Colorado Week 9: Two Stories, One "Bonita" Ending

Autumn is on its way here in Colorado; which means yellow leaves, cool mornings, and the arrival of snow on the mountain peaks.  For the Bauers it also means that the time has come for a weekend of separate adventures on opposite sides of the country.  On the Friday afternoon of week 9, Minnie caught a plane to WV for her cousin’s wedding.  The ticket prices were pretty steep, so Bilbo stayed back in Colorado to do some exploring of his own.  We’ll get to that part of the story later, though.  For now, we are at the part where he drops Minnie off at the Denver International Airport, which looks a bit like the Sydney Opera House in my opinion, and kisses her goodbye. 

Minnie spent the rest of that day hopping airplanes with Stephen King in her carry-on (No, Maw Maw J, the actual person was not in the bag), and completing the obligatory dash across Dulles International Airport where she arrived at the gate just in time.  I swear, it is impossible to connect in Dulles without literally running across the airport. Before we move on, I think it this is the appropriate time to mention that Denver has the calmest, most efficiently run airport I’ve ever check-in at.  Even the crowd of passengers being herded through the security check, and the TSA officers shepherding them through, showed no sign of anxiety or approaching pandemonium.  So, Kudos to Denver International. 

The last flight of the night, the one Minnie barely made in Dulles, was far from packed as it carried its 6 passengers into West Virginia.  Minnie was surprised at how excited she was to hear an Appalachian dialect coming from the two fellows seated behind her…one of the sounds of home.  The plane landed just before midnight in a practically empty airfield.  This airport is very small and family members are still permitted to wait just inside the door to watch the plane land and their loved one disembark.  As Minnie approached the entrance she could see her brother, the Shrimp Meister, pressing his face against the glass doors and peering for, as she assumed, her.  However, when she walked in he didn’t even look at her, ignored her “Hello”, then hugged the two guys walking behind her.  Come to find out, he had been talking to the parents’ of these two and had become so excited to meet them that he had almost forgotten about her.  Oh, well.  Her parents were there to welcome her home and the Shrimp Meister soon joined in. 

Saturday morning brought wedding day, and everyone was a buzz with the work to be done.  With plenty of time to spare, the tables were set, the food prepared, and the cake was out.  The wedding had a beautiful fall theme with dark rich colors and gourds and foliage all around.

Minnie’s Mom, the Cake Queen, made a yummy cake with fresh flowers and groom’s cake that said, “I knew I should have gone huntin’ today.”  

The ceremony was lovely and quite short, which brought us to the PARTY!  Our family loves a wedding reception because we love to dance!  Of course the first dance went to the happy couple.

 

Then we all watched as our grandpa lead the bride around the floor.  That’s one of the fun things about our grandpa, he’s a good dancer and a very strong leader.  When you dance with him, you never know what you’re going to do, but there’s no question that he’ll lead you through it.  

For more pictures you can check out the professional’s work on the CJM Photography Facebook Page…Click here and pick the album labeled “Butner Wedding”.  Minnie was too busy having a good time to take many.  

Saturday night and Sunday morning were reserved for visiting with all of the family.  Most of us live in the same town, the majority of which are on the same street; however, others were in from out-of-state, as well.  Minnie had a wonderful visit and was sad to see it end so quickly, but she had to get back to Colorado.  Bilbo and work were awaiting.

Meanwhile, after dropping Minnie off at the airport, Bilbo drove to Boulder and did a bit of solo hiking at the Chautauqua Park, home of Boulder’s Flatirons.  These prominent rock features are quite majestic and can be see throughout most of the city.  They are obviously named for the metal flat irons used to straighten out those nasty wrinkles in your Sunday’s finest attire.  Bilbo supplied a pack with cold rib-eye steak, bread, water, and started the short hike to the top.  The park is beautiful and the hikes to the 1st and 2nd Flatirons provide great views of the mountains.  As you get higher, you can see all of Boulder and eventually you can see the skyscrapers of Denver!  The solo hike was super refreshing and it was great listening to some more of Song of Fire and Ice audio-book, though Minnie will have to get caught up.

After picking Minnie up at the airport, the team went to the world famous restaurant, Casa Bonita.  Now, if you come here expecting good food you will be sorely disappointed.  No, this destination is all about the tacky entertainment you get while they serve you Tex-Mex food that most elementary school cafeterias would be ashamed of.  

We made it just in time to enjoy the act with a couple of animal tamers and a fella in a Gorilla suit.  The next act was the famous cliff diving entertainment.  Yes, there is cliff diving.  This place has a 30 foot cliff and pool setup that much of the entertainment is centered around.  The whole place has kind of a Mexico-tropic theme though we got to enjoy all the Halloween decor as well.  The tacos were among the worst food we’ve had in our lives but the sopapillas were good.

   

 

Casa Bonita is so infamous that it is even featured in an episode of South Park, which Bilbo and Minnie have yet to see.  I’m sure it will bring back some warm memories and unsettled stomachs!

Speaking of scary, or were we?  Any how…Next week will bring us one of the most glorious days of the year…HALLOWEEN!  Our delay in posting has brought us to a point of serendipity as the next edition of the Rambling Bauers will feature our stay at the notoriously haunted Stanley Hotel.  Keep an eye out for it!

Colorado Week 8: Who Dunnit?

 

The year is 1930-something. You are a wealthy, well-traveled socialite just off the boat from New York to England.  The last leg of your tremendous journey is a scenic train ride from England’s shore to the bustling metropolis of London, complete with an invitation to the on-board party a certain all-knowing—perhaps too knowing—and affluent widow.  The only problem is she dies before the party begins!  Who on the train had enough to lose that they had to murder the wicked little blackmailer?  Well, I’m not going to tell you that, but I will tell you all about our evening on the Royal Gorge Route’s Murder Mystery Train Ride! 

  

The evening began with a twilight passage from Canon City through the Royal Gorge and progressed to dinner, a murder, and a show.  During the appetizer and salad courses of the meal, which were greatly extended to accommodate passengers’ sightseeing, we were free to linger on the open-air car as the train followed the Arizona River under the Royal Gorge Bridge.  The sun setting behind the mountains gave way to a starry night, and the train lit up the canyon as we meandered along. 

 

Once darkness fell, we were hailed back into the dinning car for the main course.  To be honest, we hadn’t expected to food to be any more than average.  This was about the atmosphere and the show, right?  Let me tell you that we were very pleasantly surprised by this…

an ENORMOUS hunk (that’s the best way I can describe it) of prime rib with asparagus, potatoes, and a horseradish/cheese dipping sauce. In case you were wondering, that whole plate IS covered in meat.  Of course neither of us were able to clean our plates, but did have enough room for the triple chocolate mousse desert.  So good! 

Prior to dinner, the key characters—the blackmailing widow, the Swiss banker, the Swedish furniture maker, the German ballerina, and her NY journalist hubby—mingled with the passengers, introducing themselves and sharing little tidbits about one another.  When dinner came, the formal show began with a scene to describe how the characters are connected and to, of course, kill off the rich widow.  During desert we were given the opportunity to “interrogate” the suspects then split into sleuthing teams to pin down who dunnit. 

 

Our team chose the Swedish furniture maker because his past is shadowed with the untimely death of his business partner…in a vat of feathers!  Alas, we were lead astray.  The murderer was revealed to us, but will remain a mystery to you.  I don’t want to ruin the surprise if anyone decides to jump aboard!

The next day we returned to Shelf Road for a full day of climbing!  We started off in an area new to us, Sand Gulch.  Bilbo did a couple of climbs and I tried one, but failed.  We had a great time, but the area was getting crowded, the sun was beating down, and our stomachs were beginning to growl.   So we moseyed on back to the car for a rest and some lunch.

 

Poptarts and peanut butter crackers consumed, we drove over to the Bank, where we had usually gone before.  The hike in to our destination is close to a mile, leading around the canyon and up to the rock face on the other side.  As we began, a single little dark cloud rolled in.  Undaunted by this little speck in the otherwise clear blue sky, we kept pushing on.  The little cloud was after us, though, and we soon felt cold sprinkles.  But, the cloud was so small that we knew it would be over soon.  Then the little cloud began to spit out little pieces of hale, which stung as they hit your skin, and the Bauers began to run.  We were less than a quarter of a mile from an outhouse area, where we could take shelter and wait it out.  Then, the no-longer-little cloud began to spit out even more hale, even more rapidly.  So, we turned around and ran up the muddy trail back to the car.  

By the time we were back to the parking area my head was numb from the consistent cold pouring down on me and we were both soaked and muddy.  But that’s nothing compared to what the field and car were covered in.

 

Defeated, we went home for hot showers, dry clothes, and night of board games.  Over the past couple of weeks, we have gotten two expansions for one of our favorite games, Dominion.  The game is all about acquiring money so that you can buy victory points.  The expansions, Seaside and Prosperity, spice up the game with ways to get more money!  It was a nice evening to wind down our weekend and prepare for the next week.

Our weekend in Canon City was the highlight of week 8, but there is one more piece to tell.  Earlier in the week, we took a drive around Lake Pueblo State Park, one of Colorado’s largest lakes.  We arrived at the perfect time as the sun was going down and lending that red glow to the horizon. 

Such a lovely view to end with.  Next time we’ll tell you about a wedding, a hike, and a man in a monkey suit.  I’ll bet you can’t wait!

Colorado Week 7: Festivals, Football, and Festivals

We all have one:  that friend who tells the same stories over and over with vigor and expectant excitement.  Just one month into your friendship you were able to regale everyone with Aunt Pearline’s 90th birthday blooper, Grandpa Jack’s last words, and little Jimmi-kin’s cute antics in the church nursery.  Bless that cheek-pinchin’ly adorable little Jimmi-kin!  Lucky for you, I’m not that friend, so I will just glaze of the redundancies of Monday-Friday of Colorado week 7.  Here it goes.

Throughout week 7, we spent two evenings rock climbing at Shelf Road, which we’ve already told you about, two evenings cooking and listening to an audio book (Clash of Kings, the second book in the Song of Fire and Ice series), and one evening making pepperoni rolls for my coworkers.  The pepperoni rolls were a big hit, but people kept on calling them pizza rolls.  Don’t worry, West Virginians!  I corrected them and explained what makes a pepperoni roll a pepperoni roll.  I think they understood by the end of the day. 

Exciting as all of that sounds, the real fun of week 7 was looming in the illusive distance I like to call “the weekend”.  You see, it was the weekend of festivals here in southern Colorado!  In two days we attended three festivals and one special sports bar.  Here’s what happened…

On Saturday morning, we drove to Denver, where I dropped Bilbo off at Wynkoop Brewing Company to meet Mr. Cooper.  The guys were going to attend the Great Contenders beer festival, featuring Colorado’s top microbreweries. The Great Contenders is an spin off from Denver’s Oktoberfest due to the volume of people attending the larger festival.  It was created to give those interested in the wares of the state’s microbreweries a smaller and less intense venue for exploration.  Not being a beer enthusiast and in need of a new dress, I went shopping and got an iced caramel macchiato.  When I picked up Bilbo and Mr. Cooper, with a new dress and tights in the trunk, the guys said that it was a great time with lots of good beers.  Unfortunately, they only managed to take one dark picture in which Mr. Cooper only has half of a head.

    

From downtown Denver, we drove to the suburbs where Delores (GPS) led us in circles until we reached Hopper’s Sports Bar.  What’s so special about this Hopper’s?  Every game day a group of WVU alums meet here to watch the Mountaineers play football!  Finally!  There were people around us who show an appropriate amount of college football obsession!  Look at all of those Mountaineers in Colorado!  Our much beloved Mounties were sadly defeated by LSU, but we had a wonderful time playing corn hole and cheering along with our WV brethren! 

We didn’t arrive back in Pueblo until midnight, so we got a very slow start on Sunday morning.  By noon, we were on to the next festival of the weekend, The Pueblo Chili and Frijoles Festival.   The small, otherwise ambiguous Pueblo has its claim to fame during the Fall harvest of chili peppers, especially green chilies!  Like all American towns, Pueblo celebrates its heritage in full force one glorious Fall weekend every year.  Not only do they have their chilies to be proud of, but their festival itself has been voted #2 in American small town festivals!  We had been looking forward to this weekend since arriving in Colorado and were not disappointed!  There were free samples of local chili products (jams, dips, and the like), musicians played in three pavilions across town, a farmer’s market of nothing but chilies stretched across two city blocks, booths boasted beautiful dried chilies, and quirky activities and people abounded—like a gladiator child and ten foot tall Chili Man.

    

  

Most impressive were the groups of men roasting chilies in giant fire roasters.  The sweet and spicy smell filled the air as a nervous looking fellow stood tentatively by with a water hose.  If it hadn’t been so hot by the fires, Bilbo and I would have stayed to watch the chilies turn for hours.

   

Although the festival’s name is partly occupied by frijoles, or pinto beans, this small pile was their only representation spotted by us.  Poor redheaded step children, they are still part of Colorado green chili soup and have a place in Pueblo’s history.

After the Chili and Frijoles Festival, we returned to the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey for the Harvest Festival Jubilee.   Similar to Morgantown’s Wine and Jazz Festival, the Harvest Festival required a fee for a commemorative glass and wine tasting tickets; however, it did have its differences.  Wine and Jazz features wines from all around WV, but the Harvest Festival only had wines from Holy Cross.  We were initially bummed by this, but our sorrow lifted when we found out that the wine maker had two varieties made specially for the occasion.  One of these specialty wines was a Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, of which we purchased a bottle for later. 

  

The Harvest Festival was also singular in the fact that vendors and artisans were a part of the festivities.  There were bakers,  caterers, painters, jewelers, and…

   

ALPACA FARMERS!
The Elder Bauers would have been so excited!

 

The diversity of the Harvest Festival Jubilee was a refreshing surprise and a nice cap on our weekend of festivals.  The cats also had an exciting and diverse weekend! 

They sat in the window…

Turned around…

 

And sat the other way.

They were pleasantly exhausted afterwards and so were we!  Now we are looking forward to next weekend and our murder mystery train ride through the Royal Gorge!  I can’t wait to tell you all about it!