The inaugural edition of Loudwire Music Festival is set for June 26-28, 2015, at Grand Junction, Colorado. Ahead of the fest, we're hitting the road in a 2016 Kia Sorento, traveling the states and finding new adventures as we make our way from New York City to Grand Junction. Where will we go? What will we see? Who will we run into? Follow along right here at Loudwire to find out, and make sure to keep an eye on #RoadToLoudwire on Twitter and Instagram.

Well, we picked up our car today. It's a gray 2016 Kia Sorento, and it's basically going to be our best friend for the next couple of weeks: My buddy, Steve, and I are hitting the road Tuesday morning to find our way to Grand Junction, Colo., for this year's Loudwire Music Festival.

Once we're out of New York, we'll spend the next several days getting to Colorado -- but we're not following a straight line. We plan to hit up Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Richmond, Va., Nashville, Indianapolis, Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City and Denver, all before we get to the festival campgrounds.

Obviously, though, we know a good road trip has to be open to spontaneity, so when the rubber hits the road, we're keeping open minds. What we want to do is simple: experience the country! Record stores, good food, concerts, locals ... we plan to soak in as much as we can in each city we stop; do you have any suggestions? Make sure to leave a comment below and we'll be sure to add it to our list.

Before our departure, we wanted to have a little fun in New York City, so, we swung by a few of our favorite spots, including the oldest hot doggery in the city for a quick bite:

And because we love record stores, we made our way down to Bleecker Street and spent a few pennies at Generation Records, one of the best stops for vinyl in the Big Apple. From the ground floor to the basement, new records to used 7"s, punk rock to metal, we could spend hours and hours flipping through Generation's offerings:

If you've never been to NYC, Bleecker Street (and the surrounding area) is packed with tons to do: Matt Umanov Guitars is a must, Bleecker Street Records and Village Music World are great additions to Generation Records, and the smallest piece of private property sits right outside Village Cigars, another staple in the West Village:

As we pack our bags and toss everything into the car, we realize there's one thing that's more important than deodorant, beef jerky or toothpaste: Mixtapes! With this particular journey, we're creating daily Spotify playlists (find us at loudwiremusic) that we'll be jamming in the Sorento -- and we hope you'll be jamming along with us.

Day one's playlist features a little bit of everything from this year's Loudwire Music Fest, and it sounds absolutely amazing in the Kia, thanks to Harman's Clari-Fi audio system.

Take the playlist for a spin below -- and stay tuned for more adventures as we hit the Road to Loudwire!

More From Loudwire