USA 06: Colorado - Casa Bonita and Winter

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Today was a typical day – up early for work, Thinh stayed home with my parents. The afternoon was the highlight of the day though. I had managed to get us reservations at Casa Bonita for dinner! Casa Bonita had opened a year earlier after undergoing extensive renovations under the new ownership (the creators of the TV show South Park) and reservations at the restaurant were highly sought after. I had tried to get picked for a slot during our previous visit to the States, but luck wasn’t on our side then. Thankfully, this time I was able to find some open spots that worked for us!

Casa Bonita is a staple of Denver, famous for the campy décor, entertainment shows, and famously terrible food (except for the sopapillas). The new owners had saved the place from closing and had fully renovated the place, including introducing a brand-new menu. I was excited to see the changes that had been made, and to share the experience with Thinh. I have so many nostalgic memories of going to Casa Bonita as a kid, loving the experience, watching the cliff divers, and the cafeteria-style food. Thinh had no real knowledge about the place, so he was going in blind.

I left the office early this afternoon so I could meet Thinh and my parents at the restaurant. When I arrived, I discovered that mom had stayed home because she wasn’t feeling well. The exterior of the restaurant was brightly painted in its signature pink color, looking fresh with the new coat of paint. We were then shown into the restaurant for our reservation. Gone were the cafeteria-style lines where one would walk with tray, getting food before going to find a table. We walked through the line and were shown to our table by a waitress.

Our tables was in the cave area, quite close to the cliff diving area (though in another room, so we couldn’t see the shows from our table). The menu was definitely improved, and the pricing had been increased as well. It was a flat-price per of $40 person, regardless of what they ordered, which seemed a bit odd (though it kept things simple). When our food arrived I was pleasantly surprised – it was much better than I had expected, though not worth the price. We ordered the sopapillas for dessert, which were still the highlight of the dining experience at Casa Bonita.

When we finished dinner, it was time to show Thinh around the restaurant. We were just in time to catch the tail end of a cliff diving show when we finished eating. Two of the divers were performing and we saw one dive before the show was over. Thankfully the shows happened every 20 minutes, so we didn’t have to wait long for the next performance. While we waited, I took Thinh over to Black Bart’s cave (dad opted to wait nearby). The cave is aimed at children and is understandably campy and childish, but it was still fun to walk through. I couldn’t help but think about the episode of South Park that is centered around Casa Bonita, and Cartman goes through the cave.

Dad, Thinh and I found places along a nearby walkway to watch the next diving show. The area became crowded with spectators, especially children, eager to watch the divers. When the diver came out, he performed some cheesy ceremony while someone narrated the show. The diver then did one dive into the water… and the performance was over. I was surprised and disappointed that it was so short. Performances when I was a kid were a real production, with the divers completing several dives form the man-made cliffs. This was a huge let down from what it was in the past.

The three of us walked around a bit more to see all of the different areas. There was a large statue of Cartman sitting at a table, eating, that was an homage to the famous South Park episode. Upstairs there was face painting for kids, an area with arcade games, and several gift shops around the restaurant. There was also a puppet show and magician, but we didn’t see either of those shows. We then went to watch the next diving show, which had the diver complete two dives this time (a small improvement from the previous show).

Dad decided to head home at this point, leaving Thinh and me to spend some more time at the restaurant. As we walked around, we found a woman making balloon animals and other creations for customers (for free). Thinh had never had a balloon animal before, so I made us wait in line so he could get something made. The woman was very friendly and, when Thinh could decide what he wanted, we left it to her to decide what to make. In the end, she made a Santa mask for him to wear, complete with hat and white beard – it was amazing!

We did some browsing through the gift shops, where Thinh bought Caryn and Andy some beer cozies for Christmas (they have a collection of cozies). We caught one final diving performance and, while it was fun watching the diver perform, it was again a short show that failed to live up to the hype. On our way out, we took a quick stroll through the ‘museum’ area that had several original items of décor on display, as well as some items that had been found behind seats, etc during the renovation.

It was around 19:00 by the time we drove home. Overall the experience had been a lot of fun, though I’m not sure I would need to go back again anytime soon. I was very glad that I could introduce Casa Bonita to Thinh.

 
Thursday, December 12, 2024 – Sunday, December 15, 2024

The rest of the week was spent with the usual routine: I would go to work, Thinh would relax at home. Some days my parents would drive him into downtown Castle Rock so he could hang out at a coffee shop or the library. The library in Castle Rock opened recently and is a beautiful building, full of not only books, but also work spaces for people to come and spend time in a quiet environment. Thinh enjoyed the library quite a bit because he could put on his headphones and zone out while playing on his computer (and doom-scroll through social media - haha!). The library also had a dozen or so Christmas trees on display, each one decorated with a unique theme, from Wicked to Barbie to literary themes.

On Friday, we decided to head out after dinner for a little bit. Most everywhere in Castle Rock closes by 18:00, but we managed to find a coffee shop that stays open later – thankfully! I had visited the Crowfoot Bar a few years ago and forgotten about it until we discovered that it was the only place open late in town. When we arrived, there were only a few other customers in the place. We ordered hot chocolates and then sat down in the back to hang out.

The décor of the place is rather eclectic, somewhat reminiscent of a 1950s-style diner. On a shelf above out table sat some Star Wars figures, so I decided to quiz Thinh on the characters. Before we met, Thinh had never seen a single Star Wars film (truly, a crime against humanity, I know). We watched A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back together, and he seemed to enjoy the films. When it came time to watch Return of the Jedi though, Thinh started to joke about it during the opening title crawl and we didn’t end up watching the movie. Ever since, I have teased him about Star Wars and he insists that it is his favorite movie (which is a lie). For example, I ask him what Chewie’s catchphrase is and Thinh responds with “Let’s go get ‘em!” It’s very cute of him… and ridiculous.

Tonight, he was able to correctly identify Baby Yoda, but that character has become so famous that everyone knows who he is by now. There was a metal figure of R2-D2 on the shelf and I asked him to name that character. I gave some hints that it was just letters and numbers, and Thinh confidently said his name was “XY-3”… Yes, XY-3. I gave him some additional hints and finally, after about 20 minutes, he was able to correctly guess R2-D2. It was a painful process.

We stayed until 21:00, when it was time for the place to close, and then we went home for the night.

On Saturday Thinh decided to make xoi (sticky rice) for us for dinner, which I was very excited about. Xoi is one of our favorite foods to eat in Hanoi, and we had both been craving some authentic Vietnamese food. I told him to have my mom help him while he cooked – she would enjoy the experience and it would give them more time together. In order to stay out of the way, I played video games in the basement while they cooked dinner, but I could smell all of the delicious food.

The dinner turned out perfectly! Thinh had cooked pork belly and xa xiu, along with fried eggs, for us to put on top of our xoi. Everything looked and smelled exactly like it did back home in Hanoi! Dad wasn’t feeling very well tonight, so he skipped dinner, but mom joined in to try her first sticky rice. She really enjoyed it and complimented Thinh on his cooking several times. I loved the entire meal and had a second helping – it was so damn good! I was so impressed with Thinh’s cooking – he doesn’t usually cook back home, so it was doubly impressive that he’d succeeded so well at his first attempt to make sticky rice.

The rest of the weekend was spent being lazy and just hanging out. We went into downtown Castle Rock to walk around and go to Dazbog. It wasn’t very exciting, but it was still nice to have the time together. This visit to the States was less busy and travel-heavy than our previous trip, but that was primarily because of our upcoming wedding and honeymoon in Europe. Nevertheless, both Thinh and I were having fun in Denver and enjoying the time we had with my family.
 

Monday, December 16, 2024 to Monday, December 23, 2024

This next week has some unexpected travel for me due to work: I had to fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma to spend two days at our subsidiary office. I was flying out on Tuesday morning and returning late Wednesday, and unfortunately Thinh was not going to be able to join me as the flights were too expensive. The work trip had been very last-minute and thus the price of the flights was considerably higher than normal.

I spent Monday evening with Thinh since we would be away from one another for the next two days. We went back to Crowfoot after dinner to spend some time together. I felt guilty that I had to leave on this work trip and leave Thinh alone, but he assured me that it would be perfectly fine. Thankfully my parents and Thinh had become very close, and they enjoyed spending time together. Indeed, my parents adore Thinh and I think they were happy to have time together with him.

On Tuesday morning I left for the airport rather early since I had a flight at 08:00, which would allow me to arrive in Tulsa early enough to have the majority of the day at the office. The flight from Denver to Tulsa was quick and I slept the entire time. When I landed, I picked up my rental car and made the short drive out to the office in the suburbs of Tulsa. This was my first time to visit the city and I was incredibly flat and spread out – what one would typically expect from a small city in the Midwest of the States.

The official reason for my visit was just to meet and greet, as well as to learn about their processes. However, the true reason was that we would be laying off one of the people in that office in a few weeks and we needed to be prepared for that change. The person being let go was one of the most difficult people I have ever had the displeasure to work with – she and I had several arguments over the past year, and she refused to be a team played in any way. She was always confrontational, argumentative, and demanding – and not just with me, with everyone she encountered.

When I arrived at the office, everyone was very friendly and greeted me warmly – including She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (she was incredibly fake… and so was I). Aside from her though, I was able to build good working relationships with everyone else in the office over the course of the two day – it was a true fresh start between that office and mine. In that sense, the trip was very much a success.

I was glad to fly home on Wednesday evening. My flight was at 19:00 and I made it back home around 22:30, to find Thinh still awake waiting for me. He is always so good about greeting me whenever I fly home from a trip and I look forward to seeing him each time. It definitely makes returning home all the more special, no matter where we are (Denver or Hanoi – or anywhere else in the world).

The rest of the week was spent much like the others, with me going to work at the office and Thinh spending the days in Castle Rock. He would go into town in the afternoons to hang out at a coffee shop or the library. I would then pick him up on my way home from the office. It was a nice routine, but I wished that we had more time to spend together during the days. I was training a new employee at work, so I was unable to work from home much during this visit, unfortunately.

On Saturday the 21st we all drove up to Caryn’s house so we could hang out with everyone a bit more. Andy was keen on trying Vietnamese food, so we had convinced my parents to watch the kids while Andy, Caryn, Thinh and I went out for lunch at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant. The restaurant had very good reviews and it served my favorite dish, bun cha Hanoi!

The restaurant was busy when we arrived, but we were able to be seated right away. The staff were all Vietnamese, which is always a good sign. We helped Caryn and Andy order some food, and we ordered a banh xeo as an appetizer for us to share. When the food came out, everything looked good… except for my bun cha. Whatever they served me was absolutely not bun cha Hanoi – it was some Southern Vietnamese style dish that they were passing off as bun cha Hanoi. Needless to say, I was very unhappy and shocked because the online reviews had photos of the proper dish. Think tried to explain to the staff in Vietnamese, but they all pretended to not understand a word that he was saying. They brought out another version of the dish, but it was still not what I wanted (or indeed had ordered, based on the menu). I was pretty pissed off by this point and I refused to eat any of the food. I was so upset that this experience hadn’t gone as we’d planned or hoped – I wanted Caryn and Andy to get a real appreciation for Vietnamese food. It was not just my food that missed the mark – the rest of the dishes were far from authentic.

When we got home, it was time for the main event of the day: decorating Christmas cookies with the kids. Before we’d left for lunch, Caryn had prepared the cookie dough and she now baked them so everyone could begin decorating. While the cookies were baking and cooling, Thinh played on the piano some more and also went in the backyard to play with Tropper. Trooper loved Thinh because he was always giving the dog attention.

The kids were very excited to decorate cookies with Thinh. They loved having him around and really enjoyed spending time with him. I continue to be amazed with how quickly and warmly Thinh had been welcomed into the family – everyone loves him. I was not going to be decorating cookies – aside from my general humbug-ness with the holidays, I can’t imagine a worse hell that the chaos of the kids decorating cookies.

Everyone was laughing a lot as they decorated the cookies. I stopped by several times to check in their progress and even Lucy was getting in on the fun. Jane insisted that Thinh sit next to her while they decorated, which created a fuss with the other kids because they all wanted him to sit next to them. They all did a very good job decorating their cookies. Jack takes after me though – he just dumped sprinkles on a few cookies to be ridiculous (just like I did as a kid).

After the cookies were all done, Jane wanted to finish decorating the cake she had originally baked for Thinh’s birthday. She has her own mini cake baking set for kids and had insisted on baking a cake for Thinh back in November. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to attend his birthday party due to a lesson she had that night, so she’d frozen the cake. Now she got out the cake and commenced making the frosting. I chipped in and helped her make the chocolate frosting, which turned out much better than I anticipated. She did an amazing job decorating the cake and was very proud to present it to Thinh when it was all done.

Everyone then sat down to watch some cartoons and this time Luke was able to sit with Thinh. Luke had become much more affectionate and engaging since we were last in the States, and it was fun to spend time with him. Lucy was finally starting to warm up to us and had engaged with us a little bit, but she was still a bit uncertain about the two of us. Trooper sat right in front of Thinh while they watched TV so he could get some attention as well.

My parents, Thinh and I went home in the late afternoon before it got dark. It had been a very fun day with everyone, despite the lunch debacle. I was glad we had the opportunity to spend the day with Caryn and the kids – our time in Denver was rapidly coming to a close, so I wanted to see them as much as possible before we left town.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, without doing anything too exciting. I went to the office on Monday only because they had organized a group lunch for everyone at a nice restaurant nearby. There was supposed to be a Secret Santa gift exchange for those who were participating (I had declined), but that never ended up happening. Once lunch was over, we left early for the day – and now we had two days off from work!