explore

Kowboys Summer Essentials

Summer is my favorite time of year.  Just laying around in the sun, enjoying road trips, boating, and running on the beach!

Here are a couple of things that I have to have during the warm summer months to keep me cool and comfortable.

Maui Vacation Update

I’ve been a little MIA on the blog because I’ve been enjoying my long vacation on Maui.  Currently still in Maui enjoying the sunshine but thought I would check in to give a quick update before I do a full recap!

Wine Tasting in Woodinville’s Warehouse District

I grew up in Woodinville before there were all the wineries, breweries, and distilleries.  The coolest thing to do growing up was the movie theater and hanging out in the Top Foods parking lot.  What’s nice is that going back and visiting my family in Woodinville now means that we get to go wine tasting and experience a whole new side of Woodinville that wasn’t there 20 years ago.

I took my husband wine tasting in the warehouse wine district of Woodinville.  I like this area better than the typical Woodinville wine district because there is more parking, better diversification of wineries and cider houses, as well as it tends not to be as packed as the other areas of Woodinville.  I’m sure this changes with the seasons and when passport weekend is.

Since my husband isn’t a huge wine drinker and hasn’t been to the warehouse district, I let him pick from the 55 tasting rooms. We decided to try out four wineries.  I would recommend only doing two or three if you are driving yourself or get an uber or there are tons of event buses you can charter as well.  I had no idea there were so many wineries that this is going to have to be a thing with the hubby until we try them all!!

Favorite Oyster Bars in Washington

Living here in the pacific northwest I have tried and love all types of seafood.  As you could probably tell from my Maui eats sushi is a top favorite.  But on the blog today we are going to be talking about oyster bars.  I know this isn’t specific to the pacific northwest, but we do have several amazing oyster farms, so the quality is out of this world.  Although not all oyster bars are created equal and there are really only two that my husband and I go to on the regular.  We’re always looking for new places, but they can never stack up to these two.  One is on the island where we live Whidbey, and the other has several locations around Washington state.

Beaches and Snorkeling on Maui

Here is possibly my last Maui post before we go on our vacation in May!  Today I’m covering some of my favorite beaches and snorkeling spots on Maui.  There are so many amazing beaches; these are the ones that we will go to multiple times on vacation.

Kowboy’s Spring Essentials

Hi, guys, it’s me Kowboy!  I’m here to tell you about all of my must-have spring essentials.  First of all, I live in the pacific northwest, so springtime brings plenty of showers, and the temperature isn’t quite that hot yet.  So here’s a roundup of some of my favorite spring things.

Top Activities on Maui

MAUI!! This is one of my favorite places to vacation too; I’ve been going since I was a little kid.  I’ve been almost 20 times, so I’ve tried a lot of different charters and activities.  When going, we always try to find a new activity to do.  Here are the top four activities that we’ve done several times, and I always tell people they should do.

Don’t worry I’ll be doing separate posts on beaches, snorkeling, and where to eat as we get closer to our next trip to Maui in May.

Hiking and Photography atop Mt. Erie

In the last post about Washington we went to Eastern Washington, this week we are going to stay close to my current home town in Western Washington.  I live on Whidbey Island, which is in the Puget Sound, about 40min north of Seattle.  To do something quick for a morning hike or a short road trip we like to drive up the island to a small, short, mountain in Anacortes Washington, Mt. Erie.

Winter Wonderland in Leavenworth Washington

In eastern Washington, there is a small Bavarian town named Leavenworth.  It is a small village with tons of character.  The town serves German beer and authentic German cuisine.  They have a nutcracker museum, my picture may or may not be inside.  My mom is a huge collector!  The reason we love visiting this town in the summer and winter is that it is centrally located in the state and it’s a great stopping point during a drive or close enough to make a fun day trip.  Here are a few of my favorite things to do and visit while in the town.

What to see and do on Kauai

A couple of years ago my husband and I finally made it to the island of Kauai.  We went as an extension to our winter break from work, to find some much-needed sunshine from the gray Seattle weather.

Finding a deal during December on any of the Hawaiian Islands is hard to do, but somehow, I found one!  We booked about 5-6 months out and were able to find a cute VRBO at a resort in Lihue town, Aqua Kauai Beach Resort.  It was such a good deal we couldn’t pass it up. It had amazing views, three pools, and a long uninterrupted beach.  You have to get the adult shaved ice. We didn’t realize this was an actual thing until our last day and were super sad about it, because who doesn’t love Koloa rum and shave ice!

Here are the places I would recommend for some of the best food and drinks on the island.