During the Christmas to New Year week my wife (KJ) and I (Tall Dave) visited my Father in Waterloo, Iowa. We had a flexible schedule so we decided to put some faces on Rats I've gotten to know in the BRC. Plans were made for a midweek trip to Des Moines and overnight in Ames to meet Aidan, Jethro Gump, and Chef. Our return trip to Ohio took us through northern Illinois, hence an overnight stay at Skot's and Dorothy's on Sat. would allow us to meet a whole pack of ChiTown Rats. Well the best laid plans of Mice...err....Rats and Men often go astray, and they most certainly did on this trip!! Mother Nature reared her ugly head, as often happens during Midwest winters, and blessed us with snow for both Rat get togethers. The Des Moines trip was moderately affected but the Chicago stop was one for the records!!! Thus I have dubbed all involved with our rendezvous....SnowRats!! With snow in the forecast, a Tue. night call to Aidan in Omaha, NE ("a little stinking snow aint going to slow this NY Yankee!!") confirmed our plan to meet Wed. afternoon in Des Moines at Court Ave. Brewing Co. (CABCo) where Jethro was employed as a brewer. We left Waterloo Wed. morning with windy gray skies, but no snow....that soon changed to flurries...then to heavy snow. Fortunately the snow was light and fluffy with the wind and traffic keeping accumulation on the highway negligible. However, encounters with semis dropped visibility to near zero for a few seconds. We arrived at CABCo only a few min. after our appointed time of 1:00. Aidan later told us that it had started snowing in Omaha much earlier and his trip was safe but he noted numerous cars and trucks off the road on I80 and that Chef sent his regrets due to the weather. Our entrance into the pub found it empty except for its keeper. Our request to see Jethro Gump resulted in "Damn he's a popular guy today" and a prompt page for him. While we waited anxiously to meet two Rat icons we ordered beers and set up a tab (which must have been lost later...heh, heh, heh). In a couple of minutes we were shaking hands with both brewing giants. After greetings and inquiries about the trips, JG announced "Grab your beer, cup your smoke, and lets go"....off we went...down into the bowels of the building....down to the refrigerated room with the serving and bright tanks. JG was in the middle of a DE (diatomaceous earth) filtering run for a wheat beer soon to be served. WOW!!!.....Big tanks everywhere....plumbing.....hoses....all made turning around an adventure for me. DAMN.....I left the camera in the car a block away in a raging blizzard. We got a thorough explanation and demonstration of the process as well as a nifty behind the scenes tour of the brewery. Then back upstairs to refill our glasses, contemplate lunch, and let JG get stuffs done. The first order of business was to inspect the cracked window pane by the street in the brewery. Apparently the boil tun was installed a bit too close to the street side window and the boil of the day along with the bitter cold outside over stressed it. Blood pressures dropped once it was determined that the window was double paned, the crack was inside, and that no passers-by were in danger (still not wanting to brave the blizzard for the camera). Its mid afternoon and a few pints by now, so we decided to get serious about lunch. The menu was a typical brew pub mix of appetizers, entrees, dinners, and sandwiches. All 3 of us were extremely pleased with our meals, very much in tune with the elegant decor of the establishment. The remainder of the afternoon was spent sampling beers and enjoying each others company and conversation in a way not possible' in the long distance, often times hectic, BRC. After lunch Aidan and I braved the elements to grab the camera and make a "goodies" exchange in the parking garage. Here's a few pict from the afternoon... Left to right: TD, Aidan, and JG Aidan and JG Steve (head brewer) and JG JG During the afternoon I became increasingly worried about the plan to migrate up to Ames for the night because of the continuing blizzard. Aidan was returning to Omaha that night which meant at least an additional hour of blizzardly travel home for him. JG commented that little Robbie was under the weather and perhaps Ames was not a good idea. He then suggested that KJ and I get a room at the Kirkwood Hotel (which was connected to CABCo by an elevator and sky walk). Thereby we wouldn't have to brave the elements in search of a motel and Aidan could hang out for a few more hours while we would reluctantly bid adieu to JG until next time. However, JG did grace us by hanging around for a couple of post-work pints and excellent conversation.....not to mention the growlers of Heather ale he laid on us. He also ensured that CABCo would continue to treat us royally after he left. After a couple of false starts and a disheartening good-bye the duty of family called to JG and he headed out into the elements for the 45 mi. drive to Ames. Aidan, KJ, and I warmly (note the skywalk) relocated to the hotel room (get your mind out of the gutter!!) to continue the lies, bullshit, camaraderie, and HOMEBREW!! Whilst hanging out in the room, someone turned on the TV and there were "Special Reports" about a propane explosion in N.E. Des Moines. We were not very far from the evacuation zone and had a clear view of the residual smoke from our 7th story window (a day time shot). However, of greater concern was JG....the explosion had happened about the time he left and was traveling the Interstates that were closed in its aftermath. It turns out that he missed it all.....whew!!.....save for the snowy travel. We never did make it back down to CABCo for more royal treatment. It was too special drinking HB in person with Aidan!! I consumed a full growler of Aidan's most excellent ESB and a good part of his wit growler. On the other hand, Aidan was much more moderate (the drive) by drinking only a couple of the bottles I brought. Welp....all things must come to an end, as it did with my time with Dirt Dude (Aidan). His departure left an emptiness in the room, a deep concern for his safe trip home, and a much better understanding of a long distance friend. On to.... Chicago SnowRats