Tag: Target

Posted in: Sightseeing

Haircut, Starbucks, and a Circus

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Haircut, Starbucks, and a Circus

Once we got home, Ben watched over the boys while I got a couple of hours to myself. It was amazing to get my “introvert” time. I definitely came back feeling refreshed (and not as cranky). Best hubby ever!

My first stop was Great Clips for a long overdue haircut. I had tried cutting my own hair during the beginning of stay-at-home for COVID, but cutting it in the RV seemed way more challenging. I do ok cutting the boys’ hair, but it’s challenging to cut your own. I thought I had done ok until the hair dresser showed me a section that was an inch or so shorter than the rest of my hair. Whoops!

I checked in online to cut down on my wait time at the store. Masks are required indoors by the person getting their hair cut and by the stylist. They were only doing cuts, no washes or coloring. It was so nice to get some length off and it felt so much better!

Next, I stopped at a nearby Starbucks for a coffee. I was going to sit there and read, but they didn’t have a lot of available indoor seating and no outdoor seating. It was also 100 degrees outside, so I sat in the truck and read for a little bit while drinking my coffee.

When I finished my coffee and book, I headed back home. After catching up with what the boys had been up to, we headed out to adventure. Our first stop was Circus Circus. It has not changed very much from the last time I had seen it. The rides and arcade were running though. (Video of game/ride walk through)

We stopped at Walmart in the search for a new hat. They were switching over to winter gear (it’s 100 degrees out still!) and only had baseball hats. We saw someone getting arrested outside of Walmart (this makes the 3rd person we have seen arrested so far in Vegas).

We headed north of the city and found one of my favorite stores, Target! We didn’t have any luck there either in regards to hats. We did stop at Smith’s (Kroger) for some groceries and picked up Chipotle for dinner. This was a much nicer area of town than where the campground is. I enjoyed shopping out there!

Posted in: Costco, Food, Injuries

We Needed Some Down Time

Written by tepetravels 2 Comments on We Needed Some Down Time

We are not as young as we once were. We were both stiff and sore this morning after the hike yesterday. (Really, it was just Ben and I. The boys were ready to go again.) We kept it pretty simple today to allow our muscles to recover.

We went out to breakfast at Hash House A Go Go in St. George. The chicken and waffles and the bacon mac & cheese were the best of our dishes we tried. Our other dishes were the roasted chicken hash and biscuits and gravy. I got a crazy (and good) caramel mocha coffee.

After breakfast we did some grocery shopping at Target and Costco. Will was also looking to trade in a book at a Little Library. Hurricane, where the campground is, didn’t have any registered on the website. We found two in St. George and decided to check them out as well. The boys didn’t have much luck at those two, but we found another one while driving around. Will did find a book at that one, so he was happy.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, doing laundry, and the boys got to play pool for a little bit in the campground clubhouse.

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 Colorado, Food, Museums & Tours

Laundry, Candy, and Rocks

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Laundry, Candy, and Rocks

We started the morning doing laundry at the campground. It’s a pretty nice set up and we had it all to ourselves for the majority of the time.

When Ben was done with work for the day, we went on a candy factory tour. The tour was at Hammond’s Candies. The tour consisted of a video and then a walking tour. They are known for their candy canes (the large shiny ones you see at Christmas time). Their candies are carried in several stores, including Williams-Sonoma and Target (Wonderland section at Christmas). It is all made by hand!

We got to see them making candy while we were there. It seems like Covid hit them hard, as the tour guide stated they were down half of their cooks. I have a video up with clips from the tour (it’s about 4 minutes long) on the YouTube channel.

Everyone got a piece of candy at the end of the tour, which conveniently ends in the shop! We bought a few different kinds of candy to try, including a chocolate filled candy cane. I haven’t seen the filled candy canes in stores near us, so I was really excited to try it.

Afterwards Ben wanted to see Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater. I typed in Red Rock Park and ended up in Boulder near some apartments, which by the way is not where the amphitheater is. Whoops. I never would have guessed that there was a Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater and a Red Rocks Park as separate places, or that not adding on amphitheater would change my directions so much. So, we had a 40 minute detour…well more like an 80 minute detour since we had to drive back to our original starting spot. Apparently, I have not gotten that much better at directions as I have aged.

We finally made it to the amphitheater and it was really neat to see. The color of the rocks was amazing, as well as the shape of them just jutting forth. It must be an incredible place to go to a concert. It was a little crowded with visitors and people getting graduation pictures, so we didn’t stay too long.

Posted in: Food

Target Run and Tater Tot Dip for Dinner

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Target Run and Tater Tot Dip for Dinner

The boys and I drove the 1.5 hours into Bozeman to go to Target. Our mission? Blackout curtains. Yesterday the RV got super hot with the sun. It was in the upper 80’s and no clouds to block the sun. We are only on 30 amp service, so we can only run one air conditioner, and it was struggling to keep up in the sun and the heat. After doing some research, it seemed the blackout curtains would help. We did use them at the house, but mostly for light purposes, not necessarily heat blocking purposes.

The Target was huge, but strangely limited in shoes (Nick needs a new pair already) and matching blackout curtains. I finally found some cream colored ones for the living area/kitchen and liners for the kids room (I have special ones ordered that are cut to size and will form fit their windows).

Right now they are held up by binder clips and thumb tacks. I will have to tackle figuring out a long term solution later. (There are not a lot of studs in these walls to hang curtain rods.)

I used the heat gun to check the before and after temperatures and even the towel I had hung across the window before the curtains helped a lot.

Using the oven or stove really heats up the RV. Luckily we had brought our InstantPot* and air fryer. Unfortunately, the air fryer will trip the electric if I run it on 30 amps with the air on. Even with the microwave off, lights off, and coffee pot unplugged, it still tripped it. The InstantPot works great though! We were feeling like an unhealthy, snacks kind of dinner, so we ran to the store for supplies. I had no idea what I was making, so we kind of made it up on the fly.

I cooked the chicken in the InstantPot with some water and salsa. Once it was done, I shredded it. I then moved everything to the cast iron skillet (I didn’t bring a casserole dish with us). I rubbed butter over the skillet to help it not stick, layered the shredded chicken, then some salsa, red peppers, corn, and finally cheese and tater tots. I baked it until heated through. I sprinkled a little more cheese on top and served with corn/tortilla chips. I wished I would have remembered to buy sour cream to dollop on top! It still hit the spot though.

Chicken and Tater Tot Dip by Sarah Tepe

You will need:

  • 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
  • Large jar of mild salsa (we like the chunky kind)
  • 1 bag frozen tater tots
  • 1 bell pepper, diced
  • Shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 bag frozen corn
  • Tortilla/corn chips
  • Optional: sour cream
  • Misc.: InstantPot, oven safe skillet or casserole dish

Directions:

  • Add chicken with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 jar of the salsa to the InstantPot.
  • Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
  • Release steam.
  • Drain if needed and shred chicken (you want it to be bite sized pieces once shredded).
  • Layer the chicken on the bottom of a baking dish/casserole dish/large oven safe skillet.
  • Next layer corn, diced peppers, shredded cheese, and tater tots.
  • Using the oven, bake at 350 until heated through, about 20 minutes.
  • Top with more shredded cheese and sour cream, if desired.
  • Serve with tortilla chips.

*Affiliate Link

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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