By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Isabella Lucy Bird was a Victorian Age adventurer who endured tremendous hardships in her explorations of the Rockies in 1873. She became the best-loved travel writer of her time, and was the first woman inducted into the Scottish Royal Geographical Society. In my book Embrace of the Wild, […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Each day, thousands traverse the narrow road that hugs the coast of Southeast Maui to the village of Hana, one of last remnants of old Hawai’i. It is a miracle that the over fifty one-lane bridges, many of which are over a hundred years old, don’t collapse beneath […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate As temperatures begin to soar, I dream of the rivers I have known and loved. Tension mounts as I hear the rumble of rapids roiling ahead. Sitting up straight, tucking a foot beneath the pontoon of the rubber raft, taking a secure position for the white water to […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Ventura is a beach town with a laid-back vibe that is the gateway to some great adventures. About an hour north of Los Angeles spectacular day trips in the Channel Islands National Park are waiting for you. Turn up at the Island Packer dock in Ventura Harbor at […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate 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 various countries […]
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. Every year, hundreds of birders flock to the sleepy fishing town of Morro Bay on California’s Central Coast to take part in the Audubon […]
By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate 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 California. It […]
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 Years ago, when I lived on the beach in a pole house on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii, we loved the wild storms that would blow through, threatening to wash us away. The wind whipped the palms wildly and scared us to pieces. But it was magical […]
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. I would take it to the meadow where I had scattered her ashes. I had kept it in my freezer (even through a severe […]
