An upside down jelly donut day

For the last six months, we've been planning to spend this weekend up at Steamboat Springs with my mom and Mike. They've been up there all week with a large ski group. That trip was supposed to end yesterday, but the were staying longer, hanging on to the condo. We were going to head up and visit for several days in this giant, 2500 sf "condo," with 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms. Holly and Trevor were going to try snowboarding, and of course it would have been wonderful to see my mom and Mike.BUT this is Colorado, and the weather isn't always as cooperative, no matter how much I try to pretend that it is. Road reports of 200 miles of bitter cold, blowing snow, icy roads and snowpack over several passes were enough for us to decide this wasn't a trip we should make, and we cancelled our plans yesterday morning. Holly was okay about it; Trevor sobbed for 30 minutes. I couldn't win either, feeling like both an ungrateful daughter and a mean mom.

In a moment of brilliance (of which he has many), Robert decided we'd head up to Casa Bonita in Denver. It was a beautiful drive, and here are a few extra photos for my friend KM, all between Monument Hill and Castle Rock.





Denver.

Finally we arrive at dum, dum, dum, DUM!!!!! Casa Bonita!!!! NOT just another Mexican restaurant! It's been around for a loooong time. Robert remembers going here as a little boy. This pink tower is 85 feet tall, covered with 22-karat gold leaf and topped with a freaky little statue of Quahuatomec, the last great Aztec emperor.

(I'm torn here. Do I regale you with the glories of Casa Bonita, or do I let my sarcastic side show and tell it like it really is? Okay, Pollyanna wins.)

There are two main dining floors, with some tables on a third level. Last night, 43 employees were working. You don't come here for the food, but it was better than usual last night. They also serve awesome sopapillias for dessert with giant squeeze bottles of honey.


The attraction of Casa Bonita lies within its palm tree and wicker, Mexican resort-fantasy decor, its three story waterfall, its cliff divers and myriad other entertainments throughout the 52,000 sf building (yes, 52 THOUSAND square feet). Almost every seat (and there are 1100) in this place has an incredible view of the waterfall. Every 15 minutes, a new entertainer comes out. There are cliff divers and old western shootouts.


If you look behind the palm fronds in this picture below, you'll see the diver climbing up the wall.
You can walk behind the waterfall too, a favorite place for taking photos.
After you've had your fill of food and watching water fun, you are free to explore the rest of the restaurant. There are puppet shows,pinatas, traveling mariachi bands, "Black Bart's Secret Hideout" haunted cave, a gift shop, several video arcades and more.


After two and a half hours of fun, we headed for home. South of Castle Rock, in the middle of nowhere, we were caught up in a giant, 12 mile long traffic jam that took 45 minutes to drive through.

Loads of snow had blown across the highway, melted and re-frozen for several miles leading up to Monument Pass. We didn't see an accident, but I've never seen a mess like this before. On the plus side, we didn't have to be anywhere, no one was dying for the bathroom, and it was a good reminder that we HAD made the best decision in cancelling our drive up to Steamboat Springs. We could imagine being trapped in a mess like this for 100 miles, YIKES!