The Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon Author: Linda Ballou http://LindaBallouAuthor.com Reviewed by: Anne Holmes for the NABBW As this book opens, life seems pretty good for Gemcie McCauley, a talented and dedicated Grand Prix jumper. She and her beautiful horse, an Irish Hunter named Marshal, whom she’s raised from a colt, are about to capture the World Cup. Gemcie and her handsome husband Jorge, live on a horse ranch owned by his parents. Billy, her longtime trainer, is a father figure for her. She’s never known her father Tom, a cowboy, who left when she was just a month old. We learn that Gemcie... Read More

By Linda Ballou NABBW’s  Adventure Travel Associate Situated halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles in sun-kissed San Luis Obispo is the Apple Farm Inn, a perfect place to shake off the road dust. The Inn is easily accessed off of Highway 101, and its steaming outdoor spa and cool pool are guaranteed to smooth out the kinks. Stroll the delightful gardens overlooked by a saw mill replete with a working water wheel reminiscent of days gone by. SLO, as locals call it, is nestled in the heart of California’s wine country. Gracious hosts at the Apple Farm offer complimentary wines between... Read More

By Linda Ballou, NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate John Muir explored the fiords of Glacier Bay in 1879 in a sixty-foot, spruce canoe with a Tlingit Indian guide. I’m glad to be aboard The Spirit of Adventure, a 150- passenger catamaran with two glass-enclosed decks to roam, and an open deck on top for viewing. Our Captain, a jaunty young woman with a ponytail down to her waist, is wearing a crisp naval white and blue uniform. The introduction to the cruise, given by the ship’s naturalist, a national park ranger, is interrupted by the sighting of a sow with two cubs. While I scan the... Read More

By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate  A glint of jealousy flashed in the eyes of my fellow adventurers on the jet boat ride out of the Grand Canyon when I whipped out my lightweight mask, secured it to the frame of my sunglasses, and turned to face 60-mile-an hour winds. This handy defense against the elements helped protect my skin from the wind and intense glare of the sun reflecting on the water. Less than an ounce of protection in my pack prevented me from receiving skin damage with no cure. In Alaska, where I grew up, it is said that there is no such thing as bad weather... Read More

By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate   Would you like to spend a week in Hawaii without having to cash in your 401K? Resorts with high-end amenities are lovely to stay in, but, for many, too costly to call home for a week. Air B&B offers rooms for rent from local hosts at very reasonable prices all over the world. I chose the Bicycle Inn in Paia, a walkable little town with several good eateries and fun shops close to the Kahului Airport on Maui. My digs were the master bed with a private bath in a three bedroom house with all the comforts of home. Two fantastic beaches... Read More

By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Cruise up Highway 101 overlooking sweeps of white sand beach framing brilliant blue on a sun-filled California day to Santa Barbara. Take Mission Canyon Road inland to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Stroll miles of garden paths that meander through meadows of wildflowers, other worldly succulents, and deep into a shady redwood glade. Share a picnic lunch with butterflies and bluebirds flitting among the aromatic sage. Want to take a piece of the garden home with you; stop at the Garden Store where indigenous plants and more are for sale. On... Read More

By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Today I’d like you to meet Annie Coburn, a vivacious, energetic woman who can’t stop traveling. (That’s her looking cool beside her motorcycle over to the left.) An accomplished videographer, she adds sparkle to her content in her newsletter Fab Senior Travel with videos providing insider tidbits for visitors to a specific region. Annie is the author of detailed guidebooks for walking tours in major cities designed to take the stress out of travel. Even though I have been to London many times and thought I knew my way around,... Read More

By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate Yachats (pronounced Yah-hots) is a Chinook name that means dark water. Nestled at the foot of spruce-sheathed mountains overlooking the wide mouth of a bay where the Yachats River meets the Pacific, it was the site of a thriving village. Today, squealing toddlers play in soft purling waves while parents throw Frisbees to happy dogs on a vast expanse of hard-packed sand. I couldn’t resist wading in the clear water and watching the kaleidoscopic bubble lines kiss the sand as white puffs of clouds overhead morphed into streamers across a brilliant... Read More

Get Some Forest in Your Boots: Hiking Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood River Valley By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate (Note: Linda offers a special thanks to Greg Vaughn, author of Photographing Oregon for for the photos of the Mt. Hood River Valley and Horse Tail Falls.) Old growth forest and broadleaf trees and shrubs cover Oregon’s Columbia River region in a thick verdure scented with life. The massive river flows 1,200 miles from the Canadian Rockies and is the main artery of this watershed, but the forests are the skin sheathing the mountains and the lungs... Read More

Getting the Shot with Greg Vaughn — Extraordinary Landscape and Nature Photographer Who\’s \’Written the Book\’ on Shooting the Natural Beauty of Oregon and Washington By Linda Ballou NABBW’s Adventure Travel Associate As an adventure travel writer it is imperative that I take good landscape, action and nature shots while I am enjoying a fantastic outdoor holiday. I am the first to admit that I am a better writer than I am photographer. Getting good photographs takes, time, planning, know-how, the right equipment and a big slice of luck. Greg Vaughn helps make the... Read More