Travel Archives | Page 10 of 12 | Golden Country Cowgirl

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…

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Things to do in Murphys CA — More than Wine Tasting

When you visit Murphys, it will be obvious why it was voted one of the top ten coolest small towns in America. Take a trip back to the 1800s while enjoying great food, shopping, art galleries, outdoor activities and more.

If you haven’t been to Murphys, you should definitely add it to your list of places to go in California’s Gold Country. I have been there for special events like the Chili Cook-off, just to shop, and to stop for breakfast on my way to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. When you visit, it will be obvious why it was voted one of the top ten coolest small towns in America by Budget Travel Magazine. There are cool things to do in Murphys CA! Murphys, California, is located in Calaveras County, about 3 hours east of San Francisco and a little less than two hours southeast of Sacramento. I’m only an hour away where I live in Amador County so I can visit often. If you…

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Black Chasm Cavern: Amador County Hidden Gem

UPDATE: This post was originally published on April 18, 2017 and has been updated on May 24, 2019 to reflect the change in ownership and other details for Black Chasm Cavern. The operation was sold in December of 2017 and is currently owned and operated by Gold Country Adventures. Although not a whole lot has changed, the new company’s website is not nearly as informative as that of the previous company and there are very few photos. I hope you find this blog post and the updates in it helpful. If you drive through Pine Grove on Highway 88/104 in Northern California, you will most likely notice the signs for Black Chasm Cavern at Pine Grove-Volcano Road. It’s hard to miss them. I have seen these…

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Roaring Camp Saturday Night Cookout Experience

The Roaring Camp Saturday Night Cookout is an evening full of adventure, food, fun, entertainment, education and history for the whole family.

Of all the things I’ve done so far in Gold Country, one of my favorites is the Roaring Camp Saturday Night Cookout. It is an evening full of adventure, food, fun, entertainment, education and history. Descent into the Mokelumne River Canyon Your adventure begins at the Roaring Camp office on Tabeaud across from the Gold Country Campground in Pine Grove, CA. Everyone caravans from there at 5pm sharp to the Roaring Camp Mining Company staging area and entrance just a little farther down Tabeaud. There, trucks are waiting to take you down the very steep descent into the Mokelumne River Canyon. The trip down in the trucks is one of the best parts of the evening for me. The scenery is breathtaking and your guide tells you…

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The Murals of Downtown Harlingen

The more than 20 murals that depict various aspects of the Rio Grande Valley's history and culture, is one of the main things for which Harlingen is known.

I just got back from a week-long trip to La Feria, Texas. I was visiting my Dad and helping him celebrate his 95th birthday. What a blast we had! He has bad knees so it is hard for him to walk a lot, which meant we didn’t go many places — we spent most of the time just visiting. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that one of the things I did want to do while I was there was check out the murals of downtown Harlingen. It is probably best to do this as a walking tour but because of my Dad’s knees, we did it in the car. I wasn’t sure my Dad was going to enjoy this because he was having…

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Kodiak Canvas Truck Tent Review

I had the opportunity to try out a Kodiak Canvas truck tent on a recent horse camping trip. I share the pros and cons of the tent with you in this blog post.

Kelly and I just got back from a horse camping trip to Pt. Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco. Kelly usually stays in the back of her horse trailer when she camps, but for this trip, she decided to get a tent for her truck. I hadn’t heard of such a thing but it sounded like a great idea. She did some research and decided that the Kodiak Canvas truck tent had the best reviews and seemed like it had the features she wanted. The Kodiak Canvas Truck Tent The Kodiak Canvas truck tent comes in two sizes. The regular size fits 5.5 to 6.8 foot beds and the long bed size fits 8 to 8.5 foot beds, which is the size Kelly got for her dually…

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Dolphin and Bird Watching on Laguna Madre with Fins to Feathers

One of the drawbacks of traveling solo is that it can be difficult to get into a small tour group. I’ve been trying for several weeks to get into a dolphin watching cruise on a small boat that only takes a maximum of six passengers. That doesn’t sound like a big deal except they also have a minimum of four so they have to fit me in with a group of four or five. It wasn’t working out so, since there is more than one small boat that goes out from Port Isabel, I decided to contact Fins to Feathers about their dolphin watching cruise. Captain Paul followed up with me and got me into a group in just a few days. Getting to Fins…

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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…

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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…

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Will You Save Money with a Texas State Parks Pass?

bench overlooking lake with text overlay Texas State Parks Annual Pass

Getting a Texas State Parks Pass has been on my list of things to do for a while but I have put it off because the weather has not been very conducive to outdoor activities. We finally have had a few clear days with sunshine so, recently, I went to Estero Llano Grande State Park. I loved this park and knew it was time to make my purchase. I know in the long run, I will save money at Texas State Parks with the annual pass. Day use fees at the more than 90 Texas State Parks usually run $2-$8 per person. Since I know I will visit lots of state parks and visit some of them often, I feel that, even for a single…

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