will receive the blog automatically when I post a new one.

I started this blog about 2 weeks ago and I already have 533+ followers!  Wow!

What Have You Missed So Far?

I started the blog about 2 weeks ago and have posted 2 blogs so far:

• Build a Mobile App Business Working 2 Hours a Day? – In this blog I explain how and why I came up with the idea of this experiment.
• What App Should I Build? – Talks about how to choose what app you should consider building if you want to become an #appreneur.

What’s Going On With Us?

Lynn and I are still in Fort Collins, Colorado hanging out with our boys, visiting breweries, hiking, cycling, and working out. Here are a few recent pictures from our escapades:

Hiking in Fort Collins

We found a cool hiking trail called “The Devils Backbone”.  It is a moderately easy trail, taking about 1.5 hours to complete.  It ascends up the side of a mountain with an incredible view of the valley below seen through a natural hole in the rock formations, called the “Keyhole”.

Keyhole

Katie enjoyed the hike but was sore the next day

Singletrack trails

I also found a hike at Shields Ponds that slinks next to the Poudre River, circling back by a working farm. I took this picture of a old truck that was still being used on the farm today. Very cool.

Old truck on working farm

Cycling

We found a really long cycling trail in Windsor, just a few miles from Fort Collins. It is snakes along the Poudre River and runs through cattle farms, neighborhoods, and nature preserves. I am not sure exactly how long the trail is but my guess is that it is around 25 to 30 miles one way. Lynn and I purchased road bikes recently and have been trying them out on these trails.

Cycling the Poudre Trail

Scenes along the bike trail

Exploring New Breweries

We have also been exploring new breweries. In my last blog post, I talked about the huge population of breweries in Fort Collins. It is true, here are a few more.

C.B. & Potts

Pateros Creek Brewery

Pateros Creek Brewery

Funkwerks Brewery

Tour of Funkwerks

Beer Menu on the Big Screen – Mayor of Old Town

The Mayor of Old Town Brewery

Freedoms Edge Brewery

Update on the App Development of aMemoryJog

As many of your know, I blogged about developing a web based product and an accompanying mobile app that allows you to track all your passwords, loyalty cards and just about anything else that is easily forgettable — putting all of that info at your fingertips.

The web version of this is done and I am getting several hundred people downloading it each month. I subcontracted out the app development and it should be selling for the iPhone in the Apple App Store in July or August. Here is what it looks like. If you haven’t done it yet, download a free trial here. The iPhone edition will have both a free and paid edition, so you could use it for free once it hits the App Store in a couple of months.

aMemoryJog – Web and iPhone versions

What’s Next for Us?

Lynn and I will be heading back to the Florida for May to enjoy the sun and surf before summer begins. We are planning a summer trip to Utah to visit some of their incredible state parks, a trip to Greece in the fall and a trip to Ireland for Thanksgiving. Lots of exciting days ahead!

Fort Collins Brew-HaHa

Fort Collins: A Crafty City

If you know an IBU from ABV, you will fit in nicely here in Fort Collins, Colorado. You can barely throw a stone without hitting a craft brewery and a typical outing consists of biking to a craft brewery, sampling a flight of beer or grabbing a quick meal to be washed down with your favorite IPA or Hefeweizen.

In the past month, we have been making a weekly trek to a different brewery. In case you are ever in our nape of the woods, here is a lowdown on some of our favorites. And if you are still confused between an IBU and a ABV, hang tight.

Fort Collins Brewery

This is one of favorites, it has a nice restaurant called Gravity, where you can munch on a burger or a southern fried chicken meal. Their southern fried chicken tastes nothing like what you would get in Georgia, but I think it is better. It is lightly fried in beer batter giving it a sweet yet crispy taste – yummy!

Fort Collins Brewery

I really like the way the bar is next to the eating area, surrounded by an open-air view of the brewing process.

Fort Collins Brewery

Fort Collins Brewery

Here’s how I ordered: I was considering Greener Pastures but I’ll settle for the Voluptuous Blond. Good choice – they happened to be out of the Greener Pastures. Is the grass really ever any greener?

Fort Collins Brewery

Alright, I promised I would clue in you on ABV (you might notice that abbreviation next to each beer above). ABV stands for Alcohol by Volume, so the higher the number, the more critical it is to have a DD (designated driver).

Fort Collins Brewery

New Belgium Brewery

If you’ve ever had a Fat Tire, you’ve tasted a brew from New Belgium. They probably have the best beer tour in Fort Collins and their funky-yet-groovy vibe is very Coloradoish. The tour guides are passionate about beer and to get a job here requires being on a waiting list for a year or more. My favorite beer was the Snapshot Wheat, you are probably starting to guess that I like Wheat, Hefeweizen and Pilsners. They tend to have a low IBU. What? IBU? It stands for International Bitter Unit. The larger the number, the more bitter it tastes.

New Belgium Brewery

New Belgium Brewery

Odell Brewery

Odell has a cool tasting room, where you can sit by a fire pit and listen to a local band. You can also schedule a tour to see the magic of the brew. My favorite beer here is the Easy Street Wheat, it has a really smooth texture and goes down easy.

Odell Brewery

From the tasting room at Odell Brewery

Black Bottle Brewery

This brewery feels more like a local pub than an actual brewery. It is housed in a store front and you won’t see any brew kettles or pipes — just a bar sporting their beer (maybe the kettles are located out of view). We went on a weekday around 2 p.m. and they had a special going until 3 p.m. that included one of their craft beers, 2 sliders, and fries for just $8.00. Not bad, and the brew was good too. And their black bottles are too cool looking.

Black Bottle Brewery

The vibe is definitely hipsteresque. When you go to the door, a sign greets you with “Hippies must take the back entry” and “Sorry, we are open”. In fact, one of their brews is aptly named Hipster. But my favorite named beer is “Bitches Get Stitches” — too funny!.

Equinox Brewing

This small brewery has also has a Hipster vibe. As you walk in, you might hear bluegrass music playing, bringing back memories of “Brother Where Art Thou”. I like that the brewery is very cyclist friendly, notice all of the bike racks on the left side of the building. My kind of place.

Equinox Brewing

Equinox Brewing

We ordered a flight of ales that did not disappoint.

Equinox Brewing

Equinox has a beer garden in the back, adding another level of coolness to this place.

Equinox Brewing Beer Garden

Speaking of IBU — check out the Super Collider. It has an IBU of 185. Wow, that’s high! Wheat beers normally have an IBU of about 25 – 40. Once I saw that I had to taste it and it lived up to that rating – very bitter!

Equinox Brewing – Super Collider

Coopersmith Brewery

When we got to Coopersmith, we were seated at a small table by the window. With tons of available seating, we asked if we could be moved to a booth. The hostess copped a bit of an attitude and we almost walked out. But the waitress came over and she was really good. We ordered wings and beer bread and washed it down with a Hefeweizen — peace and harmony were quickly restored.

Coopersmith Brewery

Coopersmith Brewery

Coopersmith Brewery

Never Enough Time

We still have more breweries to visit – including C.B. & Potts (the original one was founded here in Fort Collins), Funkwerks, and Pateros Creek Brewery. We will keep you updated on those. It would also be cool to visit the Anheuser-Busch location — it is home to the training grounds for the Clydesdale horses.

I would would also like to give a shout out to Grayton Beer Company — they are a local brewery in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. They had their grand opening just before we came to Colorado and it was fantastic. They had free beer all day, tours of the brewery, a band duo, food, and just an incredible outing. And their Beach Blond is silky smooth.