By torchlight in Wyoming

Powell, Wyo.

Dec. 1-3: Carols and an evening torchlight parade will illuminate downtown Powell during Country Christmas, which turns 20 this year. Crafts and food will be on sale at the Holiday Showcase, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Dec. 1-2, with the lighted parade both days at 6 p.m. On Dec. 3, area homes decked out for the season will be open for touring, with refreshments served along the way.

Holiday Showcase at the Commons, 135 N. Bent St., Powell. Home-tour tickets and other information from the Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce; (307) 754-3494, www.powellchamber.org.

*

Santa Maria, Calif.

Dec. 2: Spelunking skills are not required for Christmas in the Caves, a food and wine event at Cottonwood Canyon winery. Visitors descend to the caves for a multi-course meal accompanied by live music and wines from Cottonwood, which specializes in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard & Winery, 3940 Dominion Road, Santa Maria. 5-9 p.m. $100 per person. Info: (805) 937-8463.

*

Talkeetna, Alaska

Dec. 2: A species of revelry will soon become extinct in the 49th state. It’s the 21st and final year for Talkeetna’s Wilderness Woman Contest, for single women 21 and older. The Talkeetna Bachelor Society, which hangs up its collective hat this year, puts on the contest and the fundraising bachelor auction that follows. The contest includes a 100-yard dash to fill water buckets, a snow machine driving competition, a test of snowshoeing skills, the serving of a sandwich and beer to a man as he watches football (it’s OK if it lands on his head), the hunting of a faux ptarmigan and the climbing of a tree to escape a faux moose. The No. 1 rule of the contest is that tongue must be kept firmly in cheek. The competition is followed by the Bachelor Society Benefit Auction and Bachelors Ball, with dancing and the auctioning of Alaskan bachelors for a drink and a dance.

Festivities begin at 10 a.m. at West Rib Cafe and Pub, downtown Talkeetna, Alaska. Info: (907) 733-3939, www.talkeetnachamber.org or e-mail dxter@alaska.net.

*

Monterey, Calif.

Dec. 8-9: Twenty of Monterey’s historic adobes, filled with candles, luminarias and live music, will be open for rare evening tours during Christmas in the Adobes. The Custom House, said to be California’s oldest public building, will host a fandango. Casa Soberanes will have 1840s-era music and Mexican hot chocolate. New to the tour this year: the Royal Presidio Chapel, built in 1770 by Father Junipero Serra and Don Gasper de Portola, and the circa-1840 Pacheco Club. At all the houses, staff will share tales of former occupants and particulars on the buildings.

5-9 p.m. Tickets are $17 if purchased by Nov. 15 and $20 after; $2 for ages 6-17. Brochure for self-guided tour provides locations; (831) 649-7119.

*

-- Amy Hubbard

Send items to itinerary@latimes.com