
Asian Elephants at The Preserve
When I travel, I'm always looking for "experiences." Even when I go wine tasting I'm always hoping for something extra, like a tour or a food pairing. When I learned about The Preserve and the opportunity to meet their magnificent Asian elephants, I knew I needed to check out this ...
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Fall RV Trip Update — The Art of Resiliency and Flexibility
Is it just me or have we had to be super resilient and flexible for the past couple of years? Barely a month ago I wrote a blog post about my fall RV trip plans which included a conference in El Paso, Texas. Due to changes, some beyond my control, ...
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How Important are your Feet?
As a horsewoman, I am familiar with the saying "no hoof, no horse." While I sat getting a pedicure last week, I started thinking about how that applies to the human foot. If you think the condition of your feet doesn't have anything to do with travel, read on! How ...
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Electric Bike and the Solo Senior Female Traveler Saga
Back in 2019, when I was planning my RV trip, I saw lots of YouTube videos about electric bikes. One brand in particular, Lectric eBikes, caught my attention. Lots of nomads that I follow reviewed their bikes and just raved about them. I thought an electric bike would be a ...
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Fall Travel Plans – A Conference and an RV Trip
Oh, my gosh. It has been so long since I wrote a blog post I'm not sure I remember how! I just couldn't muster up the motivation to "find" things to write about when I couldn't travel or even go out to most restaurants. However, I have some exciting news ...
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Birthday Musings of a Stay-at-Home Travel Blogger
It's that time again. It's my birthday and I'm sitting here reflecting on past birthdays and wondering what the next year will bring. Based on what has transpired so far, it certainly looks like it will be a lot different than any year in the past. Here are some of ...
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Home from Work and Can’t Travel? What to do with your Downtime
I had an amazing RV trip planned for April-June. I was going to see Texas bluebells for the first time, attend a couple of festivals, see the emergence of the largest bat colony in the world, ride a steam train, and taste more awesome Texas wine. There were even more ...
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Nikon P900 Superzoom Camera – Great All-Purpose Camera
With so many things closing down and a tremendous decrease in traffic to travel websites, I've been at a bit of a loss for what to do. Since I recently purchased new camera equipment, I decided to take some of this down time to really learn how to use it ...
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Baking in an RV Oven — Do you do it?
Why There's no Baking in my RV Oven I have now been on two 6-week RV trips and not once during either trip did I fire up my RV oven for baking. Since I eat low carb, I don't bake things like bread, cookies or cakes, but I do like ...
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Even when Life is Long, it is too Short!
It has taken me a while to write this post, but I needed to do it so I can start to move on. You know the old saying, life can turn on a dime? Well, it happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Early in July, I wrote a ...
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Tips for Young at Heart, Active, Senior Travelers
With my birthday rapidly approaching, I thought it might be a good time to write a post with tips for active senior travelers. While doing research, I discovered that most of the posts out there are aimed at very elderly or infirm travelers. I'm so grateful that I don't fall ...
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Survive the Storm — Be Prepared for a Natural Disaster
When I lived in southern California, I lived with the possibility of an earthquake. When I moved to northern California, wildfires were a real threat. In fact, before I had lived there for a year, we had to evacuate ahead of the Butte fire, one of the largest wildfires ever ...
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How to Plan the Perfect Staycation
Some people plan a staycation as a special event, but, for me, it's a perpetual state of being. I am always planning the next adventure in my own backyard and hope to inspire you to do the same. We are often so busy with our daily lives and looking forward ...
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Quinta Mazatlan Celebrates the Monarch Butterfly
I have been anxious to get outside and visit more of the amazing nature areas nearby but the weather has been less than cooperative in that arena. Even on the day that Quinta Mazatlan celebrated the monarch butterfly with their Monarch Festival, there was a 30-40% chance of rain. I ...
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Three Years and I’m Still Here!
Today, March 7, 2019, marks the 3 year anniversary of this blog. On my first anniversary in 2017, I wrote a post about the journey to finding my blogging passion. Last year, I was so busy, I actually forgot about the anniversary! Where the Blog has Been Two and a ...
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Geocaching with Harlingen Parks and Recreation
Geocaching first came to my attention several years ago when I lived in southern California. I love scavenger hunts and solving puzzles so I thought it sounded like fun. I was about to get involved when I decided to move to rural northern California where there really weren't many geocaches ...
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Why I Missed the 2nd Anniversary of the Blog
March 7th was the 2nd anniversary of the Gold Country Cowgirl blog. I had intended to do a special post and a giveaway for the blog anniversary but between a three-day trip to Southern California, having company, lots of wine events, being sick twice and an especially busy couple of weeks of ...
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Amador City: Where to Eat, Stay and Play
Although Amador City is the smallest incorporated city in California, covering less than a square mile, it has lots to offer. It has a hotel and four great places to eat. Main Street is also dotted with unique shops, a wine tasting room or two and a museum. If you ...
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A Glimpse into Local History during Sutter Creek Heritage Days
Sutter Creek Heritage Days I think I saw more of Sutter Creek in a few hours during Heritage Days than I have seen in all the other times I have visited put together. Most people visit Sutter Creek to shop at the many antique and vintage stores or to go ...
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Dining Solo on My Birthday — Are You an Introvert?
I have always considered myself a shy person. I am attracted to "take charge" extroverts and was always happy to let them be my front person. New people I met rarely remembered me or, if they did, I was so-and-sos friend. Traveling, or even dining solo, is something I always ...
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Wildflowers to Snowshoeing in 30 Minutes or Less
When I lived in Southern California, I lived near the beach and loved that I could be in the mountains within a couple of hours. Now, I live in the mountains of Northern California and the beach is only a little farther than a couple of hours away. I live ...
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Birth of a Blog — or Four: Finding My Blogging Passion
One year ago today I published my first post on Gold Country Cowgirl. Although that was my first post on this blog, I was not new to blogging. It took me a while to find my blogging passion but I think I finally made it. One of my biggest passions ...
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Most Viewed Posts of 2016
It's the beginning of a new year and I've been reflecting on the blog, looking back at old posts and setting some goals for 2017. Even though the blog hasn't been in operation for a full year yet (my first post was published on March 7th), I thought you might be ...
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Women Traveling Alone — Are You One of Them?
As a single, female, 60 something, baby boomer, and with the state of the world, I'm no longer comfortable with the idea of overseas travel, especially as a woman traveling alone. Perhaps some of you feel the same way. I read lots of travel blogs, mostly written by young millennials ...
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Sutter Creek Chili Cook-off & Car Show
I love that there are so many local fairs and festivals in Gold Country. My October pick was the Great Sutter Creek Chili Cook-off and Car Show. This annual event is always held on the second Saturday in October so you might want to mark your calendar now for October ...
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Ferrari Originals – More Than Lampwork
Gold Country Handmade This new series on the blog will feature talented artists and artisans from all over Gold Country. I plan to bring you a diverse sampling of the talent here. I am excited to introduce my friend Pam Ferrari and Ferrari Originals as my first featured artisan. Ferrari Originals ...
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Lumberjack Day in West Point, CA
You never know what you are going to run into when you are traveling around Gold Country. Yesterday I was on my way to a pet sitting client when I saw a sign I remembered seeing a few times in the past week or so. It was for Lumberjack Day ...
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Best Amador County October Activities
With fall just around the corner, one week from today in fact, outdoor summer activities are starting to wind down in Amador County. Even the weather has given us a taste of fall the past few days, but just because summer is winding down doesn't mean there will be any ...
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Kodiak Canvas Truck Tent Review
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 ...
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Anje Olmstead Collage Artist
Every month I am amazed at how creative the hostesses of the Saucy Sister's cooking group are with the monthly meeting activities. At one meeting, we made two kinds of liqueur and everyone got to take home a bottle of each. One time we made fudge and had lots of samples to take home. We have ...
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Lavender Crafts and Camaraderie
Jan, our gracious hostess for the July meeting of our Saucy Sisters cooking group, has a beautiful home with lots of lavender beds. She orchestrated a Day of Lavender for us that included lavender crafts and some lavender infused food. When we arrived, Jan had tea, coffee and scrumptious lavender scones waiting for us ...
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T.G.I.F. Summer Concert Series
Last Friday I had one of the most fun evenings I can remember having since I moved to Amador County almost two years ago. A group of friends and I went to the concert in the park at Volcano Amphitheater, one of the concerts in the T.G.I.F. Summer Concert Series, and we ...
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Amador Flower Farm Daylilies
I've said it before, but I just have to say it again. I'm discovering that plants from bulbs have the most spectacular blooms. I guess this is becoming more apparent to me as I have more time to explore places like Amador Flower Farm, where the daylily reigns supreme. Although I think ...
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Tea Party with My Saucy Sisters
Did you serve afternoon tea to your imaginary friends when you were a child? Although I was more of an outdoorsy kid who played with plastic horses and cowboys, I’m sure I must have had a tea party or two. But tea parties aren’t just for kids. It is a ...
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Bluebird Haven Iris Garden
On our way back from Toogood Estate Winery in Fairplay, the Vineyard Vixens stopped at Bluebird Haven Iris Garden. We do have other interests besides wine! Bluebird Haven Iris Garden is located on Fairplay Rd. in Somerset, CA, just a few miles down the road from Toogood in southern El ...
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6 Ways to Meet New People
Have you moved to a new area and don't know anyone? Maybe you've lived there a while and still have just not met anyone. I know how that goes. I lived in my condo in Southern California for over 13 years and knew only a couple of my neighbors. Or ...
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Which Type of Baby Boomer Are You?
Baby boomers seem to fall into one of two categories. Either you have decided to live or you have decided to begin dying. Whoa, what do I mean by that? Astrologers call it the Chiron Return, which occurs around the age of 50. It is the point where we subconsciously ...
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Do You Love Craft Fairs?
Do you love craft fairs like I do? What is it about craft fairs that attracts us? Why do we go? I used to dabble in crafts and often think I'd like to get back into it, but then I tell myself, "Who are you kidding? You can barely keep up ...
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