I had so much fun re-visiting my travel stories in Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler's Tales.
My travel wings are clipped, but I can still enjoy sharing my past adventures. Craig Koehn loves spotlighting Booming Boomers on his podcast Boomer Far Out Adventures. We are not over the hill, we are in for the thrill of being alive and holding each day precious.
I take you to from the majesty of my Alaska homeland to of magical beauty of New Zealand, the wild west of America and the romantic isles in the south seas. My theme song is that nature can be our salvation. In this modern age I believe that reconnection with the natural world is critical to achieve harmony and balance in ourselves and with others.
Adventure travel writer, Linda Ballou, has rafted, kayaked
and horseback ridden through pristine wilderness areas around the globe. The
most memorable of these journeys are chronicled in her book Lost Angel
Walkabout. In Lost Angel in Paradise she
shares 32-of her favorite daytrips along the coast of California. In this issue
we learn about her latest effort Get Great Trips for Free. Learn more about her travels at www.LostAngelAdventures.com
Off to explore The Range of Light that John Muir loved so well. Staying at the Tenaya Lodge just two miles from the southern entrance of Yosemite National Park. It has been a long time coming. I tried once before to go through the front door and was put off by the mobs. I am going in September in hopes that the crowds will have thinned out. I know the park is well-loved and busy throughout the year.
I did a horsepack trip into the John Muir Wilderness on a trip that begins near Bishop years ago. This involved five days on horseback and popping my own tent. I ended up being airlifted out with two fractured ribs, but that is another story that I tell in my book Lost Angel Walkabout. It was no ones fault, just a mis-step that made my trip take a nasty turn. But, I never stopped loving the ethereal beauty of the high country in the Sierras.
I loved the mountains so much, I took my heroine in my novelThe Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon there. That is where she finds solace and sustenance and meets a solitary cowboy who helps her find her way.
Now, I look forward to having all the comforts including swimming pools, spas,hiking guides and easy access to the park. I'm excited to see the granite spires memorialized by Ansel Adams, Albert Bierstadt and Galen Rowell whose images capture the etherial beauty of the region.
I promise a full report when I return in mid-September
Linda Ballou, shares a host
of articles and information about her travel books on her site www.LostAngelAdventures.com. You will find information about her novels
and media offerings at www.LindaBallouauthor.com.
FOR RIDERS WHO WANT TO SEE THE WORLD FROM THE BACK OF A HORSE!
Nancy Brown on Writing Horseback
Equestrian travel expert, Nancy Brown, has created a website that is a terrific
resource for riding destinations. On w.writinghorseback.com
you will find Dude Ranch Reviews and links to articles on horseback adventures around the globe.
My article about
riding in Ecuador is featured there. She was one of the first to review my book The Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon when it came out in 2015. Since then she has added and upgraded
her site to make it one of the best resources for riders looking for equestrain adventures.
Linda leading group on Inca Trail Ecuador
In the meanwhile, I published Cowgirl in audio book format and it is getting rave reviews.
This story is full tragedy and triumph. The tragedy of divorce and being hurt. The triumph of healing and working towards want you want! I couldn’t put this down. I stayed up all night to finish it. I will be listening to again. Audible listener
.
Can’t go on a riding adventure right now? Do the next best thing and ride with Gemcie aboard Marshal her Irish Hunter ont the way to the World Cup!
Linda Ballou is an adventure
travel writer with a host of travel articles on her site www.LostAngelAdventures.com. You
will also find information about her travel memoir, Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler’s Tales.She is also the author of Wai-nani: A Voice
from Old Hawai’i a historical novel set in pre-contact Hawaii. More on her books at www.lindaballouauthor.co
Linda on Apache at top of the world ride in the Chilcotin Wilderness
In
July I answered the Call of the Wild by taking a horse pack trip hosted by the
McLean family at their Tyslos Park Lodge in supernatural British Columbia. A
heart-thumping flight from Vancouver over the vast snow-packed expanses of the
Coast Mountain Range delivered me to their door.
Pink Creek at Goat Camp
This
region is a cross between arid Colorado and the soggy, temperate rain forests
of coastal British Columbia. Lying in the shadow of the Coast Range, it receives
less rain than the coast and experiences severe winter temps as low as 55
below. The result is snow-capped granite spires gouged by glaciers and streaked
with rivulets and slopes of loose scree that only mountain goats can call home.
This is one of the last great rides in North America. This truly is a pristine, roadless wilderness. Unplug here and let the busy world go by.
My article Riding in the Wilds of B.C. will appear in the September issue of the California Riding Magazine. Stay tuned for details of this grand adventure.
Meanwhile, it is not too late to sign up at www.Tsylos.com. Their season runs May through October. In the fall grizzlies come here to gorge themselves on sockeye salmon on their annual spawning run up Chilko Rover.
This month I had the pleasure of interviewing Linda Ballou, a very prolific travel writer from my sweet hometown, Los Angeles. Besides writing about her outdoor adventures on her travel blog and other media outlets, Linda is also the author of three books. Here is my interview with her:
1. Tell us a little about yourself: Who are you? Where are you from?
I was born in California, but my parents moved to the wilds of Alaska when I was 13. The beauty of the Chilkat River Valley surrounded by majestic snow-slashed peaks grounded me in nature. I find solace and sustenance in the great outdoors. Today, I am an adventure travel writer based in L.A. My mission is to get to as many naturally beautiful places I can before they are gone. The universal threats to the environment make this journey more pressing with each passing day.
2. What is your blog about and how did you start blogging?
I share my outdoor adventures in travel articles and gorgeous images but, I also have a three books to my credit. Wai-nani: A Voice from Old Hawai’i set in pre-contact Hawai’i; The Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon that takes the reader from the Grand Prix circuit to the John Muir Wilderness on horseback; and Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler’s Tales. My blog is a mixed bag with posts relating to my books and to my travels that serves as a platform for my personal point of view.
Linda kayaking on Un-Cruise
3. Do you travel for work or for pleasure?
I am in it for all the fun I can get. My handbook “How to Make Travel Writing Work for You” on kindle details the renegade way to get great trips. I am not in it for the money, I am in it for adventures that give me something great to write about.
4. What is the most stunning place that you have ever visited?
The south island of New Zealand is the most phantasmagorical as it is so varied. Around each turn on the highway that circles the island is another natural wonder. However, Alaska remains unrivaled in its majesty. I am going to Patagonia in December which promises to be a close runner up.
Linda at Taggart Lake in the Tetons
5. Do you feel that blogging takes time away from your social or family life?
Not at all. As I said it offers the freedom to say what’s on my mind. I share my thoughts and experiences on social media which broadens my interaction with other humans. Recently, I have been having fun using my blog as a platform to get article assignments. It has been working like a charm saving me time creating query letters.
6. What is the one thing that is too large or impractical to travel with that you wish you could take with you when you travel?
I can’t take my main computer. It is way too much trouble, plus I don’t want to drop my brain in the drink, or have it stolen. I take notes on my netbook, or a yellow pad if I will be somewhere remote where there is no power
7. Are there any countries that you would not consider visiting and why?
I am not interested in going to Iraq or other war torn and dangerous places to visit. I love Africa, but there are parts of that continent that are just too risky. I am into to filling my mind with beauty, not angst and turmoil. I give to organizations that are helping with starvation and suffering around the globe to ease my guilt.
8. Do you have any funny travel stories?
Look Ways on Both Islands which was published in I Should Have Stayed Home and is in Lost Angel Walkabout details the time I was nearly deported from Tahiti. Being mistaken for a drug mule and grilled by gendarmes for a couple of hours is funny in retrospect, but not when it happened.
Linda in Costa Rica
9. What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done?
Jumping a cross-country course in the wild west of Ireland on an Irish Hunter was the most exciting and arguably stupid thing I have ever done. It is a minor miracle that I lived to tell the story titled Irish Mist which is in my book Lost Angel Walkabout.
10. What is your favorite mean of transportation (plane, train, car, ship)?
I am a horse person. Riding on the back of a good horse in gorgeous country is my favorite mode of transport. Short of that, I love rafting and kayaking on rivers. I also loved doing an Un-cruise” throughout the Hawaiian Islands on a small ship with about 25 passengers. From the above mentioned list, I think a road trip in a car provides the most freedom to explore.
Reading Lady in the
Rockies by Isabella Bird has aroused my wanderlust to a fever pitch. I booked
a room at Estes Park the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park in
June. The wildflowers should be thick in
the meadows and views of snowcapped Long’s Peak sublime. I’m in for a little
soul-cleansing while doing research for my next writing effort. I have long
been impressed with the stamina and sheer determination of this English woman
who rode in the winter of 1873 in the Rockies solo. I want to hike and ride in
her hoof prints.
From there I venture north to the Laramie River Ranch on the
border of Wyoming and Colorado to ride the open range.
It is remote, rustic and hopefully a real
dose of the old west. That is what I am looking for after reading about the
thirty mile a day rides Ms. Bird galloped through with ease. She and Birdie, a
sturdy Indian pony, cantered over 800 miles through vast pristine wilderness on
tracks buried in snow.
I may get a little
sore on this outing, but what the heck. If Izzy can do it in the dead of winter,
surly I can ride in the Rockies while the sun is shining high in a blue bird
sky.
Come to my site for a host of travel articles along with information about my travel memoir, Lost Angel
Walkabout-One Traveler’s Tales, her historical novel Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawai’i and her latest action-adventure
novel The Cowgirl Jumped over the Moon
at-www.LindaBallouAuthor.com. Subscribe to my blog
www.LindaBallouTalkingtoyou.com and receive updates on my books, and travel
destinations.
It was quite a leap of faith for me to publish this
story. Writing it was part of my own
healing process when I had to give up riding due to an injury. I am so pleased
that The Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon
is a finalist in the Indie
Excellence Awards. For it to receive
this recognition is quite on honor.
Cowgirl has garnered numerous 5-Star reviews on Amazon and
Goodreads from horse lovers, and general readers alike. I am marketing it under the
genre “New Adult”, but the story can fall under “Women’s Fiction”, or even
“Western Romance.” Here are some of my favorite comments from readers
**Horses. Romance. Adventure - who could need anything more from a
book?
** I could
smell the leather and sweat, feel the wind buffeting the flags at the shows,
hear the whispers of the trees when Gemcie was out in the trail.
** Her writing
is so descriptive that you feel you are in the saddle and experiencing
everything Gemcie does. The words describing the amazing mountains makes you
able to feel the wind and smell the rain.
While writing The Grand Prix
jumping scenes in Cowgirl I kept a vision of Susan Hutchison in my mind. She is
an incredible rider whose slogan is “No Guts-No Glory.” I saw her riding Samsung Woodstock in the 90’s when they were on their way to World Cup. She kindly agreed to an interview that appeared in the California Riding Magazine. The
timing was auspicious because she was inducted into the Jumper Hall of Fame in 2016.
I especially enjoyed my
conversation with Diann Adamson “Can WeTalk” that appeared in her
newsletter Le Cour di l’ Artiste.
The Response to my storyand interview with Le Romantique, a site hosted by a Canadian teen, was important
to me because I wanted to know if my book held appeal for the younger audience.
Cowgirl went Down Under in an interview with Christine Meunier, author of the Free Rein Series
A fantastic write-up and
endorsement for my book appeared on Equine Addiction in Sept. 2016
I am grateful for all the enthusiastic support thatThe Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon is receiving and can't wait to get back in the saddle myself for more riding adventures. Cheers, Linda
Adventure-travel writer, Linda
Ballou, has a host of travel articles on her site, along with information about
her travel memoir, Lost Angel
Walkabout-One Traveler’s Tales, her historical novel Wai-nani, A Voice from Old Hawai’i and her latest action-adventure
novel The Cowgirl Jumped over the Moon
at-www.LindaBallouAuthor.com.
Subscribe to her blog
www.LindaBallouTalkingtoyou.com and receive updates on her books, and travel
destinations.
Gemcie McCauley seems to have everything. She is
a rider at the top of her game, making an unbeatable team with Marshal, a
handsome Irish bred stallion, until an horrific accident changes everything.
Fighting back from a dreadful injury she finds
she has lost not only her nerve, but also her horse and husband to her arch
rival, Domanique La Fevre. Reeling from the cruel blows Gemcie returns to
her mother's home where she tries to pick up the threads of some kind of life
and recover from her mental and physical injuries. Unable to settle to any kind
of life Gemcie heads back to her roots and the mountains where she was
conceived. Struck by the beauty of the wilderness and longing, for once in her
life to be totally alone she feels drawn to life on the trail and persuades her
hosts to let her ride the John Muir trail.
When a black bear attacks and injures her horse
she is rescued by Brady, a loner who lives in the mountains, working for the
Bureau of Land Management. On a journey of discovery about herself Gemcie finds
herself falling in love with this tough, yet gentle man.
Brady though is not without his own problems and
after he is forced to kill the bear that attacked Gemcie he abruptly ends their
relationship, sending Gemcie back to civilisation. I was as devastated as Gemcie – their relationship
seems to be so perfect.
During her time in the mountains Gemcie has
learned a lot about herself and is determined to get her beloved horse back.
Domenique has never got on with Marshal and after badly injuring him in a
competition it looks as if his career is over.
Gemcie, with a team of supporters nurse the
horse back to health then begin the impossible and fight to get her riding
confidence back in order to be able to pay huge vet and livery bills. She has
to ride – and win – in order to be able to keep him.
This is a well written book, Ballou brings her
characters and backgrounds to life in often tear jerking detail. Gemcie is
likeable, readers will both empathise and sympathise with the situations she
finds herself in. Ballou uses her text well, describing both the worlds of the
wilderness and horse shows with convincing detail
Readers cannot help but love this book. I was
gripped from the first to the last page where Ballou brought all of the strings
of her remarkable story to a hugely satisfying conclusion.
Adventure-travel writer, Linda
Ballou, shares Great Outdoor days in L.A, as well as a host of travel articles
on her site, along with information about her travel memoir, Lost Angel Walkabout-One Traveler’s Tales,
her historical novel Wai-nani, A Voice
from Old Hawai’i and her latest action-adventure novel The Cowgirl Jumped over the Moon at-www.LindaBallouAuthor.com.
I am thrilled to have my adventures in Ecuador spotlighted on Around the World TV.
In this interview I share my adventures at Sacha Lodge, a jungle lodge nestled in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin that is a birders nirvana, but fun for anyone who enjoys exploring the natural world. I also share highlights of my horse trek in the Andes with stays at Colonial Haciendas with Sally Vergette owner of Ride the Andes. The story opens in Quito the gateway to adventures in a small country with big surprises in store . More details to come in my articles that will follow.
If you enjoy a well-mannered, fit horse with a private guide instead of the usual nose-to-tail walk offered at most stables, you will love the two-hour forest ride with Ojai Valley Trail Rides. You can trot and canter along when your guide gives the cue that the footing is safe. Ojai Trails is located at the edge of the open space of the Ventura River Preserve. You can also hike the miles of trails that meander through the oak canopy that shades Wills and Rice Creeks up to crest lines with majestic views of the surrounding Topotopo Mountains. In spring a dazzling display of wildflowers brighten the pockets of grasslands and meadows along the way. Read more here at Examiner;
