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Texas Legato Winery — On the Edge

barrels and a waterfall in front of large grassy field with text overlay: Visit the northern edge of Texas Hill Country AVA Texas Legato Winery

Staying with participating wineries through Harvest Hosts is one of the ways I discover some wonderful, and sometimes lesser known, wineries. That’s how I found Texas Legato Winery. It is a family owned and operated winery in Lampasas at the very northern edge of the Texas Hill Country AVA (American Viticultural Area). Sulynn and Bill Bledsoe are the owners of Texas Legato Winery and Vineyard. As a Harvest Hosts member, I called ahead to make sure they had room for me on the night I wanted to stay. Bill greeted me when I arrived and directed me to a spot near the parking lot because it had been raining and the ground was too wet to risk parking farther away by the vineyard. It was…

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Traveling with Cats — Are cats better traveling companions than dogs?

I love dogs and I’ve had a few in my life but I am definitely a cat person. Perhaps it’s the introvert in me that really appreciates their calm energy. There’s something very peaceful about watching them sleep or stretch in the sun, just enjoying life. They constantly remind me to take life slow and easy. I found it amusing that it took a comedy routine to help me put my finger on this preference of cats over dogs, especially when it comes to traveling. Traveling the country, moving slowly from place to place in an RV, has been a dream of mine since I was in my 20s. When I made the decision last year to move from California to Texas, I took the…

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Travel Safety Tips for the Solo Female RV Traveler

Solo female travel safety is an important topic. These tips will help give you peace of mind while traveling solo in your RV.

A while back, I wrote a post about solo female travel. Who knew I would be contemplating and putting into action doing just that for an extended period of time. I belong to several RV travel Facebook groups and every time I see someone ask how solo female travelers keep themselves safe, many respond with “don’t be afraid.” I don’t think wanting suggestions for how to keep yourself safe has anything to do with fear, at least not for me. For me, it’s no different than asking what their favorite must haves are. It is about being confident that you can avoid a dangerous situation. It is about being prepared and making your travels as fun and rewarding as possible. Although these solo female travel…

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Full-time RVing or Home Base? — What I Chose and Why

travel trailer parked on grass with text overlay: Full-time RVing or a Home Base? What I Chose & Why

When I left California for Texas in my RV, I had no idea what the future would be like. I absolutely loved my trip and had dreams of full-time RVing but I didn’t know if that could be a reality. Would I choose full-time RVing or part-time travel from a home base? Related: Epic 40-day California to Texas RV Itinerary I knew that once I had spent some time with my dad in Texas, I wanted to get back on the road and explore the Gulf Coast, Midwest and East Coast. In the back of my mind, I figured that I would probably just take extended trips from my home base rather than full-time RVing as long as my dad is still living. My mom…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Gold Country Cowgirl is Hitting the Trail!

As much as I have enjoyed learning the ropes of living in Gold Country, this Gold Country Cowgirl will be hitting the trail soon. Will I take up a life of living full time on the road in a travel trailer? Read about my life-changing decision.

Although I’ve been trying to stay active on social media, I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog lately. Maybe you noticed. I made a life-changing decision a couple of months ago and it has kind of consumed me since. It all started when my friend, Kelly, who I moved here to Gold Country to be near, told me she and her family were planning to move to Tennessee. I wasn’t invited to join them but I probably would not have chosen to do that even if I had been. So, it really got me thinking. Would I want to stay here if she moved? I have quite a few friends here, some wonderful pet sitting clients and I have cultivated some great business relationships through…

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Notes from an RV Newbie’s First Weekend on the Road

If my first weekend on the road as an RV newbie is any indication of how things are going to go for the next few weeks, I’m truly going to love this life.

If you have been following my blog, you know that just before my birthday I made a life changing decision to downsize, buy a travel trailer and do some long-term traveling while moving in the general direction of southern Texas. Preparing to be an RV newbie has been a monumental chore with not much to write about so it has been a while since I posted. I’m back now and plan to share the whole adventure with you. If my first weekend on the road as an RV newbie is any indication of how things are going to go for the next few weeks, I’m truly going to love this life. Day one, Friday, October 12 I finally pulled out from Pine Grove at about…

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