Casa Bonita

December 12, 2024

Casa Bonita, a unique Denver location, closed in 2020. Southpark TV show creators bought the property and have reopened the restaurant. The restaurant had a very rough restart with reservations and waiting lists that never cleared. After giving up on the place the last time we were in town, we were finally able to visit with Annette, Harold's sister. 

While not quite remembering the circumstances, I had been once in the late 1980's. Annette had been a couple of times during the restaurant's heyday and had fun comparing the old restaurant to the new. Despite living in Denver, Harold had somehow never been. He could easily see how kids would love the place. We overheard several people making comparisons. 

We made the required reservations, stood in line, and went through the security check. You can only enter 15 minutes prior to your reservation time. We followed our hostess through the maze of seating areas (standard or premier). You have an hour at the table. They recommend that you eat, then take your time meandering through the restaurant to see things like the divers (on the half hour when we were there), Black Bart's hideout, the cave section, the mines section, the museum dedicated to the original restaurant, and of course, the store. 

It reminded me of Disney with its elaborate settings and entertainment. It's a unique experience for the Denver area that kids would especially enjoy. 

Watching a Ricardo Montalban commercial for Casa Bonita

Raise the flag for service

Cannonball Time

Gorilla Time

Fire in the hole

Southpark nod

Turn back

Black Bart's hideout

Shooting gallery

Bathed in pink

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Decking Out the Presidents

Nov 15 - Dec 10, 2024

Rapid City, the City of Presidents, has lifesize bronze statues of all the presidents through Barack Obama. Well, they did put President Taft on a bit of a diet. The statue of Donald Trump, which was ready, will be installed two years after the end of his upcoming term. As the visitor center representative said, the statues are history, not current politics. 

Anyway, between November 15th and March 15th of each year, people are invited to adorn the presidents with hats, scarves, gloves, and other winter gear for those in need. Those who need simply take what they need. This fun winter tradition is now in its 10th year. We love it, and even made our own contributions. Bonus if you can identify the president. : )

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It's Getting Cold

 November 17, 2024

Where do you winter? That's one of the top questions we get asked. So far we've spent winters moving around. We haven't gone to Florida, Arizona, or Texas for three months or more at a time. We do typically move further south or visit family, but we don't just stay in one area the entire winter. This year, due to some medical stuff, we're still in the Rapid City area and expect to be here for another three weeks. While we have yet to see snow, we are starting to experience some freezing nights. So how do we prepare for freezing temperatures?

We start with a heated waterhose. The hose is wrapped in a heat tape. A thermostat that measures ambient air temperature turns the heat on as needed. 

The campsite water spigot also needs to be protected. Our current campground has wrapped the water spigot and added a heat tape. Harold has also fashioned an insulation tent to drop over the spigot. this has come in handy since some campgrounds do not wrap their spigots, expecting the campers to completely unhook their water hoses when not in use. 

We also have an insulation wrap to place in the giant windshield if we deem it necessary. Typically the weather has to be well below freezing before we drag that out. 

Since we typically don't stay in place too long, we don't mess with skirting. However, a lot of seasonal campers will do so to help insulate. 

Inside, we're plenty warm with our heated floors and our hydronic heating with diesel burner kicking out the BTUs. 

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Badlands - Saddle Pass

November 8, 2024

It was hard to believe that we had been in the Rapid area over a month already. I was feeling like we needed to take more advantage of being in this scenic area. We opted for an afternoon drive out to Badlands National Park, taking Route 44 east from Rapid for something different. The concessionaire at the park had closed the lodging, dining, and campground for the season. The visitor center was still open with reduced hours. After stopping there, we headed toward the loop drive. 

One of the trails we had been eyeballing, Saddle Pass, finally had parking available at the trailhead. We love off-season! Saddle Pass is a short, but strenuous, climb that connects to longer trails at the summit. We felt we were too late in the day to take a loop trail at the summit, but we did make the climb. We were quite thankful for hiking poles to aid our way up and down. Beautiful views gave us plenty of opportunity for breaks. 

We finished our day with a stop at Wall Drug and dinner next door at the Salty Steer. : )

Bighorn sheep by the road

Beginning of Saddle Pass Trail

At the top

Spurs for sale at Wall Drug

 

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Controlled Chaos

October 30 - November 2, 2024

Harold had been wanting to go to a demolition derby. So when Ultimate Derby Gold Rush Nationals came to Rapid City, Harold bought tickets for all five nights. I went to the finals night only. I didn't think I could stand the noise an inside derby would make, even with hearing protection. 

When they did a short promotional segment on the news, the promoter noted that this was not like your county fair demolition derby. I have a bit more understanding of what he meant after going. I was surprised by the engineering and money spent on the demolition vehicles. I saw a tire perpendicular to the vehicle somehow spring back into place and the vehicle continue on. I saw how the competitors used what looked like lawn mower size tires on the back axles. Lots of strategic engineering and driving strategies among the teams. 

The part I enjoyed most - the kids' derby. Again, I was surprised. The kids' vehicles were modified and  painted, perhaps in the team colors. I could easily see several hundred dollars in vehicles bashing each other up. One little guy even took a victory lap, smiling and waving to mom.

Lining up for the start

Carnage

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Custer Wildlife

October 12, 2024 

It was a gorgeous fall day. Once more we headed to Custer State Park for a scenic drive. A few of the herd were still corralled after the roundup. Our guess is that they're the ones that will be auctioned in November. 

The wildlife loop definitely lived up to its hype. We crossed the herd at several places. It was almost annoying. We saw sheep, pronghorns, prairie dogs, several flocks of turkeys, and those begging burros.

Following the drive we enjoyed a very nice meal at the State Game Lodge. While we appreciated the uncrowded dining room, the server informed us that several menu options were no longer available since the dining room would be closing for the season in another week. Harold was still able to get his elk ossobuco, which he very much enjoyed. 

Where the branding occurs

Custer's Abbey Road...

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Black Hills Scenic Fall Drive

October 5, 2024

It was the perfect fall day and the trees were golden. So off we went, enjoying the weather and scenery. We drove Iron Mountain Road to Keystone. There we took US-385 up toward Lead, where we circled clockwise to Spearfish Canyon. A late lunch at Graps in Belle Fourche and then back to Hermosa. 

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