Tena StetlerAuthor of Paranormal Romance/Suspense & Cozy Mysteries With Magic Spark!

Jul 21st Camping a Recipe for Summer Treats & Reads

My hubby, our dog, bird, turtle and I love to trade the jungle of civilization for a few days of paradise relaxing in the cool quiet of a Rocky Mountain campsite with a mesmerizing book and evening campfire.  That’s my idea of Summer Treats and Reads. Okay, let me qualify what camping is to us.  We have a fifth wheel trailer with all the creature comforts required, left tent camping behind a long time ago. LOL

Favorite camping areas in Colorado are: Rocky Mountain National Park a stones throw from Estes Park is a great hiking and biking destination. Twin Lakes in the Pike & San Isabel National Forest is wonderful for kayaking and mountain biking.  Both these areas are dry camping, no services but with a generator or solar panels you are all set.

Another fun place is Steamboat Lake, a Colorado State Park, the kayaking is good, hiking with your furry friend is excellent.  Electrical is available on some sites.  Not far away is Pearl Lake, nice kayaking area, lots of wildlife early morning or around dusk.  No motorized boats allowed.  It’s also primitive/dry camping but there are several sites large enough for a 30 foot fifth wheel trailer.

These are just a few of the exciting camping area’s in Colorado. Last week we enjoyed a fun filled vacation at Lake Vallecito which I detailed in the prior post.

Mueller State Park is close and a great weekend trip to the mountains.  Cheyenne Mountain State Park is centrally located for visiting all the Pikes Peak Region has to offer and is open all year around. It is usually our final destination of the season.  The park offers full hookups, tent pad and campfire ring on each site.

Now for the Treats:  Chocolate Cherry Dumpcake Recipe. Quick and easy.

2 cans (21 ounces each) cherry pie filling

1 package (about 15 ounces) Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake mix or your favorite Chocolate Cake mix.

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 X 9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread the pie filling in prepared pan, top with cake mix only, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  pour butter over top, covering cake mix as much as possible.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.  Cool at least 15 minutes before serving.  Make 12 to 16 servings. Now for just my husband, myself and a couple of friends, we cut this recipe in half and use a 9X9 inch baking pan or a cast iron dutch oven. Yummy!

For Reads: Obviously, I’d like you to check out my books,

A Demon’s Witch, Charm Me (its on sale for .99), A Witch’s Journey. Otherwise, The Wild Rose Press has lots of wonderful authors with a wide variety of books. I like cozy and regular mysteries, paranormal romances books categorized as fun reads.  I’m not into thrillers or weepy books. Happily Every After and feel good novels are what I read, anything else, I can get by turning on the television or internet and I don’t call that entertainment.  Just me.

Please visit the other blogs listed below for fun, games and prizes. To be entered to win the $10.00 Amazon gift card I’m giving away, like my facebook page and sign up for my quarterly newsletter on my webpage at https://www.tenastetler.com.  Winner will be drawn at random and notified at the end of the blog hop. Also the author’s of The Wild Rose are giving away a Kindle Fire as a grand prize. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter below.  Good Luck! See you next time with tales of the unexplained.  Got your attention now! <giggles maniacally>

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