Casa Bonita...A Family Tradition!

 Our family has been coming to this restaurant for years...every time we came out from California, we would all pile in the car and head out to Casa Bonitas!  Those of you that are South Park fans may remember a particular episode where Cartman longs to go to Casa Bonita :) hehehehe  Anyways, while Teresa and Jake were visiting, we thought it would be a good time to take Jordyn for her first time!  She had no idea what Casa Bonitas was all about, so it was fun watching her experience the magic of this cool restaurant!

 We dined on this veranda, and i poorly melded two photos together to give you an idea of some of the surroundings.

 The food is mediocre, but the sopapillas are made fresh and immensely popular among its diners.  Just raise your flag, and the waiter will bring you whatever you need...i order a beer, while TJ enjoys  the sopapillas.  Its a fried dough that you drizzle honey on, however, when we were kids, Teresa would fill an entire sopapilla with honey and then bite into the gooey mess!  She LOVES the Sopapillas!

 Looking at this restaurant from the outside, you would never guess the surprises it has in store for you. 

There are all kinds of "theme" rooms...the old west,  a Mexican village, tropical rooms, caves, waterfalls, and thats just the beginning! 

 Theres a gift shop, an arcade, a puppet theater, a wishing well, and of course Black Barts Cave...

 Dont forget the entertainment...cliff divers, a shoot out between Black Bart and the sheriff, and a juggling gorilla :)

 And no trip to Casa Bonitas would be complete without an old timey photo!

For fun, im including this one that was taken around 1977...thats me on the far right holding the flowers, and my sister teresa is in the black.  I guess we've changed a bit since then :) 

 

Anyways, i hope you enjoyed our trip to Casa Bonita...it was a great way to start off our road trip!

;

Getting Off the Mountain ~

Things were looking kind of quiet, and my sister flew in from California, so we took a chance and headed to town for a family get together at my Aunt Gwens house in Denver!  As we were headed down we saw these helicopters frantically working the fire...when we got to town, we found out that the road we were on was closed shortly thereafter and all of glacier view had been evacuated.  Apparently the fire had jumped the canyon and was burning up into the glacier view district.  This area is north of us, but there is a huge housing development out there, so many houses were at risk.  After just 5 hours, the fire had burned 7 miles and had destroyed about 60 homes. 

On our way though town, we stopped at the studio so Justin could track Jordyn for a commercial.  She did a great job, and the radio spots should be on the air next week.  She had a lot of fun in the sound booth with daddy, and we were all just happy to be off the mountain and away from the fire!

There were all kinds of signs posted along our drive thanking firefighters, etc.....but this one captured me the most.  Rist Canyon is where most of the fire damage was done and as we passed several black rolling hills, we also saw several homes that were saved, many with burnt grasses rolling right up to their porches edge.

Meanwhile, my nephew Jake tried out his skills on the fork lift.  Any time the kids visit my Uncles shop, they get to drive the fork.  Looks like Greg is making him haul some goodies in the process. 

We all met up at my Aunts house, where Jordyn excitedly greeted her Aunt TJ!  You might remember we visited them in California over Thanksgiving last year, giving Jordyn a chance to really bond with my side of the family, so she was happy to see her Aunt TJ and cousin Jake!  We had a great time visiting, telling stories and sharing laughs. 
My sister and i had a big road trip planned and we werent sure if it would take place due to the fires, but Justin told us to get outta dodge and go have some fun while he held down the fort....so for those of you wondering, thats where ive been...on a fabulous road trip!  :)

Busy Fire Station ~

 Here is our new fire station being put to good use...so glad 90% of the community voted yes on the mill levy to build this station!  Im guessing the other 10% are pretty happy about it now too :)  Right now its a spike camp for about 300-350 firefighters, most of which are out on the fire right now.

 This is Mark...he's in charge of this particular spike camp...he oversees the entire operation here, making sure there is food, drinks, porta-pottys, showers, and just about anything else our visiting firefighters might need.  There are fire trucks from all over the place in the parking lot...Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, etc...Thanks everyone...we sure appreciate all your help and hard work!
We stopped by the station today to take a look around, say hi and deliver this picture that Jordyn made for them...they quickly taped it up on the wall for everyone to enjoy.

 We also met these great high school kids...they volunteer in the summer months, helping coordinate the meals for the firefighters.  These kids drove out all the way from Idaho to lend a hand!  And as you can see, Jordyn scored a chocolate milk and a blueberry muffin during the visit :)

What an awesome bunch of folks...thanks for all that you do, we sure appreciate it!!!

We Made The Map ~

 Well, it appears the Black Bear Cabin has made the map...not really a good thing, but there it is.  This is a map of the fire from last night...as you can see, the fire along the west has grown significantly, however, im pretty sure most of that was back burning...which is actually a good thing!  They are trying to hold the fire line at Pingree Park Road, so lets hope they can :)

  The view of the fire changes on an hourly basis...sometimes it looks like this....

 and sometimes it looks like this...

 We have been clearing more slash and "fire fuel" away from the house...but it seems like you can never do too much.  Its all very stressful, but i have to remind myself how lucky we are to have this time to prepare for anything that might come our way.  The folks in Poudre Park were given no time at all, and were fleeing their homes in the middle of the night, so i am glad we arent facing the same situation.  In the meantime, we are still finding time for fun...it was soooo hot yesterday, so we decided to cool off in the river for a while after loading several wheel barrows full of slash.

 There was a beautiful sunset, which you can sort of see reflecting on the water here...the fires have provided colorful sunsets, but id be fine without them :)  There is visible stress in my face that i was unaware of till i saw these photos...but i decided to post them anyways.  Heres hoping for rain!!!  :)

p.s. im editing this to add it was confirmed at the fire station...the fire fighters did back burning all night long last night along pingree park road, so that is what we are seeing on the map!  That is good news...i hope they can tackle more of that tonight! :)  55% contained!!!

Just What We Needed ~

 Today it was super hot...90 degrees by 11:00am!!!  We needed something to take our minds off of the fire and make it a normal summer day, so we decided to drag out the pool and have some fun.  Jordyn was in desperate need of a friend to play with, so we called up her friend Oriana, the only friend that isnt in the pre-evacuation zone, and happily, they accepted!  It was very last minute, so i was glad to catch them at home...but then again, most of us in the mountains arent straying very far from our homes right now.

 They played for hours...going back and forth from the pool to the trampoline...and then they discovered the mud!  And while they played, us moms enjoyed sitting in the shade and catching up.  The visit was great for all of us, and took our minds off of the dreaded fire, if only for a while...but totally worth it!  It was just what we needed!  Thanks for coming by Amber...i hope you guys had as much fun as we did!

Super Heroes

 We've been busy doing fire mitigation on the property around the house, raking up dead pine needles and brush, loading leaves and hauling them away, and of course wetting everything down...however, its a lot of work, and we sure could use some help...

 Bring on the Super Friends...or as i like to call them, my Super Heroes!  Donovan (Jordyns godfather), the one on the far right, called us yesterday to see if we needed anything hauled to town, or if we needed help with anything.  Well, we can always use some help :)  So, he made some calls, and showed up today with a truck full of friends ready to clear slash and do fire mitigation!  Hurray!  We were able to get a lot done with all the extra hands, and the company was fabulous too!

If you recognize these guys, its because they were here a few months earlier, helping to cut down and remove the dead pine beetle trees (21 of them in fact)...and here they are again, ready to rock the island...these guys are awesome!  Thank you sooooo much for all of your help today guys...its nice to know there are still some great people out there!  My heart is full!

Bad Dreams

Jordyn woke up in the middle of the night crying...bad dream....naturally i thought it was about the fire, but no...apparently i made lasagna and there were only two pieces, and daddy ate both of them, so she was crying because she didnt get any!  :)