Everybody's Workin' For The Weekend (JJ's Lounge)

Well, I have a new home away from home. JJ's Lounge. I'm bartending there 3 times a week now and it's my first real job since I had Kalynn. It's a very mellow local's dive bar. Everyone who goes there has been a customer for years. I'm absolutely the new kid on the block, but everyone has been more than welcoming. The other bartenders have been happily showing me the ropes and I'm hoping to make a few new friends out of the deal.

The bar itself has been here since the 70's and has always been owned by the same man. (who is now in his 80's) He has a love for the original marquee, so the outside looks just the same as it did 40 years ago.

The inside has been remodeled quite a bit since its opening. With high ceilings and tall bar stools, I feel about 3 feet tall when I walk around.

There are 3 newly felted regulation sized pool tables

And of course, lots of booze!

This is where I stand all day long:

The outside beer garden has lots of tables with an amazing view of the Rocky Mountains

There's even a couple of horseshoe pits

Here was the view of yesterday's sunset with the High Park Fires burning in the background

Speaking of the High Park Fires...

Here's what incident commander Bill Hahnenberg said yesterday morning: "We have some heat where we don't want this fire to cross Poudre Canyon. What we don't want is the fire to make a several mile run. If it does that, it could go across the river and then we have a whole different fire to deal with."

Well...

At 5 pm last night, the fire jumped highway 14 and Poudre Canyon burning up homes in the town of Glacier View. This was the worst case scenario and the fire has now burned more than 52,000 acres. There are 1400 firefighters on the line. Yesterday the news was reporting 20-25% containment, but those numbers went down to 15% after last night's massive Cache La Poudre River jump.  They have multiple aircraft zeroing in on the new burning area but I've heard over and over again from our sheriff that "mother nature is being very difficult."  Although the firefighters battling this thing are being smartly aggressive and persistent, Northern Colorado winds have picked up again today and continue to make things even more urgent.

This picture was taken by a fellow Instagramer named "tvthax" of some of the fire men and women going into the Rocky Mountain National Forest