Blog | Golden Country Cowgirl

Museums of Harlingen: Early Rio Grande Valley to WWII

The museums of Harlingen, Texas, the Iwo Jima Memorial Museum and the Harlingen Arts & Heritage museum, top the list of best things to do in Harlingen.

When I moved to southern Texas, I started making a list of things to see and do, starting with the closest places first. When I searched things to do in Harlingen, Texas, the museums of Harlingen came out on top. Museums of Harlingen Iwo Jima Memorial Museum The Iwo Jima Memorial Museum is one of two museums of Harlingen, Texas. As much as I love history, I have to admit that military history is not my thing. In spite of that, I wanted to see what this place was all about and, it turns out, it was pretty interesting. Sure, I’ve seen the famous photo by Joe Rosenthal of the flag raising at Iwo Jima and I’m sure I saw the John Wayne movie, Sands…

Were They RV Must Haves or Have Nots?

While downsizing for the RV life, I made a list of RV must haves. A review of the list reveals which items were my most useful RV must haves.

A while back, while I was downsizing my house to move into my trailer, I wrote about the things I had on hand that I thought would be RV must haves. When I look back on the list, it is interesting to see what I actually used, what I didn’t need or miss, and what I wish I’d had. What do you think were my most useful RV must haves? My Most Useful RV Must Haves Before I left, I read lots of posts about how people mostly cook outside their rig. I took that to heart and took my portable gas grill as well as electric gadgets that could be plugged in outside. Most of the time though, it was too cold to cook…

Most Viewed Posts 2018 Edition

This is one of my favorite posts to do during the year. It is so fun to look back over articles and see what was popular and resonated with my readers.

This is one of my favorite posts to do each year. It is so fun for me to look back over my articles and see what was popular and resonated with my readers during the year. It gives me food for thought about what to include as future posts. 2018 was a year of huge changes for me. The first few months of the year, things went on pretty much as usual. I visited lots of places in Gold Country to find the gems to share with you on the blog. Then, somewhere around May, some events got put into motion and I decided to start a whole new chapter in my life. I wrote all about it in post #7 below. Top Ten…

San Antonio Mission Trail: Visions of a New People and Culture

The five missions on the San Antonio Mission Trail, as a group, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015. They are the largest collection of Spanish colonial architecture in the world. #travel #tourism #texas #sanantonio #missions

When I went on my first day of sightseeing in San Antonio, Texas, I learned that the Alamo is just one of five missions on the San Antonio Mission Trail. The five missions, as a group, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015. They are the largest collection of Spanish colonial architecture in the world. If you’ve visited the San Antonio Mission Trail or missions anywhere, tell me about your experience in the comments below. For my three nights in San Antonio, I stayed at Braunig Lake RV Resort in Elmendorf. This park is really conveniently located, just 10 minutes from local shopping and only about 30 minutes from downtown San Antonio, yet it has a rural feel. I will likely stay here…

Best of San Antonio in One Day: The Alamo, Pearl & River Walk

I purchased my hop-on hop-off ticket, added the Rio Cruises River Walk tour, and made my way inside the Alamo to begin my San Antonio sightseeing adventure.

By the time I got to San Antonio in mid-November, I had been on the road for 33 days. I had been to some amazing places and had been enjoying remarkably beautiful weather until I arrived in central Texas the week before. For almost a week it had been cloudy, drizzly, rainy and windy, so I was really happy when the day I planned to go do San Antonio sightseeing, the weather cleared for the day. The sun came out and it was in the 70s. Just in case the weather didn’t hold for another day, I wanted to see the best of San Antonio in that one day. Normally, when I plan to go sightseeing in a city, I do a lot of research…

Boondocking at Walker Honey Farm and Dancing Bee Winery

Walker Honey Farm and Dancing Bee Winery in Rogers, TX, may be a little off the beaten path but well worth a visit for amazing raw honey and honey wine.

I joined Harvest Hosts RV membership program to find some unique and interesting places to stay on my RV trip from northern California to southern Texas. I picked at least one intriguing place in each state and built my RV park stays around them. When I found Walker Honey Farm in Texas, I knew I needed to add it to my stops. Why Walker Honey Farm? First, they were the only honey farm I came across, but more importantly, they make mead. My former significant other and I made mead for several years and I still remember how much I enjoyed it. Part of the attraction of mead, I think, is that it is pretty hard to find*. There used to be a winery in…

A Newbie’s Favorite RV Membership Programs

There are quite a few RV membership programs out there. I did a lot of research and comparison to decide which were most beneficial to me. Which do you use?

When I was planning my trip from northern California to southern Texas, I researched a lot of RV membership programs to decide which would be of most benefit to me. There are quite a few options, so it wasn’t an easy task comparing them all, but there were a couple of RV membership programs that stood out for me. The RV Membership Programs I Chose Passport America for RV Parks I knew I wanted to stay in a lot of RV parks so Passport America seemed like a no-brainer to me. They let you check out their member parks before you join so I could see there were plenty on my potential route. A one-year membership costs $44. With a 50% discount at over 1600…

Things to do in Bakersfield in Three Days

When you think of Bakersfield, do you think of a place to visit and explore? No? Me neither! But there is more to do there than you might imagine.

When you think of Bakersfield, do you think of a place to visit and explore? No? Me neither! When I was planning my RV trip from northern California to southern Texas, I scheduled an overnight in Bakersfield to break up the drive. At one of my going away parties – yes, there was more than one since my trip kept getting delayed – my friend, Sue, said, “If you are going through Bakersfield, you HAVE to go to the Buck Owens Crystal Palace.” Who knew? So, I penciled in a couple more days there to have time to do just that and spent 3 days in Bakersfield. I did more research to see what else there is to do in Bakersfield and was surprised at…

What Does a 2800 Mile, 40 Night RV Trip Cost?

The cost of an RV trip is different for everyone, but I thought you might be interested in learning what my 2800 mile, 40 day RV trip cost.

Of course, the answer to this question will be different for everyone undertaking such a trip but I thought you might be interested in knowing what my 2800 mile, 40 night RV trip cost. Here’s What My RV Trip Cost Gas: $948.91 I’m sure it is no surprise to anyone that this was the biggest expense of the trip, especially since many of my miles were through California. I paid almost $5 a gallon in some places! Once I got into Arizona, the cost went down to under $4 a gallon and in Texas under $3 gallon. I was using premium gas while I was hauling because I wanted to help my car out with all the oomph I could. In retrospect, it may not…

9 Reasons I Preferred Staying in RV Parks on My First Solo Trip

Boondocking vs staying in RV parks. Here are the nine reasons I felt more comfortable and preferred staying in RV parks on my first solo trip.

OK, I have to admit it, I played it pretty safe on my trip from northern California to southern Texas. This was my first time pulling anything larger than a horse trailer and I was traveling solo. As much as I might have liked to do more boondocking, I just felt more comfortable staying in RV parks. I was on the road for 40 nights and stayed in RV parks for 35 of those nights. All but three of those 35 nights were at Passport America parks at half price. If not for Passport America, I would have been forced to do more boondocking to save some money because I could not have afforded to pay for that many nights at full price. Most…