Cousin Fred and I go looking for assistance in America's Meanest Town, but only find David...er, Jim Bowie

Good morning everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Cousin Fred and I (oh, and Lassie the barking goat) are still “roughing” it up here in the high country of the Rockies at the Keystone Inn. We’re getting intermittent snow showers here this morning, but there isn’t much to do today so I think we’ll all probably hunker down inside the room. There’s a Thanksgiving buffet downstairs in the restaurant. I’m sure we’ll hit that later this afternoon. 

Last night was another hot tub party up on the roof of the resort. Lassie and I did not attend. I was too whipped after a full day in Montezuma gathering location information. More on that in a second...
 
To his credit, Cousin Fred got the three young women from the night before, plus a couple more women who are slightly older (probably mid-30s according to Cousin Fred) and the two older women’s husbands to sign talent releases to appear in our pilot. The language in the release is very clear that participant talent agree to appear naked on camera and the work could involve dangerous activity (assuming they actually find a Bigfoot). The Husbands were only too happy to sign up after eyeballing the young women in the hot tub. All of the talent agreed to work for $1 each with the understanding that if the show moves into production, they will be the first considered for the entire season for a fee yet to be disclosed. Further to his credit, Cousin Fred withheld the Mezcal until everyone signed their agreements.
 
We have talent! And, we sort of, kind of have a location to shoot the pilot though that comes with its own baggage.

So, yesterday, knowing that a winter storm is beginning to close in on this area of the Rockies, we decided to make the trek back over to Montezuma and get a look around the area. We left Lassie with the Hot Tub Girls at the Inn. Lassie looked happy and the girls were trying to play fetch with her. 

The thing about the Meanest Town in America (Montezuma), is that nobody is ever on the streets. Seriously, it’s almost like a ghost town. You can see people watching you from inside…a curtain gets pulled back…a shadow standing in the window, but no one outside. Okay, sure, all of the “streets” are dirt roads, but still… 

The mountains surrounding Montezuma make for a beautiful setting. I’d think people would want to be outside enjoying life as much as they can. 

As we drove along one street, I actually spotted someone sitting outside on their porch. I told Cousin Fred to pull Brutus over and we’d see if the guy could help out by giving us directions to places of Bigfoot sightings. 

The porch was much higher than the road, so I was having to crane my neck just to see him through the porch railing. He was kind of a scruffy looking dude whose skin gave him the appearance that he hadn’t bathed in days. In one of his hands, he held a huge Bowie knife that he was sharpening against a whetstone in the other hand.
 
I was taking all of this in, when I heard Cousin Fred speak from behind me.
 
“Howdy, pardner! Say, that’s a fine looking piece of quality cutlery you have there. American made, I presume?”
 
He didn’t acknowledge us. Just kept working that knife blade against the stone.
 
Cousin Fred kept talking (I was beginning to get creeped out), “My colleague and I hear tell of Bigfoot sightings in these parts. Wondering if you could help us out by pointing us in the right direction?”
 
At that point, Jim Bowie stopped with the sharpening. He looked directly at us…I swear his eyes were yellow. He raised himself from his seat and stood at the railing staring at us.
 
With a swift movement, he drove the tip of the knife into the railing and uttered, “I work for a living.”
 
With that he turned and walked through the door and into his house. The Bowie knife remained…the tip buried into the wood of the railing. 

Cousin Fred was unimpressed. “Well, he was just rude. I remember from the last time we were through here that there is a trailhead further down this street. Let’s go down there and look around.”
 
I was for anything that would get us from in front of David Bowie’s place. 

Tomorrow, Cousin Fred and I hit the trail and find more than we bargained for!