Adventures with Teh Bear... Part 14b

When we left off, we were on our way to our surprise dinner adventure...  We'd even went the long way to Home Depot so I wouldn't get any hints as to what the surprise would be...



When we pulled up to a very lit up place named Casa Bonita, I was still confused.  First, let me explain what Casa Bonita is.  Then, we'll move on to why it is "cool."
1.  Casa Bonita is apparently like "Mexico" at Epcot.. also known as "Mexican Disneyworld".
2.  Casa Bonita was featured in an episode of Southpark.  Which I watched after we got home from Casa Bonita.

We went in and ordered our not so delicious food (they were right, it wasn't very good.  I'm not really sure why making 6 different Mexican options is so hard, but I think when your reputation is shitty food via Southpark, you must meet that expectation).  We also got $10 worth of tokens to use at the arcade.  We sat down and caught a few of the shows, then we ordered our sopapillas (not like the East Coast sopapillas) and then we decided to venture out.  We went to the gift shop, then to the cave behind the waterfall, then through the eating area again, then to the arcade.

Since there's a limited number of options you can order, they already have it pre-made.

Teh Bear was most excited about "Gorilla**Pirate" at 8:15.

Looks innocent enough......

Teh Democratic Muppet and Teh Democratic Lawyer.
Notice that Teh DM's food is untouched?  It's safer that way.

I was trying to make Teh Bear smile.

The performer playing with fire before he did a dive into the swimming pool below.

We played a few games of Skee Ball, then we moved on to Spider Stompin', then we tried the catch the light game, then Teh DL tried to play Whack-a-Pug but only one pug would pop up and it only gave her one ticket, then we tried the popcorn catching game, while Teh DM and Teh DL played a shooting game.  Finally, we stopped at the spin the wheel game, where we ended up getting most of our tickets.  Teh Bear and Teh Democratic Muppet were really good at it.

Our final ticket count was 378 so then we had to figure out what to waste our tickets on.  We ended up getting my froggy punch pen, a pop thingy for Teh Democratic Lawyer, and then face masks for all of us.  Honestly, wearing the masks and taking pics was one of the best parts of the night because we were so ridiculous   We decided that it was time to head out (since we sufficiently smelled like a Mexican kitchen) and chill with the dogs for a while before bedtime.

Teh Bear was pretty good at this.

More Skee Ball

YAY Casa Bonita - Teh DL

We put the squish the spider game on the hardest level and we all had dots of our own to squish.

Teh DL wanted to whack a hound.. but only the one closest to the camera would pop up, and she only got one ticket, so we quit that game.

This game only gave Teh Bear 1/2 tickets, so we called it a waste.

This was the game where we made bank on tickets.  Teh Bear's good luck ran out, so Teh DM started playing and we doubled our ticket count!

Can we talk about why the date says April 13, 1973??????  WTF?

Ticket swag!  Masks for everyone, a froggy punch pen for me and a popper for Teh DL.

Teh DL is a superb photobomber.

The fountain outside the restaurant.

Teh Bear.. being Teh Bear.

Proof we were here.

We tried the masks on the dogs as well.
Penny was willing to let us have a little fun.

Poppy was NOT a fan of this shennangians.

On Sunday morning, we kinda slept in.  Teh DL and DM walked to the store with the puppies and picked up some bacon to make for breakfast.  Teh Bear and I snuggled and played on the internet.  While breakfast was being cooked, I showered so I would be ready for activities.  After breakfast and dishes and showers, it was time to head out.  This day, Teh DL and DM planned for us to go to the Red Rocks Amphitheater and walk the trail there and check out the amphitheater   It was my first real "hiking" experience where my new boots didn't really bother my feet (which was a relief since the next day was the Grand Canyon, kinda).  We got lots of pics of rocks and scenery.  Finally, we reached the amphitheater  where we hiked to the top (talk about huffing and puffing, running just doesn't prepare you for altitude increase + lots of steps... ever).  We were able to see Denver in the distance which was pretty awesome.  Several folks were using the amphitheater as a workout location, which I thought was completely crazy, but I quickly figured out that many things in Denver are completely crazy.....  I mean, CO legalized marijuana a few days later, so they completely proved my point.

We saw basset hounds before we hit the trail and they needed pettin's.

Teh DL and Teh DM on the trail.

Teh Bear and I.. Awww.

Red Rocks Amphitheater trail

The yellow trees made my heart swoon.

"...or both."

This doesn't look friendly.

I'm not sure if rattlesnakes can read this sign.
I kid, I kid.

The leaves blowing.

These rocks actually have names, but I was more into how awesome they looked.

How cool would it have been to see a concert here?!?!?!
I'm suuuuuuper jealous of anyone that saw Mumford and Sons here.  Seriously.

Hello, Denver.

Just some rocks.

Teh Bear and I with Denver.

laughs.  /swoon.

My companions left me...

You have to walk up to the ramp, then up another set of stairs to get to the amphitheater.

CO.  Home of the legal pot heads.

After we got all the pics our my hearts desired, it was time to head to one of the best pizza places I've ever eaten at, Beau Jo's.  The pizza was seriously delicious, but I might have also been on a mini-high because I got to put the first pin on the map at Home, Home, NC...  WOO!  Nothing like being the first person from a place.  Or simple things just make me happy, either way, I was thrilled.

They obviously need to add more pins since there are holes in some locations.  

After we finished our pizza, we decided to walk around Idaho Springs.  We picked up ice cream and chocolate from a little shop off main street and moseyed around a few other shops until we decided it was time to head back to Denver so the dogs wouldn't feel neglected.

On the way home, we stopped at Kohl's for me to pick up some long sleeve undershirts, since I'd failed at packing enough, which is completely ironic since my bag was over 50 pounds......  Teh Democratic Lawyer learned that a Kohl's was closer to her than she originally thought, which was exciting to me, because I love spreading the word about how great Kohl's is to people.  Really, it's that Kohl's spams me with coupons and I never buy anything at full, ticket price.. My goal is always to save double what I spend and, usually, I can do just that.  Woot.

That evening, we didn't eat dinner cause we were still pretty full from the pizza.  We watched Dumb and Dumber, which Teh DL hadn't ever seen, and I wasn't sure I'd seen the whole thing, while watching the dogs play.  After the movie, Teh Bear and I started packing since we were leaving by 0530 the next morning to catch our flight to Phoenix.

Whew, are you tired yet????  :)

Denver-area, you're so pretty.

Vacation Recap Map:

Pre-vacation
Being in Denver for the weekend, part 1
Being in Denver for the weekend, part 2     (this blog)
Being in AZ for half the week, part 1
Being in AZ for half the week, part 2
Being in AZ for half the week, part 3
Being in NC for an extended weekend
-Carolina Renn Faire (photos)
-Biltmore Flowers (photos)
Being in MD for the remainder of vacation