Casa Bonita review; 14er base camps; Best burgers in CO?; What's the deal with cairns; & More

[00:00:08] Welcome to the OutThere Colorado Podcast. Once again, I'm Spencer, here with Seth. Hey gang. And we have many, many Colorado themed topics to discuss today. Everything from food to adventure. I was gonna say some things less outdoorsy than other things. Yeah, I'm like over here bursting at the seams getting ready to talk about this experience I had over the weekend at the famous Casa Bonita restaurant. Burst no further man, let's hear about it. Yeah, finally went, for those of you who don't know, Casa Bonita is

[00:00:38] been in Colorado since like 1974, shut down during the pandemic. And then after a bit of being shut down and like some rumors that it might be closing for good, Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame ended up purchasing it. And they bought it for like 3.1 million I think was the number. The restaurant featuring prominently in the show, famously in the show. Yeah, famously in South Park. There's an episode, episode came out in 2003.

[00:01:08] Which is crazy. Like that's like over 20 years ago. Catapulted Casa Bonita to new fame. New fame, yeah. And yeah, we watched that episode before we went and it holds up. I was like, dang, I can't believe this was made 20 years ago. You say for those of you who don't know, let's be real. Everybody knows. Everybody knows Casa Bonita. Everyone knows Casa Bonita. Around the world. Like it's hyped.

[00:01:33] But pretty much the two South Park creators with all their millions of dollars purchased this for 3.1 million. And they thought it would be a pretty quick like turnaround, like, you know, throw in some renovations. $40 million later, they were able to reopen it. And there's a documentary that goes into like, you can find it online. Really? It goes into everything they had to do. But yeah, $40 million in renovations required to reopen this spot.

[00:02:00] Something tells me a can of worms that they did not entirely anticipate. Yeah. Yeah. And you get that vibe. It's just like one thing after another. And yeah, I mean, so Casa Bonita, it's best known as being this like giant pink castle. Like a bright pink castle with this tower that goes up. And then inside they have all sorts of things like cliff divers. There's a cave. There's a puppet show. There's a magic show. It's really a full experience.

[00:02:28] But yeah, I'll just start from the beginning now that we're several minutes into this already. Let's do it, man. Let's do it. Drive up to Lakewood from Colorado Springs. A lot of traffic. That was pretty annoying. But get up to Lakewood there on Colfax Avenue. And Casa Bonita is just like in the corner of a strip mall. So it's like, there's like a Ross, Dress for Less. There's like an Ark. There's a Dollar Tree, I think.

[00:02:54] Then there's Westfax Brewing. And then in the corner of the strip malls, just like this giant pink building. Yeah. It's part of the strip mall. Right. And yeah, so you go through security. You go inside. And I mean, I was with a group of six. So we went up there like we went up there for the experience. Right. I don't think a lot of people go up to Casa Bonita like for the food. Is that so that's still indeed the case. You know, I was going to have to ask, you know, where's the food at?

[00:03:21] Yeah. And I mean, and I've got some stuff to say about the food right now. But for those of you who don't know the food previously, like people had some pretty mixed, often negative opinions. If there was a black mark on pink Casa Bonita, it would have been the food. Yeah. But that was a top priority of the South Park owners now was improving the food. Well, but either way we go in. It's like this almost like jungle themed thing. Like you kind of feel like you stepped into a different world in a sense.

[00:03:49] Beyond the Rainforest Cafe. Yeah. Kind of. Yeah. It's got maybe like Rainforest Cafe vibes. But we get led to our little table, you know, and we're in like this cave section, which is super cool. Nice. Very detailed. Did you reserve that cave section? That was just how it worked? Yeah, I was with a couple other couple other people like caves, too. And it was just we ended up in this cave section. They had like glowing tables and nice. Very a lot of detail, a little bit of fog drifting through the air. Man, cool. Yeah, we order our food, everything.

[00:04:16] You pretty much like pick your entree and then every entree is just $39.99 at the time we went. There's other times when it's $29.99. Holy crap. But $39.99 for your entree dish, a fountain drink. If you want alcohol, it's an upcharge. And then sopapillas and then chips and salsa, right? Boy. Okay. Yeah, that's... Yeah, and the high price, but keep in mind you're paying for the experience. Right. So I guess maybe that's where my mind was confused.

[00:04:45] I thought, did you have to pay for a ticket to get there? The reservation? No, yeah. Okay. No, reservations are free, but you do have to book them like months out. And yeah. Yeah, and then once you're inside and I think you have to buy food to go in. We were trying to figure that out. I think you have to buy food to go in and have a reservation. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, and then everything's pretty much included. There are some things you can get like a caricature drawn of yourself that cost more, like Old West photos and they print those out and it costs more.

[00:05:13] But mostly all these attractions are included. Yeah, you're right. I mean, my mind, when I heard the price, I was like, boy, I haven't paid $40 for a plate of enchiladas. But yeah, it's the show. It's the show. Look at it like you're getting a ticket to like a museum or something, right? Yep. But yeah, I got the chicken enchiladas. They were good. I thought they were fine. That's the way to go. Yeah. I enjoyed them. The salsa was very good. Like some of the best salsa I've ever had. Wow. So I'll throw that out there. It was extremely good.

[00:05:43] You pretty much can pick between tacos, enchiladas, burrito, taco salad, and there's one other thing on there too. I've always heard go enchiladas. Yeah, enchiladas were the move, I think. Like everyone pretty much like the reviews of everyone's dishes and everyone got different things were pretty much like, oh, that was fine or that was pretty good. So not disappointing, I wouldn't say. I had a margarita. Margarita was very good as well. Yep. Probably makes the enchilada taste better. Yeah. Right.

[00:06:13] And then you basically, and I mean the enchilada plate, it's like two relatively small enchiladas topped with chicken and then you get some rice and beans. Or is it chips and salsa all you can eat or what's the situation there? Yeah. Chips and salsa all you can eat. And you only have like an hour at your table though. So you sit down. Ah. But they're quick with service probably because they have a pretty simple menu. Everything rolling. Yeah. And you just raise your little flag at the end of the table whenever you're ready for more things. The soapapillas were very good.

[00:06:43] Honey covered dough pockets is probably the easiest way to describe those. But then after our hour, right? So the first thing we did was we go to the cliff divers. They're pretty much like 15 to 20. It happens like every 20 minutes or something. These cliff divers emerge from this like rocky facade with like an artificial waterfall there. And they jump like 15, 20 feet into the pool below. So we thought it was going to be like a bigger show of some sort.

[00:07:11] But it's like the first time we were there, the only jump that was made was just the guy jumping off this ledge and doing a cannonball and getting everyone wet. It was pretty funny and it was fun. Like we're all laughing. We're all having a good time. I would like to do a profile on the divers of Casa Bonita. Oh, yeah. Life of Casa Bonita divers. Add that to your list. Yeah. And they're like doing like funny things up there and goofing around, kind of entertain people. Yeah. And then we did the magic show, kind of similar where, you know, it's like has that level of cheese to it.

[00:07:41] It's no David Blaine performance in a sense. But yeah, the little stage area for the magic show is really cool. It's like this intricate like mirrored ceiling, like probably fit like 80 to 100 people in there. And yeah, they do these performances every, you know, 15, 20 minutes as well, probably. Got it. Yeah, that was entertaining. Full of the like right amount of cheesiness that we were looking for. Yep.

[00:08:07] Then we went and we did Black Bart's Cave, which is like literally just like a tunnel that's painted black. Kind of. And there's like a couple random little jump scares, but I think we're out of that in like two minutes, you know. Yeah. And then found the Cartman statue. They have this giant Cartman statue. And there was a really good live band playing music. The Cartman statue is upstairs. Live band was upstairs too. Mariachi? No, actually. It was like kind of like this like groovy jam band. Yeah.

[00:08:36] Well, they used to have a mariachi band. That's very, yeah. Yeah. But yeah, no, this dude was shredding on guitar. It was great. Nice. Like the live music was actually a surprise highlight, I would say. Yeah. Of the trip. And then we went to the gift shop and then, you know, purchased all over. I got my hat. I got two hats actually. You did. You opted for the pink cast. You had to get the pink one. Yeah. Yeah. I had to get the pink one. Yeah. Yeah. Got a pint glass. He's repping it right now. Yeah. Well, sitting on the table.

[00:09:05] I will be repping it. He's treating it more as, you know, like proper memorabilia. He's not wearing it. He's, you know. Work of art, right? Yeah. You're probably going to frame it back. You're going to put it in like a little shadow box. I'm sure. Got a shadow box. That's the move. But yeah, I mean, all in all, like, I mean, go for the experience. Don't go for the food. The food won't let you down, but don't go for the food. All right. Rating out of 10, Spencer. Where are we at? I mean, I give it like. Putting you on the spot. So experience included in that rating? Yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah.

[00:09:35] All the way around. All the way around. I'd say it's a solid eight and a half. Cool. Like, just in terms of like, it met the hype. If you've seen the South Park episode, like, you'll probably be smiling the whole time you're there. Yep. Just because it's exactly as it's depicted in the episode. And let's be real. The only way they're getting a 10 out of that deal is if the food was absolutely bomb. Yeah. Yeah. And like I said. But the food's good. Yeah. No complaints about the food. Like, I get it. It's part of the experience. You'd probably buy the same plate for 15 bucks elsewhere. Right. But yeah.

[00:10:04] No, I mean, it was great all around. And the funny thing was that like, as I'm listing off all the attractions, like, oh, a little comedy show, a puppet show, a little cave you can explore. Sounds like it's a family friendly experience, which it is. But I think the thing that surprised all of us was that there were probably more groups of just like millennials. Oh, yeah. Going around. Oh, like kids in candy stores, too. Like, it was like, just like smiling and running around, taking photos with everything.

[00:10:33] Every time the cliff divers would jump, like, you'd just see like 50 phones raising the air, like recording the same thing. Yeah. It was pretty funny. Yeah. That's great, man. Yeah. If you have been thinking about going, you should definitely check it out at least once. So, okay. So like, do you know how far out, like if I went to go make a reservation right now, how far out might it be? A couple months, I think. Okay. Is that about right? Yeah. And I think they're done with like... Something to look forward to. They had some sort of like Founders Club thing. Yeah. I think that's done and now anyone, just the general public can make reservations.

[00:11:03] All right. But yeah, a couple months out. Okay. Yeah. I might surprise my wife and get some tickets. And I can say that I'd surprise her because I know she's not listening to this show. She's got much better things to do. Yeah. My girlfriend doesn't listen to this show either. We're speaking to an audience of none. Yeah. Yeah. But... Okay. So on the topic, can I pick your brain on Mexican food? Yeah. Yeah. Have you had some good Mexican food? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean... If anything comes to mind, it seems worthwhile though. Yeah.

[00:11:31] Colorado Springs, there's that Tlape... Tlape? Or something. So good. Can't be pronounced. I can't... Yeah. I cannot... Yeah. It's T-L-A-Q-U-E-P-A-Q-U-E. Whoa. Tlape. Hidden gem? Tlape. Tlape. Tlape. Yeah. That place is delicious. It's over on Murray Boulevard in Colorado Springs. Okay. But has this really authentic feel. Cool.

[00:11:56] I went to this place years ago and I've gone back a few times since. But it's kind of like one of those sneaky, low-key spots that's totally worth checking out. Yeah. What about you? So locally, you ever had that food truck, Waveones? Oh, no. I've heard of that. That's good. Good? It's like buttermilk tortillas, which you're like, what? Huh. But then it just provides this super thick doughy, it kind of comes to mind. That's probably not the right word.

[00:12:24] But substantial tortilla that just keeps everything and makes everything super good. I kind of like that, I think. Super good. That's a good idea. It probably holds together better. And then I was just at the mill stop in Pueblo, the famous mill stop. That was awesome. Just a square brick of a building, lined constantly out the door. What'd you get there? I got three massive tacos. Really? Just straight up. I was like, you know what? Let's just do the straight up beef tacos and see what's up. And it was awesome.

[00:12:53] Shredded beef or ground beef? Ground beef. Yeah, ground beef. Nice. Man, the difference is like shredded cheese, man. When you can tell someone back in the kitchen is shredding that cheese. Oh, yeah. You get that thick cheese on there. Yeah, you got a lettuce, fresh tomato. You can taste it, yeah. Shredding your own cheese is the move. Yeah. And then the beans and rice. The rice was different. I never had moist rice like that before. It's like a red, moist rice. It was super good. And then same thing. You start with chips and salsa and you get the sopapillas at the end. There you go. Yeah.

[00:13:23] There you go. Yeah, now I'm a fan. I don't know if I've ever been anywhere where they've just brought me sopapillas before. Yeah, same. Yeah. I'm a fan now. I'm like, dang. Yeah, every Mexican restaurant you go to, you're going to be expecting sopapillas now. Yeah. Don't dare charge me extra. Man, fried ice cream is a favorite of mine too that you can often find at Mexican restaurants with that like churro crispy outside. Yeah. That's a rare delicacy, isn't it? A rare, rare delicacy. And then in Denver, fried tacos at Mexico City, close to Coors. There we go. Where I'm always going before I go to Coors. There we go.

[00:13:53] I love that stuff. Fried chicken tacos. Fried tacos. Oh, fried tacos. Fried tacos. The thing is fried, dude. Huh. Yeah, it's a trip. Yeah. How was that on the stomach? I recall it holding up all right. Yeah, nice. I got out of there in one piece, got through the game in one piece. There we go. Yeah. You gotta try that one too. Don't go too crazy, but yeah, it was good. Anyway. Yeah, let's take it outdoors here because we have one more food topic that... Oh, that's not your fault. I was the one who had to dive in and talk about cassopanilla. Dive in. Nice.

[00:14:23] Dive into that little pool water. I picked that up right away and talk about cassopanilla. But let's take it to this interesting outdoorsy topic, which I've always found this topic pretty fascinating, and it's the cairns. Yeah. Probably one of the most mispronounced words in outdoor recreation. How could cairns be so... How could a pile of rocks be so fascinating? A pile of rocks. Is it possible? It's spelled C-A-I-R-N-S for you guys listening. Pronounced properly as cairn. Almost like carin. Right. Which is the thing.

[00:14:53] There are cairn-cairns, I am told. Ooh. Cairn-cairns. Have you heard about these cairn-cairns? I have an idea where that's going. The 14ers.com blogs, or threads, forums, yes. Yeah. So the stacks of rocks, Seth. So tell us a little bit more about this topic. Well, I kind of just dove into it, too. So I'm still learning. But, yeah. So we all know cairns are very synonymous with the high alpine, right?

[00:15:23] Above treeline where maybe the route is less clear. And over time, for millennia, very possibly, these piles of rock appear to guide the way. Right? Very simple. An alternative to a sign. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. And, yeah. Like, you know, I heard it described, like, the executive director of Colorado 14ers Initiative told me, you know, the way he sees it,

[00:15:53] there's, like, three categories of cairns, right? There's the ones that his organization, Colorado 14ers Initiative, builds. And we've seen these. Very impossible to miss. Across many 14ers, including Bierstadt, if I'm recalling right. It's been a while since I've been on Bierstadt. But we're talking massive cairns. So I wasn't aware, like, Forest Service has specifications for cairns. What can, how cairns should be built. And those specifications call for, like,

[00:16:22] three to four foot bases with five to six foot heights. Dang. And, like, a pole sticking out of them. Call it a stick or whatever. Huh. To be above snow, right? Yeah. When snow falls so that that trail marker is still visible. Yeah, that makes sense. I had no idea that those are, like, there's, you know, the Forest Service just came out in February with their trail building manual, right? I guess they come out with it every year. I'm not sure. And there are pages dedicated to cairns

[00:16:52] and blueprinted cairn designs, you know? Bang. And they're massive. I've seen the massive ones on there. I had no clue. I mean, I assume they intentionally were massive. Yeah. I had no clue they were, like, actual specifications. Very intentionally, yeah. Interesting. And there's a lot of much smaller, you know, maybe their knee-high cairns that people build on their own, intentionally or unintentionally,

[00:17:21] putting people on right paths, right? And that category kind of opens up the conversation of, you know, trust them or not trust them. Most importantly, trust your instinct. You know, could that be, would that make sense as the route there, you know? And your research. Right. Yeah. And whatever maps you might print out or GPX files you might print out. And then there's that third category that, you know, people just build them for decoration for ornamental purposes, right?

[00:17:50] I feel like you see those more so, like, in the desert. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Yeah, there's a guy on Instagram that builds them with river rocks. I've seen that, yeah. And there are, every time he posts a video, there's, like, many people that are like, I hate you for doing this. Okay. Okay. So, so. Hostile thing. What do you know about that whole discussion? Or if anything. What do you mean? Well, so, I mean, when I was doing the Leave No Trace instructor course, they talked about Karens. Uh-huh.

[00:18:18] And how those relate to Leave No Trace, right? And, like, minimalizing your impact. And basically the idea there is it's, like, anything that breaks that, like, escape into nature feel goes against this, like, Leave No Trace policy, right? Mm-hmm. Um, meanwhile, though, I mean, Leave No Trace people are not, like, so unreasonable that they're, like, any sort of signage that gets people safely to where they're going needs to be broken down. So, similar, similar with the big Karens. Yeah.

[00:18:45] Um, that are very intentionally designed and placed. As you put it, like a trail sign. Yeah, no problem there. It's less invasive than a trail sign because it just blends in, too, right? Mm-hmm. In a way. But, um, yeah, I mean, I think the, uh, kind of those, like, the more Karens that you have, the less it feels like you're wandering through a wild area and the more it feels like you're just following the same path that so many other people have. Um, I don't necessarily, I don't have any negative feelings about

[00:19:14] whenever I'm trying to follow Karens on a trail, I'm thankful they're there so I know where I'm going. Uh, it's always a risk, though, like you said, with you gotta make sure you're following the right Karens. Mm-hmm. Um, and there's obviously a safety risk there if people just start adding Karens wherever they want. Uh, but yeah, for some people, I think, uh, they, they really don't like it whenever they start seeing evidence that other, you know, other people have developed an area in any way. So, I can see both sides of that. For sure. And I should say, I'm not calling those people Karen Karens.

[00:19:43] I've heard them described as that. My impression is like that, that attitude comes from a good place. Yeah. You know. Yeah. I think the National Park Service puts it well. You know, um, they have a webpage for Karens that I just came across and, you know, I guess different national parks have different approaches to Karens. Um, whether yay or nay, maybe. Mm-hmm. But, as the website reads, parks have different ways of maintaining trails and Karens. However, they all have the same advice. If you come across a Karen,

[00:20:13] do not disturb it. Don't knock it down or add to it. Mm-hmm. Right? And so that, in their, in their view, aligns with Leave No Trace. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. It's here. Well, and I, I'd imagine like the Rangers, if they see these Karens that are in risky places, they'd probably knock them down. Right. Similar, I bet Colorado 14ers initiative, if they see these Karens leading people off trail, they'd probably knock them down. Right. But both of those organizations and agencies, you know, they have, they have that sort of permission to do so.

[00:20:43] They're the land manager. Yeah, they're the land manager. Yeah. Interesting stuff. Yeah. Yeah, so what, when you were talking to the Colorado 14ers initiative person, are they, are they building more Karens? Are they trying to minimize it? Are they just like, what's their approach? It's very site specific, it kind of sounded like. Yeah. You know, it kind of sounded like every other project might call for them, you know? Yeah. It makes sense. where they're rebuilding a trail or reconstructing a trail. I think he brought up

[00:21:11] an example on Mount Wilson. Mount Wilson or Wilson Peak. I think he said Mount Wilson. Yeah. Where, you know, same kind of situation where someone could go off route and very much damage vegetation, right? So, to be clear, that's what these things are trying to prevent, you know, in the best case scenario. People follow Karens rather than going all sorts of different ways and trampling and increasing that impact across the landscape

[00:21:40] rather than following the intended path that the Karens designate, yeah. Yeah, and you got to think too, like, obviously, like, damaging the landscape is a thing, but whenever these Karens are built, they're often built in pretty dangerous terrain when you get off the established route. Yeah. Even if it's not a danger to you in that moment, right? You can still wind up there. You can wind up there. Yeah. And, and, yeah, and I mean, I've definitely been up on 14 years before and followed the wrong route

[00:22:09] because of a Karens that was like, I was like, is that, like, trying to find the route, you're like, is that a rock stack? I think it is. And then you justify in your head that you're like, I'm going to go to that rock stack. I think it's a rock stack. And then turns out, maybe not. Someone else got lost and built it, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Maybe they got lost and built it to try to find their way back to where they were. Yeah, yeah, right. You never really know. Yeah. Ideally, you have like a line of sight where you can see the second one, the third one, the fourth one. Yeah. But that's definitely

[00:22:39] not always the case. Not always the case, especially when you're in the middle of a bunch of rocks looking up, trying to find the tinier stack of rocks. it's like, it can be tricky. I always thought, though, so kind of the alternative to a Karens, right? Long's Peak, they do the bullseyes where it's like a yellow dot with a red ring around it when you're going through the home stretch area of that to guide people. So that's an interesting, like, when you're talking, like, what's the alternative to a Karen? Like,

[00:23:08] is that, I would say that's more invasive just because it's like bright yellow dots. Yeah, it looks very, like, it's spray painted dots on rocks on a mountain. Quite urban. Yeah. And I mean, trail signs, you know, probably more invasive as well. So maybe, maybe a Karen's the best option. Yeah. You know, ultimately. And yeah, like, there have been times when I've been on snowy 14 years and you can see those rock stacks sticking out above the snow and you can tell it's like something that's been created and that's honestly, like, it's a relief

[00:23:38] to see those and be like, okay, I am going the right way. Yeah. And they go back. I mean, I'm still learning kind of the historic and prehistoric uses of Karen's, but across cultures, across the world, I mean, they've been used for ritualistic purposes, as burial sites, right? I mean, there's, there's, there's clear, there's a law that demands if, if construction, people come across

[00:24:08] a Karen, there needs to be some archaeological scrutiny on that Karen, right? Because it could, could have, could very well be significant to indigenous cultures. They've been, they, on Rollins Pass in Colorado, there's been research on Cairns up around there that were, that are believed to have been built by indigenous people to designate hunting paths to direct animals or misdirect animals. Interesting. Or to guide people

[00:24:38] to certain hill zones, right? Yeah. For animals. Right. So, yeah, there is kind of some, we all very much know them in modern terms, but there's, there's, I think there's a lot of interesting history and prehistory with them as well. Oh, yeah, and I could even see that just back in the days of like westward expansion. Like, how do you mark a wagon trail? For sure. It's, yeah, it's like, this is what these, giant pile of rocks. What the people do here now, let's do what they do. Yeah, exactly. for sure. Also, yeah, like, it's kind of like that, like the tree in the desert. I think it's like,

[00:25:08] I want to say it's the Sahara Desert, but like, there's like, there was a famous tree there. I think he got, got struck by a drunk driver. It was a few years ago, went viral, but there was a famous tree there that was just in the middle of the desert. And people have used that for navigation for, crazy number like that. Don't quote me on that, but I think it is something like prehistoric in that regard. But yeah, so maybe we'll say hundreds of years. Yeah, yeah, interesting stuff though. Yeah,

[00:25:37] so speaking of 14ers, though, you had a pretty interesting thing you were covering recently, 14er base camps. And we've talked about like adventure base camps, or base camp towns before, for more so just generic adventure in a sense, you know, in that use of the word. But for these peak baggers who might be following Cairns, where might be their best, best spot to set up and get multiple summits in a weekend or what have you. Yeah. Or a week, whatever, yeah. Yeah, what's at the top of your list there? Gotta be Buena Vista. Yeah.

[00:26:07] Right? Yeah, I would agree. I mean, on the topic of Buena Vista, some might say Leadville, some might say Salida, and there's also some southerly perks with Salida, for sure, if you think of some more southerly mountains. But I'm going Buena Vista because you're right in the middle of the collegiates. Mm-hmm. You know, if you want to tick off your collegiates, got it right there. And then you're in shot of Elbert and Massive, and then you could move south to Ontario and Chavano. Mm-hmm. You know,

[00:26:37] you got Huron, you got La Plata in there. Gotta be Buena Vista. Yeah. And then it's just, you know, you're by the, you could be by the creek, you go try to camp around Cottonwood Lake. Obviously, if you're lucky, maybe you get Twin Lakes or Turquoise Lake in there. It's a pretty good forest service road camping in that area, too. Mm-hmm. Like, on the way out to Belford, Oxford, there's some good camping out there along that road, little campsites you can find. Along Chalk Creek. Yeah. I've been around there. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.

[00:27:07] And then, I've always, you know, of course, we think about what to do after the hike, right, in all these places. Kind of how I'm structuring this package, you know, stuff to do after that. Yeah, right. Pizza and beer at Eddie Line in Buda Vista, right? Deer Hammer Whiskey. Yep. A good one. I was just in Buda Vista over the weekend for our wedding. Oh, yeah. Wait, did you go to Biggie's? Did not get into Biggie's. But I did get breakfast at Jan's. Oh. A local staple. Yeah. That was great. Yeah.

[00:27:38] Biggie's is a sandwich shop we were talking about last week. It would be very good for a post-14, right? Yes. Load up on the calories. I should mention that in here. By the way, you're making me think about that. And then what else to see and do? You got St. Elmo. Yeah. St. Elmo Ghost Town. Favorite ghost town, for sure. I've always wanted to go into the drive-in movie theater, right? Oh, yeah. What is that? Would that be west of? Yeah, west of town. Yeah. Comanche Drive-In. Yeah. Very cool. And they're open again this summer, I believe. I believe so. Yeah. Double check that.

[00:28:08] They claim to be the country's highest elevated drive-in. Yeah. It's cool, too. It's a stunning landscape around there. Right there in the field near the mountains. Mountain View. Yeah. And, I mean, the hot springs. You can soak after. The hot springs. Soak those muscles after, right? Gotta be a hot spring. Got several hot springs in Buena Vista. You can stay at the hot springs. You can stay at Mount Brist. Yeah. If you wanted to, you know, if you wanted to go, if you wanted to glamp, shall we say. Mm-hmm. Or the great hotel there, the Surf Hotel by the river there. That's where the wedding

[00:28:38] I went to over the weekend was. Oh, nice. Yeah. Very cool. I've heard a lot of good things about that spot. Yeah. Yeah. One of our former writer for out there, Colorado, Brianna, who always loved that spot. She would go up there and, yeah, play trips up there regularly. Yeah. Great place to hang out. And then, throw this one at you. Frisco. Frisco. Frisco. All right. Because, so. I'm interested. So, people think Breck, you know, when we're talking Quandary, when we're talking Decaliburon. Mm-hmm.

[00:29:08] But, you know, Frisco, you're still in shot there. Yeah. And then I might argue you could be right on I-70, Mm-hmm. Which could take you out to Grayson Tories. Yeah. To Bierstadt. Mount of the Holy Cross. Get up early and do Holy Cross. Yeah. That's what I was thinking. Go west for Holy Cross. Yeah. Mount of the Holy Cross is one of my favorites, too. Yeah. I like the Frisco stay idea for that as well. Yeah. Lots to do around Frisco. Mm-hmm. Love the Moose Jaw. Mm-hmm. Love Outer Range. You love your,

[00:29:38] my pro set. You're gonna talk about your pro set? My sausage spot. What do you think? What comes to mind for you? Oh, man. 14 or base camp. 14 or base camp. I mean, my favorite, my top one's gonna be Buena Vista or Salida. You know, you can pop down if you want to hit some of those lower ones. Salida's a good base camp also for kind of some of those in that San Luis Valley area. Exactly. Because you can go south of Salida. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Especially if you're hitting those near Crestone. Right. It makes sense for that. Exactly.

[00:30:07] You got Kit Carson. Exactly. You can make a good case for Salida to get some of that stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So I would say that's a good one. You had a really good idea, though, that I've never thought about before, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense also. Mm-hmm. What was that one? Alamosa. Alamosa. We're talking south and we're talking San Luis Valley. Mm-hmm. And I always, I have to be careful because I'm trying to think how the crow flies, but for sure Blanca. Mm-hmm. For sure Little Bear. Yeah. Ellingwood points right there. And I mean,

[00:30:37] at that point, you're... Lindsey? Uh, Lindsey's... I think you're coming from the other side on Lindsey. That's what I was thinking. I want to say. That's what I was thinking. It's been a few years since I've done that. So tough to call it in reach. Yeah. Kit Carson, Columbia, though. For sure. Yeah, both of those are right outside of Crestone. Mm-hmm. Calabra. Calabra? Yeah. Calabra, yeah. About as close as you can get to Calabra. Yeah, yeah. With a place to stay and all the frills of a base camp, yeah. Even San Luis Peak out by Creed. If you're going to, like,

[00:31:06] pick a stay along the way... I mean, I just did it in one drive from Colorado Springs. It was like six hours, five and a half, six hours. Man. But if you want to shorten that and you're looking for a spot that probably has, you know, some good lodging. Del Norte has some lodging, too. Sure. So maybe stay there. Get up there toward Creed-ish. Yeah. And that's also the alternative route of San Luis Peak, so no crowds. Yeah. So I highly recommend going through Creed to hit that route. Anyway, yeah, like you said, I bet people don't think of Alamosa as a 14 or base camp, but you could definitely

[00:31:36] make a case there. Yeah, I think you're the first person that said that and the more I think about it, the more I like it. I had to look at a map to really think, like, wait a minute. Yeah, that could make sense. Yeah. Yeah, when you look at a map, it is just dotted by peaks around that ring, which, I mean, obviously that, like, played into how that whole area formed, too. You got to go pretty far up to get to the Crest. Oh, right. Yeah, the Crestones, you go in from Westcliffe is the most popular way to do it. Yeah. Yeah, and that's Humboldt over there, too. So you got Crest Dumpy, Crestone Eagle. For sure, Humboldt.

[00:32:06] Humboldt. Yeah. Which, Westcliffe, I mean, that's also a great town. Makes sense, too. That's also a good base camp, you know? Yeah, I love it. I mean, Westcliffe, you know, it's like kind of one of those small mountain towns that hasn't gotten touristy yet, in a sense. Like, most people are just kind of driving through Westcliffe and then hitting these peaks and then camping somewhere, driving back out. And yeah, I mean, Westcliffe, also great stuff there. Gotta go Lake City. Yeah, Lake City. Be right on the Alpine Loop

[00:32:35] that gets over there to Red Cloud and Sunshine and Handies. Yeah, you can take an alternative route from, I don't want to say out, a little bit outside the city, a few miles. Alternative route at Red Cloud, Sunshine. I had a similar experience where I encountered no one that day on the trail. You gotta want it. You gotta go out there. And it's a little bit more running up that way, too. But not, I mean, I think it was still class two. Like, not unmanageable. But the trails

[00:33:05] aren't quite as pounded, so some of the rocks are a little bit looser and stuff. Yeah. No, hey, I mean, I think, I mean, obviously 14ers are one of those things that hit a lot of people every year in Colorado in terms of what they're doing this summer. So, yeah, definitely stay at one of these base camps. Yeah. Be a good move. Or just hang out. You don't even have to climb the peaks. Yeah. Leadville, too. Leadville, too, right? Leadville, for sure. Elberta Massive right there. Chicago Basin. That's been on my list. I just want to go hang out in the Chicago Basin. Yeah. So, I bet people know

[00:33:34] get on the train, Durango-Silverton train. You get off at the, isn't it the Needleton stop? Yeah, Needleton stop. And then I think you hike like six miles in and you've got Sunlight, Windham, Eolas right there for the taking. What's the other one? There's four there. North. North, yeah. Yeah, North Eolas. Yeah. Yeah. And then that's on my list. You call that your Durango base camp. I mean, you're calling Chicago Basin your base camp, but then you can go reward yourself with all sorts of stuff to do in Durango afterward. Yep. Yeah. As your base camp. Yeah,

[00:34:04] that's on my list and I, every year, man, I just keep like not being able to make it work and those are four of the peaks I haven't climbed yet and nowadays like all the peaks, I mean, I guess you can even say Telluride, right? All the peaks I haven't climbed are either the ones in Telluride which are just a long drive away. It's hard to get the full go there and even from Telluride, you know? Yeah, yeah. You know, I guess that is still kind of out. Some of those in the Aspen area. Aspen, I guess. Technical for Aspen. Yeah,

[00:34:33] another good base camp town but again, just a little further away. Right. A little bit harder to, you know, get everything booked. Yeah, your technical stuff and the Elks for sure in Aspen is a place to be. Yeah, that was one I've climbed Castle and Conundrum out there and that was, yeah, I mean, it was absolutely beautiful. Like, absolutely stunning landscape but yeah, I mean, it's a little bit trickier to get all the reservation, like especially if you're talking about like the maroon bells and everything

[00:35:02] with all their reservation system and lack of parking. There is logistics on top of logistics for getting some of that stuff done. Yeah. Yeah. But either way, yeah, I mean Aspen, maybe that qualifies as a base camp town too. I'd say so. But yeah, we do kind of have like all these 14ers are kind of just around a certain town, which I guess makes sense. They're clustered. And then there's Colorado Springs where Pike's Peak is your only one. Yeah, or Estes Park. Or Estes Park. Estes Park, one peak there. Right. Yeah. Get some Long's Peak action.

[00:35:32] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, hey, that's a good list set. I like the piece. Yeah, people might have to wait for that one. Might not be coming out for a little while. We've got to wait for some special products down the line. Well, there we go. So look forward to that in the future. Seth, we'll spend this first portion of summer honing and honing it for the ultimate recommendations. Let's take it back to food here. Okay. If you weren't hungry already with my description of Casa Bonita, you'll be especially

[00:36:02] hungry with my description of this spot that is so a little bit of backstory here before I make the big reveal. I frequent Reddit, right? I'm a Redditor. There's a Colorado Springs forum on Reddit, right, or subreddit as it's called within that community where it's all about Colorado Springs. Every like two months it seems like there's always a question pose where it's like where's the best burger in Colorado Springs?

[00:36:32] Oh, I know what you're going to talk about. Every two months. You mentioned this. Yeah, every two months it's the same two spots on top. And I had not, I've never been to either of them or at least hadn't been to either of them until last week, right? I only went to one of them so I can't talk about the other one today. Maybe they'll get a shout out. We'll see. But the top one on the list is South Park Brewing. A quick riser. Yeah, South Park Brewing. They just moved within the last year or so, couple years maybe, from Fair Play

[00:37:01] to Old Colorado City area in Colorado Springs. Yeah. Which, like, rare to see a brewery being at the top of, like, any sort of, like, where's the best food of this version. But the photos look amazing and every single person on Reddit, and Reddit's a harsh community, right? Like, you can't get your BS on Reddit. Someone will call you out and be like, this is not. Serious people. Yeah. But, like, on Reddit, every time, people are just raving and raving about the burgers at South Park Brewing. And, I mean, shoot, what, they opened

[00:37:31] Spencer Wynn? Oh, damn. So they've made quick work on their reputation. Yeah, yeah, like, it's wild. Has it been two years? I know, yeah. In the new location. Right, right. Yeah, so, yeah, went there, they're known for their smash burgers, so every burger on their menu is a smash burger, and I've got to say, it was very delicious. It did not let me down, and it was like 13 bucks, which, you know, a lot of places, good to go. I guess I got the one that was $14, but it came with green chili on it. Had to spoil, yeah. Had to do that. I feel like

[00:38:01] $14 is comparable though to a lot of places. It's not like, you know, you'll see $17 burgers on the menu, $18 burgers on the menu now, so I thought it was reasonably priced as well, at least in that regard. Came with fries. Yeah, absolutely delicious. You get that with a smash burger, you get those like caramelized edges. Yeah, the little skirt on the edge there. Yeah, and just like the real thin patty. But yeah, I was a fan, so if you're looking for a good burger, South Park Brewing. You can always trust the Out There Colorado podcast for a burger recommendation.

[00:38:31] Yes, I will find the less healthy food around the state and I will try it for you. And then we'll tell you where to hike it off. Yeah, we'll tell you where to hike it off. It's been a while but I'm a big fan of Green Line. Yeah, Green Line. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Green Line. Very good. Very affordable, last I checked. Gosh, I think at one point they were doing free day Fridays. Oh, nice. Free Fry Fridays. Oh, there we go. Yeah, well, and I guess Free Fry Fridays. Let me try that a third time. Yeah, and I guess while we're on the topic too, the other one

[00:39:01] that's always at the top of the list is Brakeman's, also a new restaurant. But I've never been there. Hit that recently. Was it good? Good. Yeah, so definitely good. And there's Skirted Heifer, which definitely deserves the hype. Yeah, Skirted Heifer is good. They have the cheese skirt around their burger. Unlike anything you'll get anywhere else. Yeah, like you don't as like a, well, it is a handheld item for sure. But you don't think of eating the meat with your fingers, right? And you have to take the cheese off.

[00:39:31] Yeah. Along with some of that skirted meat, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's good. Yeah, I called in this article I just wrote about the South Park, I called the hamburger America's favorite sandwich. Yeah. Which felt weird because I'm like, I don't think I've ever called a burger a sandwich before, but technically it's a sandwich. What does Reddit say about the hot dog as a sandwich? sandwich? I don't know. I would say it is. I mean, I would say it is a sandwich. What else do you call it? I don't know. I've never, I've only ever been on the outskirts

[00:40:01] of that debate. Or is it a wrap? Technically, it's more. Isn't a wrap a sandwich? Technically, it's more, I don't know. I mean, the buns aren't separated. Like a burrito is not a sandwich. Yeah. I mean, or like a pita wrap, you know? Like a gyro? Yeah. What do you call it? I guess you call a gyro a sandwich, right? Probably. Yeah. I don't know. We'll have to see what people think. Yeah, we got to educate ourselves on that one. Maybe someone will email us with some really good insight about hot dogs. I've stayed away from that debate.

[00:40:31] Yeah. A little bit more. So Smashburgers, while I was looking this up, doing some research for this piece, found out they were invented in Kentucky, which is kind of interesting. Smashburger. Yeah, because they're so connected with Colorado. Also, like Smashburger, the fast food chain, they're out of Denver, Colorado. Oh, are they? I didn't know that. Over 200 locations. I didn't know they were out of Denver. United States and Canada. So, yeah, I think people tend to think Smashburger is a Colorado thing, which I would argue that it is a Colorado thing in a way, especially if you put green chili on it. Yeah.

[00:41:03] Invented in Kentucky. Well, now everyone's got their, everyone's smashing burgers these days on their Blackstones. Yeah, and you can, I mean, I got one of those little burger presses from Amazon recently. Yeah, yeah. Works very well. Yep. Creates a lot of smoke. I set the fire alarm off multiple times doing this Smashburger thing on the cast iron. Safety first, buddy. Yeah. You can find them on Amazon. They're like 10 bucks, totally worth it if you're trying to make Smashburgers. Yeah. But, yeah, what else we got here, Seth? I can't remember. All right, we got things we

[00:41:32] haven't done yet that we really want to do this summer. Right, it's a good time to talk about summer. Call it bucket list or in, like you and I were kind of talking like what are just some like very classic Colorado things that we haven't done yet? Our timelines are pretty similar. Eight years for me in May. Yeah, I'm going on 11 here in July. Is that nine? It's going to be nine years for me. Yeah, it'll be 11 for me in July. So you got here in 14? Yeah. Got it. Okay. Yeah, because I've been here since 16. So I mentioned

[00:42:01] the Durango Silverton train. That is classic Colorado that I haven't done. Mentioned St. Elmo. That's classic Colorado that I haven't done. What's becoming, it seems, classic Colorado that I haven't done? A concert at Dillon Amphitheater. Dillon Amphitheater is really rising up the music goer bucket list, man. Yeah, I've also never been, but I've heard great things. It seems like it's becoming classic Colorado. Casa Bonita, still got to do that. Yeah, and then the last thing maybe that comes to mind

[00:42:31] is Mesa Verde. Shame on me. I still haven't been to Mesa Verde. Yeah, need to get there. The archaeological wonder in southwest Colorado. Yeah, we have similar lists to be honest. Aside from St. Elmo's and Castle Bonita as of last weekend. Our producer, Tim, just messaged us, 28 years for me, for me, you filthy transplants. He's going to cut us off the podcast. Now he knows. He's recording a bunch of noobs. He's from, originally from the

[00:43:01] Aurora area. Tim, what's classic Colorado that you haven't done? Does something come to mind? Almost 30 years now. He also hasn't done the Durango-Silverton train. Wait, have you been to Mesa Verde? He has been to Mesa Verde. Yeah, because it's classic. Well, sounds like we have a busy summer head. What about you? Oh man, yeah, the Durango train. That's always at the top of my list and I just haven't been able to work it in for whatever reason. Also, kind of on the line of the Dillon Amphitheater,

[00:43:31] the Ford Amphitheater in Vail is supposed to be very cool too. The one not in Colorado Springs. Yeah, the one not in Colorado Springs, the Gerald Ford Amphitheater, also known as the Amp. Yeah. But apparently that's a pretty cool one too. Yeah, so I mean, you've done all the national parks otherwise? Black Canyon, National Monuments? Have you done Colorado? I would like to maybe spend more time in Rocky Mountain National Park. Yeah. I went there in the winter once to explore and I was like snowshoeing. Been to the west side? Gone in from Grand Lake? Haven't been to

[00:44:00] the west side from Grand Lake. Climbed Long's Peak for sure. But that pretty much took that whole day, you know. Yeah, exploring that area a little bit more would be nice. Sand Dunes have been there multiple times. Black Canyon Gunness and been there multiple times. Gone down in the canyon which is really cool if you get one of the wilderness permits which they're limited but we didn't have a problem getting them. Oh, I just thought of another one. Yeah. Riding a bike around going to all the wineries on a bike

[00:44:30] in Paonia. Ooh, there you go. Yes. Also Palisade. I would love to get up there and there's a little spot you can like camp in a vineyard up there. Wait a minute, I meant Palisade. Did I say? You said Paonia, but they have wineries too. I'm talking Palisade. Okay. That's the classic. Yeah. That's the classic. Well, also shout out to Paonia. Shout out to Paonia. Cool. One of the last true hippie towns in Colorado. Yes, Palisade. Riding the bike around Palisade. Yeah. Right off I-70. We're thinking the right thing, right? Yeah. I'm hungry. My brain might not be working.

[00:44:59] A few of the friend groups that I know, they do like an annual trip down to that area for the wine, which like, yeah, apparently it's worth going back for. So, I mean, I would like to do a little bit more exploring in Colorado on the National Monument as well. Grand Mesa. Yeah. I mean, you go camp up on the Grand Mesa. Yeah, Grand Mesa. Yeah, I mean, there's, I mean, you know, you never run out of things to do in Colorado. It's crazy. Even if you've been here for almost 30 years like Tim. Yeah. Yeah, Tim, have you been to Colorado National Monument?

[00:45:29] Oh. We just got him. We just got him. He hasn't been to Colorado National Monument. Too far west. You might have to join the show next time, Tim. Yeah. If we had a way to plug in a third mic, I don't think we did. You should be doing the educating. Yeah, true, true. Tim was, we were chatting about there's this new sculpture going up in Aurora Highlands, which is like this community. Heard about this, yeah. Yeah, design community. The sculpture, it's called Liberty. It's kind of like

[00:45:59] this modernization of Statue of Liberty. It's 58 feet tall. It was basically a CEO, I believe it's the CEO of the Highlands, Aurora Highlands community, was at Burning Man and saw the statue and was like, we need this. Yeah. It's tall. Like, I mean, it looks cool. It's cool. But yeah, it was a whole growing art collection out at Aurora Highlands. It's super cool. Yeah, it looks like a really cool spot. It's free to visit, I believe, for the public. Add that to your classic Colorado. Yeah, yeah. They have a whole, like,

[00:46:28] their plan for that Aurora Highlands is interesting too because they're like, I think there's something like 12,000 homes or living units or something and there's like, I think, 20, or like 12 parks and like 20 smaller parks and like in this master plan. They're going to have like venues, they're going to have a zip line, climbing walls. Like, it's going to be a whole like place, like a true community in itself where you can just find stuff. There's a bunch of trails. So yeah, interesting stuff happening in Aurora. Yeah.

[00:46:59] As Tim said, having grown up there, it's been interesting to see how it's developed and everything over recent years. I bet. Good stuff, man. Yeah, good stuff. I think that's about all we got. I think we've talked people's ear off. Years. Yeah, we'll see how close we got to our little 45 minute over. Over, you think? I think so. Maybe, we'll see. But either way, until next week. Until next week. Yeah, we will talk to you then. I'm Seth. And I'm Spencer.

[00:47:27] And we will see you out there. Colorado. You should do it. All right, we'll get better at that. We'll get better at that. We'll see you out there. We'll see you out there. We're still synchronizing. See you again.