more sopapillas please!

I'm in Denver to begin the next decade of my life. Yup, I hit the big 4-0 yesterday. But this weekend also happened to be rodeo finals in Denver, so my friends Myron from Dallas; Jeff, Glenn and Rick from Seattle; Kevin from New Orleans and a few other guys are here for the rodeo and took me out to dinner last night (along with Michelle from Denver - who I don't mean to offend by calling one of the guys, though she is every bit as fun). I wanted to go to Casa Bonita, a tacky mexican-themed restaurant that is part Disneyland, part Chuck-ee-Cheese in a strip mall in suburban Denver. Anyone familiar with South Park may know Casa Bonita from one of its episodes, and its every bit as fun. We were warned not to eat there (the food is that bad), so we went to a steakhouse for dinner first. Not long after being there, Myron and Glenn broke out props and party favors for everyone. I spent the evening in my technicolor mexican-styled parka and sombrero while everyone else were pirates. From there we moved on to Casa Bonita where you have to buy a meal to get in. (Our pleas about how much we would spend on beer and margaritas was of no use - notice the table covered in untouched taco salads!) Still, it was a blast, The place is massive, the cliff divers are for real and Black Bart's Cave was done up for Halloween. I had really just expected it to be a dinner with friends, but they really turned it into something much more fun and special. I can only hope the rest of the 40's will be as fun.