From the Continental Divide to Casa Bonita

As always, continuing where I left off…

That Thursday, our last night in Saguache, we had a barbecue for like everyone we had ever met in town. We were also joined by an AmeriCorps team from the Fire Unit. Their project had been in Denver but they ran out of work like a couple weeks ago. They had been going around to different places working, and they ended up in Saguache. We were leaving on Friday so they were going to work with the BLM for their last day of round 4. It was fun. We hung out in the park for a long time after everyone was done eating, then Heather, Jess, and I went to the Oasis with Matt and Miles. It was a pretty nice last night in Saguache.

We had found out like a month ago that our team got volunteered for an extra project after the Saguache project ended. Instead of leaving Saguache to go back to Denver on Saturday the 17th, which was when all the other teams were getting back, we left on Friday the 16th to go to Leadville, CO. There apparently had been a week-long project through the Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA) and we were being sent to help for the last two days of it. The information we got about it said that it was some kind of youth project. I think we all agreed that it sounded like a cool project (minus the part where we thought we were going to do trial work with a bunch of teenagers), but we just didn’t want to do it that weekend. It was making us get back to Denver late and take away our entire second to last weekend of AmeriCorps. Well, we got there and were quite pleasantly surprised. It was absolutely gorgeous there. We were at an altitude of about 10,500 feet. It wasn’t a group of teenagers. There were three guys with the Forest Service, one guy from the CDTA, and several random volunteers of all ages. One of these random volunteers had actually hiked all 3,100 miles of the Continental Divide. I think I heard it took her like five months, which is better than the average six months it takes people. It was a pretty cool group. We arrived and set up camp on Friday evening so we could start work bright and early on Saturday morning. I learned from my fabulous teammate Heather’s blog that the CDTA sets out to complete only about 400 feet of trail per 5-day volunteer period. Why so little? Because the section they’re working on near Leadville has no trail at the moment. There is a flag line set out where they want the trail but there’s really not a trail currently. Our job was mainly to remove the bajillion rocks and the stumps and roots of trees that have been cut down from where the trail will go. A few people were also searching up the mountain for giant rocks that could be used for building a wall to hold the trail’s dirt in some sections. I was on rock-removal duty. It was really kind of nice to swing a pick mattock again. I hadn’t used one since Big Bend. It was really satisfying work. Most rocks weren’t too difficult to get out. Except, of course, for the iceberg-like ones that look like just a regular rock sticking out of the ground a little bit but are secretly giant boulders buried deep below the surface. Those are a bit more difficult. I think most of us enjoyed this little extra project. No one wanted to go at first but it ended up being a really nice way for my wonderful team to end its time together. We even got a goody bag complete with a super soft T-shirt out of it.

We worked Saturday and Sunday morning then set off for Denver. We arrived on campus and had about 15 minutes to shower and get ready for our last team dinner. (We always get a team dinner during spike travel included in our budget. Thanks AmeriCorps!) Haha, yeah right. It turned into like 40 minutes. Come on, no one had showered since Friday morning. This team dinner was extra special because we were going to Casa Bonita. In case anyone isn’t aware, an entire episode of the ever-popular South Park was devoted to the ridiculousness of Casa Bonita. (In case you’re curious, you can watch it here. Thanks again, Heather’s blog! And yes, we gathered to watch that episode before leaving.) Now let’s be clear. Casa Bonita is NOT known for its food. Actually, its food is known to be Mexican food that is as greasy and disgusting as possible (with the possible exception of the never ending delicious sopapillas). No, Casa Bonita is known for its cliff divers, Black Bart’s Cave, puppet shows, a mariachi band, and various other performers and ridiculousness. It’s pretty much Denver’s own mini amusement park posing as a restaurant. You stand in one of those lines that parks have where you go back and forth through the railings before arriving at the cash register where you place your order. (You grab a paper menu on your way into the line so you’re prepared.) I learned the hard way that you are not allowed to alter your order in any way. (Courtney: “And could I please get that with no sauce?” Cashier: *Points to giant lit sign with fast food-esque pictures of the food* “It comes like that. You can scrape the sauce off.”) I found out the reason for this soon enough. After passing the cashier, you wind through more of the line before grabbing your cafeteria tray and silverware. You move along the line to where the food is waiting under a red heat lamp. You tell the person what you ordered and they plunk it on your tray. You are then led through the maze of different rooms and levels to your table. After dinner we explored the various wonders of Casa Bonita. It was as ridiculous as the South Park episode promised. It was lovely. Oh! And Lindsey and Marquis also got to come with us. It was a dinner for everyone who has ever been on Sun 4. Christina also had a gift for each of us. It was a copy of Oh, the Places You’ll Go complete with a sparkly cover and nice note from Christina inside about how wonderful we are. We turned them into a Sun 4 yearbook and signed each others’ because we’re just that adorable.