BY: CLAIRE SIERRA

Hey Weary Human! The world today is a beautiful but complicated place. Life is so full and busy, it might seem you almost have to get away to relax.

Yet travel has it’s inherent impacts on the planet.

We continue to up our commitment to green hospitality with locally-crafted handmade soaps, (wrapped in paper), biodegradable can liners, bamboo/hemp toilet paper and tissues, low water washers that minimize use of eco friendly soap, and more.

We’re aiming to eliminate single use items. We completed a long project to offer big bottles of bathroom amenities rather than single use throw aways. Its not the cheapest way to do business, but it helps us sleep at night. #GreenBusinessRocks

And we have bigger projects on the horizon, like solar panels and wind turbines so that our power use is self-generated. Even with these efforts, though, it can feel like not enough.

Everyone’s going beyond recycling. Common sense and planetary health tell us it’s time. We need to to take action as leaders and find new ways of being on this lovely green earth.

But most of us wonder: What?!

During a synchronistic conversation with a friend, we had an inspiration.

We’ve invited noted author, futurist, and metaphysical minister, Ruth Miller to guide us all on some new ways of seeing things. Maybe you’re interested, too?

Ruth is a longtime friend and former college professor with an uncanny way of peeling back the layers of history to see culture in a new and different way. Grounded in spiritual and scientific systems, she offers unique perspectives on what we’re not seeing–which shapes our creative problem solving.

“Our global industrial culture is failing and we’re paying the price. We have to look at how our underlying assumptions about the world that got us here no longer serves us.” Ruth explains. “We need to explore alternative ways people are doing things. And then change our way of thinking and implement things to make our planet a beautiful home again.”

Explore this invigorating weekend with her, to dive deep into new visions and emerge with hope: Choosing Humanity’s Future. Join us for a weekend of hope and inspiration. You can read the details and register HERE.

Past, Present, Future: All Colliding Here
Looking who’s gone before us is an incredible way to learn about ourselves in the present. Many come here enthralled with the history of the hotel. People wander in from the highway and start asking questions.

Humans seem wired for meaning. We want to understand what came before us, to make sense of the future. And appreciate the past, an older and simpler time.

It’s important not to glamourize “the good old days.” It was a harder time to travel, for sure. Those eras were good for some and worse for others.

Explore what it was like—without wistful sentimentality—for these exhausted emigrants. Wendell Baskin is returning to share his voluminous knowledge and not-so-tall tales on the Oregon Trail Tour, Along the Barlow Road. There will be stories galore.

After a day on the trail—enjoying wide open vistas in modern comfort—you’ll return at night to the relaxed, elegant beauty of the Balch Hotel. If a low-difficulty guided adventure into the wild west of Wasco’s past appeals to you, join us.

It’s the juxtaposing of old and new worlds that brings life-changing AHA’s. Travel like this allows us to try new things we might not at home. We know that gathering for a weekend is big time commitment. And it’s a door to a connection inside with something greater that brings us home to ourselves here and now. Hopefully making you a richer, wiser person.

Many of us are feeling called to create some big life changes but don’t really know what’s next or how to get there.

Maybe it’s time for a deeper dive into the mysteries of soul. Replenish your Feminine essence at Awaken Your Feminine Soul Retreat in November. You’ll discover ways to balance masculine-feminine, inside and out, with simple embodiment practices and creative arts. Connect with your Divine Guidance to know and trust your next steps for work and life.

As this Summer rolls along, consider these and other Autumn options below. Whether solo, in pairs, or pods, we hope to see you soon! (We like it when you’re here.)

The magic is closer than you think!

Claire & Josiah for Team Balch

PS Check out our events page for details on more cool stuff we’ve got happening here for you!