Tag: shopping

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Texas, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Exploring Fort Worth Stockyards

Written by tepetravels

I loved the Stockyards. I had been in the Fort Worth area once before (a long time ago, before kids) for work training. It was still really cool coming back a second time.

The Stockyards are now a historic district with shopping and restaurants. However, it once had so many cattle going through, that it was nicknamed Cowtown. It was a working stockyard with a railroad line, cattle sales, shipping, and processing.

As you walked around, there were parts of the shopping areas that had cobblestone walkways. These were the original brick! The Livestock Exchange Building now has offices, the Historical Society, and cattle actions via satellite. There was a daily (free) cattle drive with Texas Longhorns at 11:30am and 4:00pm. On Saturdays and Sundays there was a gunfight show (also free) at 11:45am and 4:15pm. They still hold weekly rodeos in the Coliseum (which according to them held the first indoor rodeo!).

We visited the Stockyards on our second day in town. Parking was a bit tight (not the spot sizes, but finding one). There were plenty of lots, but they were gearing up to the Christmas season and there were a lot of people around. There was some free parking, but the closer lots were $10 and $15/day. After we parked, we mostly wandered around and took in the views. We bought a few postcards, some Christmas gifts, small ornaments. It was decorated for Christmas, which looked really pretty.

We grabbed some lunch at a local steakhouse, saw some amazing wood furniture, admired the Texas Longhorn Cattle, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Nick tried his hand at riding a mechanical bull. He did pretty well. It was $8/ride.

Post steakhouse, the cattle took its revenge on Nick.

VIDEO: Walking Through Fort Worth Stockyards (YouTube link)

Posted in: Exploring Arizona, Sightseeing

Buying a Cowboy Hat

Written by tepetravels 5 Comments on Buying a Cowboy Hat

We were going to get Nick a cowboy hat when we got to Texas for his birthday. However, we saw a really neat hat store (Russell’s) in Tombstone, so he ended up getting it early.

You know how in the Harry Potter books they help you pick out your perfect wand? Hat shopping was a little like that. We went over uses, wear, and the best hat for a kid. We were guided to the water resistant and packable hats (more crush resistant for a kid). He tried on different sizes, styles and crowns, and colors. (He ended up getting a Bailey Lite Felt hat. We got one a little loose so he had room to grow. The saleslady put in foam adjustment pieces to help it fit his head.)

Nick’s hat. Apparently there are also names for all the pieces of the hat.

Nick even wrote his own post about his experience! See below. 🙂

MY HAT ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!!

Hi my peeps, it’s Nick and this is about my adventure in Tombstone. As you probably know we went to Tombstone. But, you might not know is that I got an amazing hat. It is a cowboy hat that is brown, rain resistant, awesome, and it can be scrunched up and put in places. I went to a hat store there in Tombstone (yes, they have one). It was really cool. They had a lot of hats. Scrunchable hats are I guess rare, because there were not a lot of them at the shop. They had a lot of hats that were really tall. Not like huge hats, but really big though. They had a lot of black hats. I got a brown one because I knew that it would be hot. They had really light colors like grey but she said it might have a sweat line because I sweat a lot. The hat has a lot of great uses. The day I got it I used it as a hat but I also used it to cover my eyes so I could take a nap. It also has some disadvantages like it does not have a strap so it can fly off my head. (They only had one that had the strap but it was one of the tall ones). She also had to add some foam pieces so it fit my head. She also said that the hats there last a really long time. It was nice to have a hat that had a nice amount of shade. And if you are ever are in Tombstone be sure to check out the hat shop. And do not forget to look at the walking down Tombstone video. It should be on the good old YouTube. Yee haw!

Posted in: Exploring Arizona, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Walking Through Tombstone (Tombstone Part 1)

Written by tepetravels

Our first big adventure in Tucson was going to see Tombstone. We drove out to the town, which was about an about an hour drive from the RV park. There was a lot of on-street parking and a few public parking lots scattered around the edges of the town. From what I saw, it looked like mostly free parking, which is always nice.

We all loved Tombstone. I enjoyed it a lot more than Deadwood. There were more historical buildings, historical markers and signs. It seemed a lot more family friendly, as there was so much to do and see (and not a casino in sight!). The Chamber of Commerce and Tombstone Visitor Center had free maps of the town.

There were a few shows and tours around town. We crammed a lot into one day, so we’re going to do a short series of Tombstone posts!

The main street of Tombstone is Allen Street. The historical main street was closed off at either end so cars could not drive down the street (although in a few spots they could cross over the main street).

There were a lot of neat shops in the area and we picked up a few things for Christmas, as well as some postcards.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. The bar and restaurant are on the main floor. In the middle of the floor, there was a really cool spiral staircase going to the basement. There was a small shop down there with souvenir type things. The food prices were a little high on some things, but not too bad considering it is a tourist stop. A lemonade (came in a Solo cup, but had a refill) was $2.50, a large beer was $8 (offered a large or the “sippy cup” size), sampler appetizer platter was $15.99.

There was so much history to learn about, it was fun for all of us. I loved that the kids were having so much fun, that they were actually reading signs and learning. (To be fair, Will always wants to read the signs.) I would definitely recommend checking out Tombstone if you are in the area. (I will say that when we were there, most things closed at 5:00pm. We could have spent a lot more time there.)

YouTube VIDEO: Walking Down The Streets Of Tombstone

Big Nose Kate’s Saloon

Posted in: Exploring California, Food, Sightseeing

Liberty Station

Written by tepetravels

We explored Liberty Station and Market. We went midweek and it seemed like a lot of the shops were closed, but some of the restaurants open. There was a lot of outdoor seating options, which seemed to be a gathering space for people working on their laptops.

We stopped at Le Parfait. There were so many tempting goodies in the cases. I ended up with a Nutella macchiato and a chocolate almond croissant, which both were really good. I never would have tried a Nutella drink on my own, but the barista recommended it.

Liberty Station used to be a Navy barracks and training center. While walking around, it appeared that not all of the buildings had been renovated and reused yet. There was a lot of open green space which would be great for hanging out and enjoying a book or any goodies you bought from the stores. It looked like it would be a really neat area when everything was open. (When we drove by on the weekend, it looked packed, so maybe more things were open on weekends?)

On our drive out, we saw some ship canons.

Posted in: Exploring Nevada, Food, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Breakfast and a Bass Pro

Written by tepetravels

The morning started with breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris Casino. We made our reservations online, and once we were there we requested a patio seat. We wanted to sit outside for the view and also for social distancing. We ordered a few items to share: berry crepe, French toast (with blueberries/syrup), a baguette with butter and raspberry jam, crispy bacon (date glazed). The bacon had a great flavor, but was maybe more chewy than crispy. The French toast was delicious. The baguette was nicely baked and the butter and jam really made it tasty. The crepe was…crunchy. I think it was overdone, especially compared to other crepes I’ve had. Everything but the middle was very hard and crunchy. It was hard to eat and not that enjoyable. It was still a nice breakfast and had a great location. (Video walking through Mon Ami Gabi restaurant.)

We then went on a search to find me a new hat. My current one had a wide stretch of mesh and it was getting my forehead a little too much sun.

After not having a lot of luck with Target and Wal-Mart, we thought we would try an outdoors store. We found a Bass Pro close by. It was attached to the Silverton Casino, so it was a little strange to see slot machines at the end of of the store.

This was the biggest Bass Pro we have ever seen. In the fishing area, the ceiling was painted blue and had bottoms of boats attached with sharks and fish hanging from the ceiling in schools. It looks like you are under the water looking up. It was so neat! (Video of walking around the fishing reels area.)

I’m not into fishing, but I loved this ceiling! I think this was the most time I had ever spent in the fishing area of a store.

They had a taxidermy giraffe, lions, and bears. In addition to the “required” aquarium, they also had two water features, an indoor archery and rifle/pistol range.

Real fish and ducks swimming around!

It was fun just walking around and seeing what this store had. I did end up finding a fuzzy sweatshirt and a hat. I also introduced the kids to the joys of circus peanuts.

Posted in: Costco, YouTube Video Link

Costco, Rain & Hail

Written by tepetravels 2 Comments on Costco, Rain & Hail

We drove to a different Costco (they’re like Pokemon, gotta try them all!) This one had a liquor store in a separate room in the front of the store. Other than that, most of the stuff was pretty similar to what we have at home. I have found a raspberry pastry/danish in Montana and Colorado that I am becoming addicted to. It is so good! I didn’t see it back home, but maybe it’s there now. (It’s with the cookies!)

First time I’ve seen dividers at the sinks

We grabbed a pizza for dinner (I love the self service order stations they have out here.) on our way out and packed up the truck. A thunderstorm rolled in, so we thought we would wait it out. It was about a 30 minute drive back to the campground, so we sat and ate the pizza while watching the rain.

This is where it started to get a little dicey. (And unfortunately I did not have the dash cam running.) The wind picked up and a severe thunderstorm warning went out. We started getting hail. The truck was pretty exposed in the parking lot. The one thing we do know about Colorado is that they must get a lot of hail damage from storms, because there are signs and shops everywhere to repair hail damage. We noticed all the trucks hightailing it out of the parking lot to find shelter, so we followed suit. The wipers were on high and we could still barely see out the windshield. Our fellow trucks had stopped at the nearby strip mall and jumped the curb to wait under some trees. We joined in the crowd. The truck was mostly covered.

Once the hail stopped, it was still raining pretty hard, but our phones were still going off with weather alerts. We decided to head back to the RV. The roads were insane. Flash Flood Warnings and Emergency Alerts were going off almost constantly. Storm drains couldn’t keep up with the deluge of water and roads were covered in gushing water. The normally dry culverts were rushing like rapids. I am so glad we were in the truck and sat higher up. If we were in a car I would have been terrified.

We made it back to the RV safely and we luckily didn’t any damage to the truck or RV.

I do have a video of the rain and hail we got on the cell phone with a few still photos.

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Campground Review, Costco, Exploring Colorado, Hiking, YouTube Video Link

Cherry Creek State Park Campground: Campground Review

Written by tepetravels

For our stay in Denver, we stayed at Cherry Creek State Park. It was actually in Aurora, Colorado, but it wasn’t a long drive to get into downtown Denver. The nice thing about the park is that you seem tucked away from everyone, but stores are 10 minutes or less away. There were several Costco’s, Targets, and Kings Soopers (Kroger’s for those from back home) within 20 minutes or less. There was also a Camping World and Cabela’s within 40 minutes or so.

To camp in Cherry Creek State Park, you need a state park pass: $80/annual or $4/day. We ended up getting an annual pass because we weren’t sure how many state parks we would be visiting during our stay in Colorado. You can buy online and print out a temporary number. A physical pass will also mailed to you.

There is a welcome office with small shop (postcards, firewood-although there was a wood fire ban in effect when we were there, ice cream bars, etc). When we were there, the office closed at 4:00pm.

The campground is pretty spread out, with a mix of tent and RV sites. RV sites areas are a mix of back-in and pull through. Some sites have shade and others were in full sun.

Setting up after getting backed in

It looked like all the RV spots had a concrete pad, a fire pit/grill and a picnic table. I was really happy with the layout of our site. It felt roomy. We could even put up Ben’s pop-op gazebo/clam shell shelter, for an outdoor space. The hook ups were on the opposite side of the picnic table (at least for our spot) and on the same side as the RV hookup connectors. It made for an easy set up.

The main shower house had bathrooms, showers (paid), food vending machines, and laundry. The laundry was $1.50/load on both the washers and dryers. There were 4 of each machine. There was also a vending machine with single load detergent and fabric softener. It looked like they were $1 each. Showers were $0.50/3minutes. There was a change machine located outside the laundry room to provide quarters for everything in the bath house. The food vending machines sometimes gave change back in $1 coins!

Although you can see the road in the distance depending where you are in the campground, you don’t get a lot of road noise during the week but some on the weekends. However, you will get airplane noise as it seems to be in the flight path of Denver airport.

There are several hiking trails in the park. Cherry Creek also has a dog park area, a lake (boat rentals available), and a horse rental area. There are a lot of bikers in the park (the bicycle kind) as well. We did not get to swim in the lake, although there is a beach area. There were signs warning of blue-green algae, so we stayed out of the water.

The boys have made another campground walk-through video. Although it was really hot that day, so they stayed on just our section of the campground.

If we were in the Denver area, I would stay here again.

SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:

Our Rating: 4 out of 5 hitches

Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile

WiFi: Yes

Laundry: Yes

Bathrooms/Showers: Yes, paid showers

RV Sites: Pull Through, Back-in

Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Yes

Amenities: Picnic table, fire pit/grill

Cabins: No

Tent camping: Yes

Full Hook-ups: Yes. 20/30/50 amp sites available.

Pool: No

Food On-Site: No

Camp Store: Yes, very limited

Fishing: Yes, need license

 

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Colorado, Hiking

Hiking, Failing Ikea, and Foil Dinners

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Hiking, Failing Ikea, and Foil Dinners

The boys and I went on a walk/hike today. I chose an easy one since my back has been giving me some problems the last couple of days.

The trail was nicely paved for parts and gravel for others, but all of it was nice and flat. There was not a lot of shade on the trail, so I am glad everyone put on sunscreen and wore their wide brim hats.

The trail wove across a few bridges, went near the lake, and through several prairie dog locations. We loved seeing them run around and call out to each other. They are so squeaky! (No wonder dogs loves squeaky toys.) I have a quick video up on the YouTube channel of them calling out to each other. The beginning of the path had a lot of bikers (bicycles not motorcycles) and even had a repair station with an air pump and some tools.

After hiking, we ran into Target to get Nick some new shoes. (This kid is rough on shoes!) We bought a few other things as well and headed to drop off some postcards. Once back in the campground, we did another load of laundry.

Ben wanted to run into Ikea when he was done with work, so off we went looking for couches. The couch in the RV is actually loveseat sized and not that comfortable long term. You can’t really lay down, the arm rests are too low to really give support but at the same time too high to use as a seat. Since we are going to be in here for a year, we thought we could replace the couch. It seemed fine when we bought the RV, but like anything you use daily, you quickly discover if it works well for you or not.

We found a couple of possibilities, but none that worked really well in the space. We’ll just keep looking.

I think the kids’ favorite part was when we were leaving. This store had an escalator ramp!

Posted in: Exploring Montana, National Parks

Yellowstone & Gardiner, Montana

Written by tepetravels

We stayed just outside of Gardiner, Montana. We were a mile from the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

The town of Gardiner isn’t very large, but it has most of the things you need. The town is split over the Yellowstone River, so it is set in a really pretty location. There is a gas station a few miles out of town, but there is also one right in the middle of town. There is a small bookstore/coffee shop, which has a decent selection of local touristy books, some fun reading books, a few kids books (mostly younger kids). For more book options, there were also a few Little Libraries/Free Library stands around town. Will found a new book to read! On the other side of the river, closer to the park, is another coffee shop/cafe. There are several souvenir type of stores, our favorite being the t-shirt shop.

The grocery store/market has a decent selection. The prices are a little higher than a chain store, but most of the time the difference wasn’t horrible. There are several restaurants and a couple of food trucks as well. You won’t go hungry!

They sell blocks of ice here! I don’t know why, but I got a kick out of this.

There is a small hardware store. The Chamber of Commerce in town offers free maps, guides, and a kid’s activity booklet.

There was also another coffee shop and a pharmacy, but they (with a couple of other shops) burned down 4 days before we arrived. The fire department still had sprinklers on the site when we first got into town.

Because it is in Montana, masks are required indoors. I loved this. It made me feel better about having to go into stores when everyone was wearing a mask.

Even when just in town, you can see some of the animals people come to the park for. We frequently had elk in our campground and in town. We even saw a bald eagle sitting on a tree by the river. It was a pretty location.
If you wanted a bigger store like Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, or Target, then you could drive into Bozeman. It was about 1 1/2 hours each way.

I felt that it was a good location for seeing Yellowstone too. No matter where you are in the park for your stay, you will be driving at least an hour to see some of the sights. By staying in town, I felt it was easier for us to get groceries and to do things ours of the park.

Posted in: Costco, Exploring Montana

July 24: Shopping and Chilling

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on July 24: Shopping and Chilling

Today we went into Bozeman, Montana. It was a shopping day!

We stopped at Costco so Ben could get his Costco fix on. It was a decent sized Costco and wandered around. We love finding what each Costco carries. Each state seems to carry different things: New Orleans had liquor and Ben found his favorite souvenir (a collapsible cooler box). Montana had a large wine selection and carried cider as well.

We drove around and stopped at Home Depot for a few supplies we had been needing. Ben found a new Montana whiskey, and it came with a free hand sanitizer! Winner! We also then Target so I could wander around and get my Target fix in. It was a very large Target! It also had a Starbucks, which I hadn’t had in a long time, so that was a nice treat.

We finished shopping at Walmart. We finished grocery shopping and headed on back to the campground. It was a pretty uneventful, but fun shopping, kind of day. We ended the day with doing the daily journals outside at the picnic table watching the river.

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