Posted in: Exploring Colorado, Food

Chocolate, Bread, and Hammocks

We walked around Old Colorado Springs for a little bit today. There are a few cute stores down there!

We stopped at a bakery (La Baquette) and of course got a baguette and some croissants. Next we stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and got a chocolate covered apple (The best part was how they sliced it! I loved that option. It makes it much easier to eat/share.), a piece of dark chocolate toffee (this one was really good!), and a pecan bear (a turtle).

Next we headed to Bear Creek park. Ben finally got to try out his hammock that he got for his birthday. He has been missing relaxing in his hammock chair that he had at the house. Since we bought the hammock, there hasn’t been anywhere to hang it. However, when we were driving around exploring a few days ago, we saw this park. It has the perfect hammock trees, as evidenced by the multiple hammocks in use.

He relaxed and I took the boys on an obstacle course. It was a little overgrown in spots, but they had a blast. We finished it off with the boys kicking around the soccer ball. We headed off when some rain moved in.

Posted in: Exploring Colorado, Food, Hiking, Sightseeing

Laundry, Burritos, Gardens

We worked on laundry in the morning. There is a breakfast food stand/truck in the campground, so once we got the washers going, we walked over and enjoyed pancakes and breakfast burritos. Nick ran a burrito back to Ben so he could enjoy it while he was working.

We spent a little time playing in the arcade after folding the laundry.

We decided to drive to Garden of the Gods. We decided to take a hike around the park. After 2.5 miles, the kids were done. It was hot and very, very sunny, not a lot of shade. We took a shortcut back and ended up with a 2.8 mile hike.

Family picture and Kissing Camels (the rocks, not us)

We were all dehydrated by the end, even with the water we brought.

We drove to Manitou springs and walked around. It was about 5:30pm when we got there, and the summer hours posted showed most of the town closed at 6:00.

We found a couple of the spring fountains that Manitou is known for. Each spring is supposed to have a slightly different flavor. We only tried one today, and it tasted just like fizzy (carbonated) water! The fountains are located throughout town and are free for use. There were people walking around filling up their water bottles to try the different waters.

We ordered a pizza from Hell’s Kitchen to bring back to the RV for dinner. It was a long wait for the pizza, but the taste was pretty good! It had a nice crust, not heavy on the sauce.

Manitou Springs had several more large objects for Will as well, so those pictures will be coming soon! 🙂

Posted in: Exploring Colorado, Food, Museums & Tours

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

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.

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