Hawks Defeat Pitt

Joe here,

Big day for Iowa.  The first 3 quarters looked rough, but we finally came alive and scored 4 straight TD's to finish the game and get the W, 31 to 27.  We definitely needed the win.  With a win next weekend we will be 3 and 1 in non-conference.  The confidence boost was necessary as in three weeks we start the conference schedule against PSU.

Bernstein was back healthy which helped out the D.  Other line up changes were made for the D which seemed to make a difference, including moving Hyde back to CB.  He ended up having 2 interceptions, 1 that ended Pitt's last drive and allowed Iowa to down it out.

The receiving corp definitely looks to be a strength for Iowa.  Hopefully Vandy can improve his consistency.  KMM came alive today with Iowa's last 2 TD passes.  And Davis and McNutt were great targets.  Three solid receivers and good TE play will make it difficult for any team to defend, which is what Iowa needs to build off of and base our offense around.

Bullock got in today as Coker's backup and looked speedy.  It would be nice to see him get more carries as Coker has looked mediocre.  Hopefully we can continue to make strides in our running game.  Until this improves and becomes more dynamic I think Iowa needs to be a pass first team.

My hope is that over the next two weeks (against Louisiana-Monroe, then a bye) we can fine tune our defensive line-up, and get the offense more on the same page.  The 4th quarter showed some great potential for Iowa and hopefully something we can build on.  It's also really good to see Iowa finally win a close one, it seems like we have been on the losing end of those for the last year and a half.

In Kirk We Trust.

Picture source: http://iowa.rivals.com/default.asp

Cal at Colorado Football

Cal played at Colorado in Boulder this past weekend and I was fortunate to get a ticket and go with some other Marriott associates. It was my first time seeing both teams play in person and weird going to a college football game where Iowa wasn't playing. I borrowed a shirt from a co-worker and fit in like a true fan.
The campus was near the mountains and had some neat buildings.

It was a beautiful day with plenty of sun and hardly any clouds. Luckily I got some sunscreen for someone or else I would have burned to a crisp.

 

Ralphie is the Colorado mascot and he's not just any mascot, he's a real buffalo. I thought seeing him close up was so cool and so did the kids. It was even more fun watching the students run on the field with Ralphie. They were running so fast and could hardly keep up with the beast!

Like I said, I found a way to fit in!

Coors Brewery Tour

Part of my work trip includes experiencing the city and knowing the area around the hotel to better sell the properties. I just happened to be staying at the Denver Marriott West last week which is technically in Golden, Colorado. Also in Golden is the Coors Factory that offers free brewery tours.

I've been to a couple breweries and usually the part about how the beer is actually made bores me. It's all the same to me. None the less here are some pictures of the factory and the brewing process.

Here are a few fun facts about Coors I picked up along the way:

• It takes an average of 55 days to brew a Coors beer (the longest in the industry)
• 60% of Coors beer is canned
• The shelf life of a Coors beer in a can is 119 days

Of course the best part of brewery tours is the free beer at the end. I'm not on the phone in this picture, that is how the tour is led. You follow the signs and listen to the tour as you go.

I also walked into the small downtown of Golden where there were some little boutique hotels and cute shops.

The mountains in the background of the town were pretty cool too.

Yakini

A couple weeks we joined a bunch of Joe's co-workers at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Japantown. Don't ask... I don't get it either. It was a suggestion from one of Joe's co-workers and it was a lot of fun. It was definitely not the kind of restaurant that I would normally choose to eat at, but that's the beauty of experiencing new things.

Each table had a grill pan in the center. It was an all you can eat menu so you ordered 3 items at a time, they brought the raw meat and you cooked it yourself. The menu included such items as garlic butter chicken, beef brisket and spicy chicken. On the not so conservative side there was also neck meat, beef tongue and baby octopus. Of course we had to try pretty much everything... it was all you can eat!

There were two firsts for me that night... I ate beef tongue and baby octopus! Here's a picture of the octopus on the grill. We made sure to really crisp them up. Sorry again for the photos, I really need a better camera phone!

Darby here in the picture needed to get ready so he put on his sunglasses. We ate the octopus at the same time. Not to say it necessarily tasted bad... but it was so chewy and hard to swallow. Anyways, once is enough for me, but at least I can say I tried it!

Sonoma Valley

You might remember we have already experienced Napa Valley, but now wanted to see what Sonoma Valley was all about. You can see our trip to Napa Valley in part one and part two. The trip to Sonoma was much different, it was only Joe and I.

We rented a car (third weekend in a row we've rented one) and drove north about an hour. Like always it was foggy and we didn't get any good pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, but we still stopped to snap a quick pic.

We stated at the town of Sonoma and the town plaza. We got a map of the historic sites around the town and more importantly, the wineries in the valley. We didn't have much of a plan for the day other than dinner, but more on that later. The mission in Sonoma is the only one dedicated under Mexican rule. We didn't go inside, but got our history lesson from the outside.

Our day pretty much consisted of driving to a winery, checking out the scenery, walking through the building and taking some pictures. The wineries we visited were Ledson, Kunde Estates, BR Cohn, Arrowood and Berringer. Berringer is technically in Napa Valley, we actually drove over the mountain that separates Sonoma and Napa and what makes each area a valley.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Back to the only thing we had planned out for this trip, dinner. I won a gift certificate at work which was good for dinner for two at Carneros Bistro & Bar located at The Lodge at Sonoma which is a Renaissance property. The gift certificate was worth $125 and we ended up eating our monies worth. It was a great way to eat our day in Sonoma.

We may have left the city over the Golden Gate Bridge, but we returned to the city via the Bay Bridge. It was so cool at night all lit up. You can even see the city in the background to the right. Home sweet home:)

Sidenote: I'm leaving today on a work trip. I'll do my best to blog while I'm gone, but I'm not promising anything. I'm excited to get the chance to visit Denver, Colorado, Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah.