By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Hanalei Bay today. Linda Ballou photo When I lived on the North Shore in 1978, there was not one home on the shore of horseshoe-shaped Hanalei Bay. The notorious Taylor Camp treehouse colony, populated by hippies living off the land, was in full swing. The now famous Tahiti […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Po‘ipū Cost Walk. Linda Ballou photo. Po‘ipū is the favored spot by visitors to the Island because it guarantees full blown sunny beach days. In 1978 Po‘ipū Beach was a deep azure plunge where I floated in ecstasy. But in 1992 Hurricane Iniki carved out a new coastline. […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate As a young woman, I had dropped out of society and landed on the North Shore of Kaua‘i. It was a head-spinning transformative time in my life. There, I was introduced to people experimenting with alternate lifestyles and those leading highly creative lives. After a year of Island […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Linda Ballou The only thing certain about travel in 2022 is that it is uncertain. People are chomping at the bit to travel again but need to remain flexible. Flight schedules are still in a state of flux, car rentals are at historical highs, and Covid-19 guidelines in […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Winter on the Central Coasts means fewer tourists and plentiful wildlife. Birds and marine mammals gather there in chaotic profusion from December to February. White Pelicans Morro Estuary Every year, hundreds of birders flock to the sleepy fishing town of Morro Bay on California’s Central Coast to take […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Smith River Steaming temps in the inland valleys of Southern Oregon are sending smart travelers to the coast to cool off. The Redwood Hwy (199), out of Grants Pass is a snaking road that takes you to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, the northern most redwood forest in […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Every bend of the river beckons—every pool may bring better luck. Life should be like that. — Zane Grey The Rogue River is a vital artery in southwestern Oregon that flows 215 miles from Crater Lake to Gold Beach on the coast. Rainie Falls is the take out […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate After eleven years, I decided it was time to deliver the fruitcake my mother had sent me in 2009 just before she passed away. Mom’s Meadow I would take it to the meadow where I had scattered her ashes. I had kept it in my freezer (even through […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate In writing Embrace of the Wild I hope to have turned the lemons of Covid-19 into limoncello—a zesty elixir that excites and satisfies the senses. In early 2020, I returned from a whirlwind tour of Australia just in time for the Covid-19 lockdown. I was grateful to be […]
I was not initially familiar with the story of Englishwoman Lady Isabella Lucy Bird, so I didn’t know what to expect when I began reading Linda Ballou’s newest book, Embrace of the Wild: Inspired by Equestrian Explorer Isabella Bird. However I was lucky enough to read it just days after publication, and am pleased to […]