Tag: adventure

My great Tennessee adventure part 1

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl


Hello, my bucket list, friends! I’m excited to write this post about my 2nd vacation of the summer! I had a great time exploring the beautiful state of Tennessee, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it, so here we go!

June 25th

This was the day that my 2nd vacation of the summer began. It was a day where we went on two flights and then we landed in Nashville. We did not do much on the first night, of course, but I did get some fun souvenirs because we made a stop at a store before going to our hotel. Oh, we got a really cool rental car it was a BMW, and it was fun to ride around in that during our vacation, and I kind of miss it! Well, that is it for day one. Now, on to day two.

June 26th

This was the first full day of this vacation, and we had a few activities planned. In the morning we went on a bus tour of Nashville. Our tour stopped at this really neat place that had stores and other businesses. I had fun doing a free moonshine tasting and going shopping, of course. I got a cute book called Hello, Nashville. I pick up books from this series when I see them. I really enjoyed this tour. Our next adventure was going to the Tennessee State Museum. This free museum is full of many interesting things that have to do with the state of Tennessee. I recommend visiting this museum if you happen to be close to it. After that, we got some food before going to our second tour of the day. Our second tour of the day was the Grand Ole Opry. This was an exciting tour that was full of music history. I find it exciting to be in a place that you have seen on TV . My favorite part of the tour was getting to see all the dressing rooms backstage. That night, we went out to two different bars in Nashville. We also went to a souvenir store and a candy store. I love going shopping at souvenir stores, and Nashville has some really good ones. It was a great vacation day!

June 27th

This was the day that we left Nashville and visited three fun attractions. Those attractions were Rock City , the Incline Railway , and Ruby Falls. Rock City is a very interesting attraction that has great views and lots of fun art based on fairy tales. The incline railway is an attraction that I really recommend visiting if you get the chance to. I never knew that a train could go on a track that were steep. When the train gets to the top, you are rewarded with beautiful views and a gift shop. The ride back down is pretty amazing as well. Our third attraction of the day was the beautiful Ruby Falls. Before going on our tour we got some lunch at the cafeteria. The flatbread that I had there was really good. Going down to the caves was exciting, and the falls were truly beautiful. I also highly recommend this beautiful and thrilling attraction. This was a day that was full of adventure.

June 28th

On this day, we did one of my favorite things to do while traveling, we went to the zoo. We went to the Chattanooga Zoo. This zoo is on the small side, but don’t let that stop you from exploring it. I got to see some very cute and interesting animals, including a red panda, a snake neck turtle, meerkats, and a tortoise. I got to feed a giraffe, that was a lot of fun. I also got to ride the beautiful carousel here twice. I loved that the horse I rode on had a purple ribbon on it. Our second adventure of the day was going to the Lost Sea adventure. This attraction is where you get to visit an underground lake. It was truly amazing to get to ride on a boat underground. I recommend visiting this exciting attraction if you get the chance to. 

Thank you for reading this part of my Tennessee adventure.

Love, Christina Epperly

My wonderful Missouri Vacation part 3

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list, friends! There has been a lot going on in my life lately. Some of it has been good, like crossing off bucket list items and shopping at fun places like Five Below and Target, but on the other hand, I got bronchitis. It has been hard to keep up with blogging, but I will get there. For now, please enjoy the third and final part of my Missouri vacation!

June 13th – On this day of vacation, I crossed off a big bucket list item when I went parasailing! Before we went parasailing, I had a fun time feeding fish. They had fish food that you could buy, and large fish, including cat fish, came to eat the food when it was thrown into the lake. Going Parasailing was amazing, and I highly recommend it to anyone who does not have a fear of heights. It feels like you are flying. I’m so glad that I bought the photo package. The photos turned out great! It was also fun having my toes dipped in the water. I was very happy to cross this item off my bucket list, and I would love to do it again. Our next activity was going hiking at Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It was a beautiful place to explore. Our hike had a lot of stairs, and it was a warm day, so needless to say that I was very happy to be back in the air-conditioned car when our hike was complete. After the hike we went to the visitor’s center where I bought some things to remember this very beautiful state park. After our adventures, it was time to eat. We went to a really nice restaurant that had good views and a good veggie burger. Later on in the day, we went to a go cart track. I road with my mom because driving is not my thing. I enjoyed the ride. It was a very adventurous day of vacation.

June 14th – On this day, we left Lake of the Ozarks and went back towards where the airport is because we were leaving early the next day. We still had one day left to have fun, and that is what we did. Our first big adventure of the day was going to Buc-ee’s . I had never gotten a chance to go before, and now that I had one, I was gonna take it. I do have to say that this was one of the most busy places that we visited on our vacation. I love how this place stays on theme. I just had to take a picture with the beaver statue out in front.  when I was in the store, I got to meet Buc-ee himself! I did a good amount of shopping here. I’m happy to say that I’m the owner of a Buc-ee beaver plush and more cute items from this place. I had a lot of fun there but the next place I went to was so amazing. I really hope I get to go back there some day. That place is the world’s largest toy museum complex. There are two buildings filled with displays of all different kinds of toys! My favorites included the amazing collection of 90’s lion king toys, the Crayola display, The Star Trek toys, The My Little Pony collection, the TY beanie babies, and the room full of Barbies! I spent a good amount of the in the Barbie room. It was a very impressive collection. There are also fun things outside of the museum, including a large Barbie Roller skate. After the museum we had some time before our next activity so we went to a park. It was a cute park and  it was a good place to spend some time before we went to see a wonderful play that evening. We saw the Queen Esther play at Sight and Sound theatres. To say this play was awesome would be an understatement! It was truly something that everyone should see. The theater itself was an amazing work of art. If you ever get the chance to go see a play here, I highly recommend it!

June 15th – This was the day we went home. We had a very early flight, so we did not get much sleep at all. In the airport that morning, I did my last round of souvenir shopping before getting on the plane to go home. It was a great vacation!

Thank you for reading about my vacation!

Love, Christina Epperly

My wonderful Missouri vacation part 2

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list, friends! I was very busy in the month of June. I went on two great vacations and even more! I hope to get caught up soon, but for now, here is the second part of my Missouri vacation.

June 11th, 2024 – On this day of vacation, our first activity was taking a ride on the Branson scenic railway. The train had a great gift shop where I got some things including a cute plush squirrel before getting on the train. The train had a few different kinds of seats throughout the cars, and we ended up sitting in some pretty comfortable chairs that had a table in the middle. Just like the name suggests, the ride is a beautiful one. I was happy to be by a window for this ride. You could also buy snacks and drinks on the train we did that too. After a fun train ride, our next adventure was going to an attraction called Beyond the Lenses. This place is hard to explain but it is like a combination of a selfie museum , a regular museum, and an arcade. Before even making it to the main part of the attraction, I played a claw machine, and I won some rubber ducks! There are lots of fun photo opportunities here. My favorite one was the Barbie box. It was fun to pretend to be one of my favorite toys. They also have a really cool ball pit here that was great for taking pictures. They also have a fly ride here it is like a flying simulator. We did the ride and enjoyed it. That night, we went to a very popular show in Branson called the Haygood’s. The Haygood’s are a group of very talented siblings. we all enjoyed this show.

June 12th

We started this day with a tour from the Pink Jeep company. This was a very fun tour that included a few stops. I know that this company has tours in other places as well. I would recommend giving this company a try when looking for a fun tour. I bought a pink rubber duck at the tour store. After the tour, our next activity was going to the Promised Land Zoo. This is a great zoo. There is a drive-through and a walk through section. That allows you to feed a good amount of the animals here. We paid extra to get to pet and hold some of the animals. The baby kangaroo was my favorite. but I also loved holding the snake. I also got to go shopping at a big souvenir store and of course I got some great items there. Branson is a very touristy place so there are lots of fun stores to shop at. We also went to Cold Stone and got ice cream before we headed to our next hotel that was located in Lake of the Ozarks. That night we went to a Walmart where I got a lake of the Ozarks cup. It was a great day.

Thanks for reading – Christina Epperly

My wonderful Missouri vacation! Part one

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list, friends! I went on an amazing vacation this month, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! I have a lot to tell you, so I’m going to write a few different blog posts about this vacation, but this is the first one, so let’s get to it!

Missouri adventure day one June 9th

One of the biggest challenges when it’s comes to vacation is getting there! It took two flights to get to Missouri. After getting our bags and rental car, we checked into our beautiful hotel! It had been a long travel day, but we still wanted to have some fun on our first day. First we ate at a very wonderful Mexican restaurant. After eating we went to play mini golf. however, this was not just any mini golf course. It was the shoot for the stars mini golf . This is the mini gold course that I have on my bucket list. I was excited to cross off another item off of my bucket list. We had a lot of fun playing minigolf and this course was a lot of fun. I love the Hollywood theme. I’m glad that I had this mini golf course on my bucket list. After playing mini golf, we went to Walgreens, where I got some fun souvenirs. It was a great first day of vacation.

Missouri adventure day two June 10th

This was our first full day of vacation. Our first adventure of the day was going to Dogwood Canyon Nature Park. This place is bucket list worthy. There are a lot of amazing things there, including a tree house that was on the show TV treehouse masters. I wish I had gotten time to explore it. I did, however, get to go on an amazing tour that included seeing some very cute Buffalo and a Texas Longhorn. The tour also included a stop at a wedding chapel. I also went to the gift shop, of course. I really want to go back to this place. My next adventure on this day was going to the butterfly palace. I also highly recommend going to this attraction. I loved getting to see all of the butterflies, and I also loved the mirror maze. I also want to go back to this place. There were so many beautiful butterflies. My last adventure on this day was going to visit Top of the Rock. The highlight of this attraction for me was going on a golf cart ride that included going through a cave that had a bar inside. There was a very beautiful wedding chapel that I got some good pictures of. I also enjoyed shopping at the gift shop here, of course. Later that night, I went to the pool at the hotel. It was a wonderful vacation day.

Thanks for reading!

Love – Christina Epperly

Travel and Adventure show 2024

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list, friends! On Saturday I went to the travel and adventure show. It was at a local convention center that I had never been to before. I was excited to go to an event that I had never been to before. However, I was most excited to see Phil Keoghan, who is the host of The Amazing Race. The Amazing Race is one of my favorite TV shows. When my mom and I arrived at the show, we went to where Phil would be speaking. I was happy that we got seats with a good view. It was so cool to be that close to someone that I had seen on TV for years! When his amazing speech was over. The audience got a chance to ask questions. If you asked a question, you got two free shirts. Of course, I had to ask a question. I was not sure what I was gonna ask at first. I had come up with a question in my head while I was waiting for my turn. However, when I got up to the microphone, I decided to ask another question. You can see the video of me asking my question on my Instagram (summerrockstar) or on X (mallstar). The question that I ended up asking was, “What is an item on your bucket list that you have not crossed off yet that you are looking forward to?” Phil said that he wanted to go to space, but he went into detail about how he would say it for the Amazing Race. It was great! After seeing Phil, my mom and I explored the rest of the travel show. There was so much to see. There were many booths. I got so much free stuff, including pens, stickers, and a candle. I also got to learn about places that I had not thought about going to before. Another thing I did was that I got to met some very cute dogs that help to protect our agriculture. If you get a chance to go to a travel show, I highly recommend going.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend ! Love – Christina Epperly

Things I love February 2024

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list, friends! As with other years, this one is going by fast. Before I write about what I’ve been doing in March so far, I wanted to make sure to get my things I love post published. Before we get any more into March, it is time to take a look back at the things I loved in February 2024.

Crossing another item off of my bucket list – I started this month by crossing off an item from my bucket list when I made pasta from scratch. ( You can read about it HERE)

Death Valley vacation – I went on my first vacation of 2024. It was amazing! (You can read it about it HERE )

Target shopping trip – I went on a shopping trip to one of my favorite stores this month, and I got some fun items. ( You can read about it HERE )

Valentine’s Day – Even though I worked on Valentine’s Day, it was a great day! ( You can read about it HERE )

Shopping at work – Of course, I bought a bunch of items at work this month, including lots of Valentines Day items. ( You can read about it HERE, HERE and HERE )

Savers shopping trip – I went on a shopping trip to Savers this month. I got a lot of arts and craft items. ( You can read about it HERE )

Exploring a new Goodwill location – On the way back from Death Valley, I went to a Goodwill that I had never been to before. ( You can read about it HERE )

Family surprise party – The day I got back from Death Valley I went to a family surprise party it was a lot of fun. ( You can read about it HERE )

reviewing Rainbowcorns toys – I did a review of these very cute toys this month. ( You can read it HERE )

Getting free stickers from Trader Joes – One of my new favorite things is getting stickers whenever I go to Trader Joe’s. I got some Valentine’s Day stickers and flower stickers this month. ( You can read about the Valentine’s Day stickers HERE )

Thank you for reading about the things I loved in February 2024 ! I hope all of you have a great March!

Love – Christina Epperly

My Death Valley adventure

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list, friends! I recently returned from a wonderful vacation to Death Valley National Park. It was my first time going there, and I highly recommend going if you get the chance.

Death Valley Day one – My mom and I started our vacation with an eight hour drive. On the way there, we stopped in this small town called Trona. They had a really good gas station store with good prices. That is where I got my first souvenirs of this vacation. When we arrived in the park, we made a stop at the sand dunes. The dunes were like being in an endless sandbox with hills. It was an interesting place to explore. After exploring the sand dunes, we went to the visitor center. The visitor center is on the smaller size, but it has a good selection of items for sale as well as some informative displays. After the sand dunes and the visitor center we got to our hotel. We stayed at the ranch in Death Valley. I loved staying there. They have a lot of things to do at the ranch. They have a cute general store, a huge pool , and an outdoor museum, just to name a few. The first night that we were there, I walked to the general store, and I got some postcards. It was a great first day of vacation.

Death Valley day two – Our first adventure of day two was going to Golden Canyon. This is a very beautiful hike, and the canyon is something I think everyone should see if they get the chance. This place is similar to what someone may picture a different planet would look like. This is a great spot for pictures. After that, we went to a spot known as artists Palette. This is also a great place to take pictures. The view here is beautiful. Another place we went to on this day was Harmony Borax works. We learned a lot about the borax industry here, but my favorite part was walking on the crunchy salt. Our last big adventure of this day was going to see Ubehebe crater. It was so windy it was hard to stand up straight, but the crater was truly amazing to see. We didn’t stay long due to the wind but I’m glad we went to see it.

Death Valley day three – Our first adventure of this day was going to visit Bad Water basin. Bad Water Basin is known for having the lowest elevation in North America. The basin has changed due storms, and there is now a lake that is not usually there. This is an interesting place to visit, especially right now, and I’m glad I got to see it. On this day we also went on a tour where we went to see some places that our car could not drive to. One of the things that I saw on the tour that stood out to me was a big tear shaped hole in a rock formation. I got some good pictures of that. After the tour, we explored the outdoor museum at our hotel. I also got ice cream at the ice cream shop at our hotel, and it was amazing. This was the first night that we went swimming in the large pool at the hotel. It was another great day of vacation.

Death Valley day four – This was our last full day of vacation before we went back home. We went to another viewpoint and of course it was beautiful. Another person that was at the same spot took some pictures of my mom and I, and they look great! After that we went to the visitor center again. I got a pressed penny and a bookmark. We had lunch at our hotel and it was really good. later that day we went out again but this time I brought a friend with me my Squishmallow raven named Ronald. Ronald has his own instagram page. ( ronaldtheraven ) I took Ronald with us so that he could get some pictures for his instagram page. We went to some of the places that we had already visited, and Ronald loved taking pictures, and of course, the pictures turned out great. That night we went swimming again. It was the perfect way to wrap up our vacation.

Thanks for reading about this adventure! Love – Christina Epperly

My first day trip of 2024

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list, friends! On Saturday I went on a day trip to Monterrey. I have been here many times before but I really enjoy going here. On this day trip, I also went to Pacific Grove. I can’t wait to tell you more about it so here we go !

Monterrey / Pacific Grove day trip

The first activity of my day trip was going to a place that I love going to when I go to Monterrey and that place is the antique mall. When I got to the antique, I headed straight for a booth that I remembered from last time. This booth is full of things that I love to collect like My Little Pony, Barbie, and Lion King. One of the first things that I picked up at this booth was a 101 Dalmatians Christmas decoration that was from the 90s. When I had finished shopping at the antique mall the other items that I got were , a bag with three Pez Dispensers in it, two Barbie doll dresses, a Barbie pen and a pack of Squishmallow trading cards. After the antique mall we went to eat and then we walked around. We got Ghirardelli chocolate at their store. I also got some postcards at a gift shop, and I got soap that has a rubber ducky in it. After our fun in Monterey, we went to see the butterflies in Pacific Grove, and I’m so glad we did. It was amazing to see that many butterflies flying around. I got some pictures, but since I just had my phone with me and not a nice camera, the pictures are not super great, but I still had a great time seeing them. It was a great first day trip of the year.

Thanks for reading! Love – Christina Epperly

The little things I enjoyed on Sunday and Monday

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list friends. One of my favorite sayings is enjoy the little things. I wanted to highlight the little things I loved on Sunday and Monday. Without any more delay, let’s get to it!

Sunday – I started work later in the day. I sept in and took it easy until it was time to leave for work. Before work, I went to Safeway, where I got food and a hot wheels car. Then I went to get coffee. After that, I went to work early so I could buy something before I had to clock in. I bought this super cute Melissa and Doug sticker activity kit. Also, during my day at work, I got two chocolates that have toys inside and a container of squishy toys that are part of our Valentines Day seasonal items.

Monday – I had this day off! I slept in again, and I took it easy until my mom and I went into town. Our first stop was coffee, of course, then Pet Co, where I saw some very cute kittens. After Pet Co, I went to my favorite local party supplies store. I have been coming here since I was a kid. Being there made me feel young again. I got four pencils for a dollar because that’s something I would have gotten as a kid. I also got some some plastic sea animals, rubber ducks, a Pez disperser that is shaped like a truck, and a pen with a plastic heart on top. After that we went for a walk in the park. There is supposed to be rain coming this way soon, so it was nice to get outside for a walk. After our walk, I went to the movie theater to pick up a prize pack that I had won. Before walking back to the car, I went to the candy store, and I got some of the stickers that they had there.

There you have it some of the little things that I have enjoyed lately!

Thanks for reading I hope you are enjoying the little things! – Christina Epperly

Christmas ornament craft kit and a fun trip to Savers !

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list, friends! I have two fun things to tell you about. The first one is a Christmas painting art kit that I recently finished. The other thing is my latest thrift shopping fun at Savers! Without any more delay, let’s get to it!

Painting ornaments – I got this fun craft kit at work. It comes with four ornaments to paint. I had a fun time painting the ornaments. My favorite ornament is the snowman. I love craft kits like this one, and I’m excited to do more Christmas themed craft kits this year.

Savers – I went to Savers this week. I got three Barbie dolls, some books including Barbie books, jewelry, two craft kits, and more. I was very excited about the two craft kits I got. I was also excited about the three Barbie dolls that I got because this location does not always have a good amount of dolls. There were not very many this time, but I’m happy with the three that I got. I’m also really excited about The books because they will help me reach my reading goal.

Thanks for reading this fun blog post ! – Christina Epperly