Monday, November 17, 2025

Fall Is My Favorite Season!


 I showed the beautiful autumn colors in Rocky Mountain National Park a few posts ago—click here to read that post—but fall has been equally beautiful where I live along the Colorado Front Range. This year, we did not have our usual snowfall in October or November, so fall leaves lingered longer.


Fall is my favorite of the four seasons, and I always look forward to seeing its bright, warm colors all along our neighborhood parks and open space trails.



Now, in mid-November, the leaves are slowly falling from the trees and the hills are turning from gold to brown. 

I think this quote describes this part of the fall season perfectly:

“It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.”

~ Sarah Addison Allen


We have an Emerald Ash Tree in front of our home, and I love the fall colors it shares every Autumn, as seen from both outside and inside my home. It turns from green to yellow, then to shades of orange and red. 

Sadly, the invasive  Emerald Ash Borer has been spreading in our part of Colorado, and we hope to protect our tree from it with special treatment by a certified arborist in the spring.


Fall is a time I enjoy baking and making warming soups for dinner.

A recipe for my Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt can be found here.

Pumpkin bread is here.

Spicy Apple Nut cake is here

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup is here.

Lentil Soup With Sausage and Escarole is here. 

(Sadly, escarole is not easy to find in Colorado, so I often substitute kale or spinach for it in this soup)


November has been a month of beautiful skies and sunsets, and yes, the amazing sight of the colorful Aurora Northern Lights seen a few nights in a row! 


It is always a thrill to see a large antlered buck in our back yard this time of the year...


...and this fall, we have been seeing the same doe and her fawn, who often nap in our yard.  

It feels as if we have a pet Bambi!


It has been a wonderful fall, and now I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving!




"Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale."

~ Lauren Destefano
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Sunday, November 9, 2025

Casa Bonita -- a Fun Denver Area Restaurant and Entertainment Center



We visited a quirky Colorado restaurant and indoor fantasy Mexican-style entertainment center called Casa Bonita in October.



The restaurant was decorated for Halloween at the time, and they even changed their outdoor marquee to say "Casa Boonita"!


Reservations are not easy to get at this very popular restaurant and entertainment center, and we felt fortunate to be able to celebrate our daughter-in-law's birthday together!

On the Casa Bonita Fun Facts page, they say:

"The Greatest Restaurant in the World! 

A cultural institution in the Denver area since its opening in 1974, Casa Bonita, under new ownership, is proud to open with a refreshed look and feel, and a brand new culinary team. While maintaining the magical ability to transport guests back in time to 1970s Mexico, Casa Bonita provides an unmatched experience that includes live music, shows, games, and memories that will last a lifetime."



Inside, different facades and themed rooms are intended to invoke regional Mexican architectural styles: for example, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Guadalajara.



After dinner, one can go to Casa Bonita's theater and see a magic show!

It is also fun to travel on foot through the long, dark Black Bart's Cave and find his stash of gold, but beware of ghouls and detours along the way!

One can also buy tickets to play in the arcade, where you can win prizes!

Admission to the restaurant also enables guests to interact with roaming characters in costume, have their face painted, get a balloon animal creation, make a wish in the wishing well, buy souvenirs in the Mercado, listen to a mariachi band, and watch a puppet show.



The most exciting attraction in Casa Bonita is watching the periodic Cliff Diver Show!



Divers appear on the cliffs while music plays, and then they make a daring twisting dive into the water below!



A video of a cliff dive!


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There are interesting display cases of Casa Bonita's 50-plus-year history memorabilia in one area of the restaurant.

The Casa Bonita Restaurant concept was originally founded in 1968 in Oklahoma City, OK, by entrepreneur Bill Waugh. It later expanded to Tulsa, OK, Little Rock, AR, Fort Worth, TX, as well as Lakewood, CO, but Colorado's Casa Bonita location is the only location still remaining in business.




In 2021, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the popular animated satirical sitcom South Park, shown on Comedy Central, reached an agreement to purchase Casa Bonita’s Lakewood location, which had been closed since early 2020 due to the Covid pandemic and then bankruptcy. 
Parker and Stone had many memories of going to Casa Bonita as children, and the restaurant meant a great deal to them. They had to invest many millions to refurbish the entire restaurant, and the story about all they faced to reopen Casa Bonita can be seen in the documentary called Casa Bonita Mi Amor.




The South Park character, Cartman. has his own corner in Casa Bonita, and on the day we visited, he was wearing his Halloween costume!




According to the Fun Facts Page:
" The iconic, pink Casa Bonita tower stands 85′ tall and is visible for miles. On top of the tower’s golden dome stands a statue of Cuauhtémoc (kwah-hoo-tem’-ok), the last Aztec Emperor.
The exterior of the building was repainted in 2022 and required over 400 gallons of custom-blended pink paint!"

We had a fun time at Casa Bonita--we visited a few times in the past and enjoyed seeing all the improvements on this visit after its refurbishment. 
It is wonderful that such a fun, iconic place was saved for future generations to enjoy!


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Sunday, November 2, 2025

Catrinas en mi Ciudad Cultural Art Exhibit in Denver, Colorado


 My husband and I enjoy opera and have been attending Opera Colorado's productions every year since we moved to Colorado in 2013. For the past few years, as subscribers, we have enjoyed being invited to a delicious brunch at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and watching a Sitzprobe rehearsal afterward. This year, we watched the sitzprobe of this season's first opera, Verdi's La Traviata. 

The term "sitzprobe" (seated rehearsal) originates from German and is believed to have originated in opera. The term refers to the first run-through of a performance in which both the singers and the orchestra perform together. Often, the sitzprobe is not performed on stage and does not use elements such as costumes, props, or scenery. Instead, the singers simply sit or stand and run through the music and dialogue in order with the orchestra attending and directed by the conductor. It is an interesting rehearsal to view, and we look forward to seeing the actual production.  



We were also excited to see a free exhibit at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, where the opera house is located, of "Catrinas en mi Ciudad." 

It was a month-long exhibit for "Dia de los Muertos -- Day of the Dead" celebrated by Mexico and other Latin cultures.  I knew a bit about Dia de Los Muertos from trips I took in the past, to both San Antonio, Texas, and Mexico, but this exhibit taught me much more.

The Catrinas en mi ciudad in Denver was an immersive, outdoor art exhibit inspired by Mexico's Día de Muertos, and featured larger-than-life art pieces by Ricardo Soltero, Cooperativa Jaen Cartonería, Colección Serpentina, and Osvaldo Ruelas Ramirez from Mexico. The exhibit also featured the work of Colorado Latino artists who, through their own art form and technique, shared some of Día de Muertos' most special traditions.

Please click on photo to enlarge to read the informational placard

Monumental papier-mache skeletons were on display.




A giant skeleton was hanging on the tiers of the parking garage! 


Please click on the photo to enlarge it to read the placard


Calaveras is the Spanish word for "Skulls", and there were many artistic ones on display--some very large ones that one could step inside to see their decorations.


Each of the individual hand-painted Cavaleras on display was by a different Latino artist, and each was a personal statement unique to its creator. Each told a story of who they are, where they come from, and how they place themselves in ancestral tradition. 

Please click on the photo to read the information on the placard


I liked the thought of the souls of the departed being alive for a day as a monarch butterfly! The monarchs’ migration arrival in Mexico usually occurs around November 1 and November 2, coinciding with Día De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.  Marigold flowers have a strong scent and are said to attract them, so they are often displayed together on "Ofrendas," which is an altar with different offerings displayed during the annual and traditionally Mexican Día de los Muertos celebration. An ofrenda, which may be quite large and elaborate, is usually created by the family members of a person who has died and is intended to welcome the deceased to the altar setting.


Please click on the photo  to enlarge to read the placard


According to Wikipedia, Aztec culture considered souls to continuously live and enter different realms after the body dies. This view of the Aztecs was eventually commingled with the Christian beliefs of "All Saints Day" and "All Souls Day," as cultures and religions merged.



One of the strongest and most recognizable symbols of  Day of the Dead celebrations is the tall female skeleton wearing a fancy hat with feathers, called La Catrina.



A woman performer dressed and wearing makeup as a La Catrina was scheduled to appear at this stage on the afternoon we visited the Denver Performing Arts Complex, but we were in the opera sitzprobe and missed her performance.



My favorite Catrina was this one on display at the far end of the performing arts complex!


She was stunning!

The exhibit's last day is November 2, 2025, and I hope my photos will allow you to enjoy this exhibit a bit longer and learn something new about this interesting holiday celebration.



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Sunday, October 26, 2025

Rocky Mountain National Park in Autumn


As I described in my prior post, during the last week of September, my husband and I spent a few days in a lodge in the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado, to enjoy visiting Rocky Mountain National Park, and to enjoy the park as it began to show off its beautiful fall splendor!



 
We heard that the aspen trees were nearing peak color at the higher elevations inside the park...




...and that fact was delightfully true!


During the two and a half days we spent visiting the park, we experienced a variety of weather, from sun to rain showers, but the fall colors were glorious.



We even saw snow at the highest elevations of the park.


We took some time to enjoy some hikes in different parts of the park.



A short video of some quaking aspen trees in the wind.



A high elevation long-distance view of hills of colorful aspen trees and a thick forest. 

The park is surrounded by Roosevelt National Forest in the north and east, Routt National Forest in the northwest, and Arapaho National Forest in the southwest. Rocky Mountain National Park encompasses approximately 415 square miles (1,075 km2) of land in Colorado's northern Front Range.



We drove on the 48-mile-long Trail Ridge Road (US 34) up into the vast tundra.

Eleven miles of Trail Ridge Road is above the treeline, with an elevation near 11,500 feet, where the park's evergreen forests come to a halt. As it winds across the tundra's vastness, it reaches a high point at 12,183 feet in elevation.  It is America's Highest Continuous Paved Road.



One day of our visit was beautifully sunny, and we took a hike to take advantage of the views from this high elevation.

Please click on the collage to enlarge


The next time we traveled up to the highest point of Trail Ridge Road, it began to snow! We stopped into the Alpine Visitor Center to look at the exhibits.  The Alpine Visitor Center is the highest elevation visitor center in the National Park System at 11,796 feet above sea level.  It is only open seasonally, as heavy snow will soon cover the building, as you can see in the photo above. Trail Ridge Road also closes for the season at a certain elevation, usually from mid-October to mid-May.





The Continental Divide, where streamflows are separated east from west, is crossed at Milner Pass, situated at a surprisingly low elevation of 10,758 feet.



The elk rut season was just beginning, and we saw many elk stags roaming in the meadows. This time, we did not see any moose as we had on our last visit to the park.



The video above shows the distinctive sound an elk stag makes during the rut to attract the elk cows. 
Their bugles can be heard all around the park in the fall!



Every time we visit Rocky Mountain National Park, we experience new beauty! It is one of our favorite places in Colorado, and I hope you enjoyed seeing it this autumn on my blog.



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Sunday, October 19, 2025

A Fall stay in the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park

Fall is a beautiful season in Colorado, and every year my husband and I try to take a few days away to enjoy the scenery in a different part of the state. This year, we decided to go to Estes Park and stay in the YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park,  which is located just a few miles outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.  

We stayed once before in a cabin in the YMCA of the Rockies in 2013, which was the first year we moved to Colorado--click here-- to see that blog post. We usually drive the Peak to Peak Scenic Highway to Estes Park, which is a two-hour drive from our house, but this year we first dropped our daughter off at Denver International Airport as she had to travel for a business trip. The drive from the airport was only one and a half hours, and it also turned out to be very scenic as we got close to Estes Park.



Situated about 90 miles northwest of Denver, at 7,522 feet (2292 Meters) above sea level, Estes Park sits in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The town has majestic views spanning in every direction.



The YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park is bordered on three sides by Rocky Mountain National Park and nestled within 860 acres of towering ponderosa pines and awe-inspiring mountain vistas.



 The YMCA of the Rockies is a wonderful place for families to stay, as there are many activities as well as on-site dining options.  We like its quietness in the fall and its close proximity to the national park.


The grounds are beautiful and have wonderful hiking trails, a general store, cafes, buffet dining, sports fields, a pool, horseback riding, miniature golf, archery, fishing, crafts, and so much more!


There are many different lodges and cabins on the grounds. 
 On this visit, we stayed in the Wind River Lodge, which sleeps four, as the room had two queen-size beds. Our balcony view was of the Mummy Range



After checking into the lodge, we drove back into town. We parked at the Estes Park Visitor Center, where we took a walk along the Big Thompson River, which has its headwaters in Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park.



I captured this amazing zoom view of Longs Peak from a high point in Estes Park. Longs Peak is the tallest mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park, standing at an impressive 14,256 feet (4345.22 m).



One of the most exciting experiences we had during our stay at the YMCA of the Rockies was seeing a herd of wild elk grazing on the grass outside the buffet restaurant on the grounds.



The female elk cows and calves were very hungry!

 We made sure to stay a safe distance away from them, and I used my camera's zoom to take these photos.



Then our excitement rose when we saw this giant stag among the herd!

 This herd was his harem, and he was very protective of them. The elk rut in Colorado usually begins in mid-September and lasts for a month.



Although the Elk buck stopped to eat at times, he mainly pranced around his harem, telling them by his actions that he was their protector and the boss.



Meanwhile, the elk cows ignored him and kept eating!




We were excited to drive into Rocky Mountain National Park to see the beginning of the fall foliage emerging, as our visit took place in the third week of September.  I'll show some of those beautiful sights in my next blog post!

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