Blog | Golden Country Cowgirl

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…

Casa Rondeña Winery – I Finally Get Some New Mexico Wine

Casa Rondeña Winery has been chosen “Best Winery” seven years in a row by Albuquerque the Magazine readers.Read on to learn why.

Although I had cases of amazing Gold Country wine in my wine fridge when I was getting ready to leave northern California, I didn’t bring much with me. I shipped a couple of cases and gave the rest away. Turns out, that was a bit of a mistake. My plan was to stop at wineries along the way and buy wine to drink as I traveled. That worked for the first week or two when I stopped in Lodi and Paso Robles. After that, discovering new wineries and wine remained an elusive longing. Once I left Paso Robles, wineries were either not located near my route or closed. Such was the case with a winery in Arizona. I had planned to boondock at Stetson Winery…

Piedras Marcadas Canyon in Petroglyph National Monument

When I began fantasizing about this journey to southern Texas, I planned to leave northern California the third week of September, in time to get to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. Since that didn’t happen, I had no real plans of what to see or do in Albuquerque other than to try to find some New Mexico wineries. I had no idea that Petroglyph National Monument was so close to where I was staying. Petroglyph National Monument Visitor Center After a little research, I learned that there is a visitor center but no trail access there. Petroglyph National Monument is a day-use park so the visitor center and the four trailhead parking lots are open from 8:30 to 4:30. The trailheads range in distance from…

Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert

Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, lies at the heart of the Painted Desert and is one of the largest concentrations of petrified wood in the world.

When I heard that the National Parks’ Senior Lifetime Pass was increasing from $20 to $80, I decided to go ahead and get mine. I was a few years past the time when I qualified but I never really thought I would use it. Other than Yosemite, there weren’t many National Parks near me in northern California but I wanted to get it, just in case, before the price increase. So, who knew I would use it twice in one week on this trip, for Grand Canyon National Park and for Petrified Forest National Park. The first time I used my pass was when I went to the Grand Canyon on October 31st (Halloween). When I booked the Grand Canyon Railway, I had to either…

The Incomparable Grand Canyon via the Grand Canyon Railway

I love trains so I knew that combining the Grand Canyon Railway with seeing the Grand Canyon would be the highlight of my trip.

My RV journey began with the thought that a travel trailer might be easier than finding multiple hotels that would take my three cats on my move from Northern California to southern Texas. From that simple thought it grew into the idea of fulfilling a life-long dream of traveling around the country in an RV. As I fantasized about what the trip might look like, I knew the only thing I HAD to do was see the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and the only one in the United States. Everything else I might get to see or do would just be gravy on the potatoes. And getting there via the Grand Canyon Railway was…

Lessons Learned from Two Weeks on the Road

Check out the lessons learned on the road in just two weeks. I’m loving this journey of discovery and the continual reminders that I can do it.

I think the most important lesson I’ve learned on the road these past two weeks is that I can do a lot more than I ever thought I could, or at least more than I was ever willing to push myself to do. Fear of the unknown or fear of failure can keep us from doing so many things. I was not really fearful about this journey in general, but certain components of the journey scared me silly. I use the word silly because it turns out most of my fears were indeed silly. Take for example big trucks passing on the freeway. Yes, you definitely feel them but as long as you are aware and prepared, it is not really a big deal. A…