Road to Loudwire Music Festival, Day Ten: Another 500 Miles

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.

We got to Manhattan, Kan., late last night (June 23), rested up, and jumped in the Sorento this morning for a 500-mile hike to Denver. If you've ever driven through the great state of Kansas, you know that it can be very, very pretty -- Flint Hills -- and it can be very, very boring -- anything west of Manhattan (including eastern Colorado!).

Fortunately, with the Kia's smooth ride and perfect Clari-Fi sound system and the great quality of the interstate, about 490 miles of the ride blew right past us.

The last 10 miles or so, though, brought with it cloud bursts, tornado sirens, hail and flash flood warnings. We heard on the radio that Denver was getting hit with about two inches of rain in just 30 minutes ... and we were in the thick of it! Water was piling up to the base of our doors and the highway was a parking lot. Fortunately, we peeled off on a side road and (carefully) made our way to the hotel in downtown Denver.

To be honest, it was a pretty tense drive. Steve was at the helm and did a master job at maneuvering the crazy weather; when we arrived to the hotel, we both looked at each other and were really impressed with how the Sorento handled itself. If we were in another car, we might not have had such an easy time getting through the torrential downpour.

Now that we're safe and sound in our hotel room -- and the rain has finally subsided -- we're thinking about drying off and heading back out into the city. We have a number of record shops we want to hit, including Twist and Shout and Wax Trax, and we definitely want to head out and explore some of the "scenic routes" that surround this capital city.

Steve and I aren't ready for this road trip to come to an end, but the destination will be worth it: Tomorrow, we'll part ways with Denver, pack up the Sorento and hit the road to Grand Junction so we can kick off Loudwire Music Festival!