FUN-travel: Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River – Day 2
August 25, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River – Day 2
- We slept surprisingly well on our cots with an added 2” pad. The coffee was good and strong! After a hearty breakfast we broke down camp and headed off for another relaxing, slow moving morning. Our first stop was another hike that took us up to see Indian Pictographs on the mountain rocks.
Indian Pictographs
- After another great lunch I decided it was my time to attempt the rubber ducky kayak. While I did manage to not “crash and burn” there were a few times I got stuck on the rocks. Luckily I was able to rock myself off and after an hour and a half of paddling I was done!
- For the rest of the afternoon I was on the fly fishing raft watching them catch and release small trout. When one of the poles went overboard our guide Lexie donned her snorkel and mask and dove in and attempted to retrieve it. Good thing she was such a strong swimmer and so determined. After her second go round she brought it up to rave cheers from out raft. Then it was more of the same nice leisurely ride down the river with the occasional eagle sighting and other birds floating above our heads.
FUN-food – Tonight’s dinner treat (after happy hour of course) was lasagna cooked in a cast iron Dutch oven with garlic bread and a salad. Unbelievably yummy!
Happy Camper
FUN-photos: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Zion & Bryce, Utah
August 25, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Zion & Bryce, Utah
On making our way to Idaho for a week of rafting on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River we spent a good part of a day exploring both the North and South entrances of Zion National Park. Then we headed to Bryce where we spent the night and the following morning drove the scenic 18-mile drive, stopping at all 14 of the viewpoints.
We then continued on to Twin Falls, Idaho to find my mothers family farms and got to see Shoshone Falls. The last stop before arriving in Stanley was the Craters of the Moon National Park, which was a clear disappointment! It’s basically a bunch of lava all over the place. It was a whole lot more interesting seeing it in Iceland last year.
FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River
August 21, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Idaho – Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River
- We stayed overnight in Stanley as our trip started there at 8:15 in the morning. Because the water level was so low, and we would have had a bruising and exhausting time trying to maneuver over and around all the rocks, they flew us down river 25 miles. That’s why we chose Sobek Mountain Travel for our rafting adventure. Everything was “first class” and taken care of so we could just sit back and enjoy the ride.
- After our raft briefing (we had 3 options – rubber ducky kayak, paddle or provision raft) we
End of the Hot Springs
opted for just chilling and not doing a thing on one of the provision boats. Taylor Wilcox aka Mr. T was our guide and he was the best. Extremely experienced, laid back and FUN! His self proclaimed title is “Professional Leisurest.” And he does it very well.
- We meandered down the river for awhile before we stopped to take a hike up to a deserted mine and have lunch. Then we continued down river and stopped at a natural hot springs. For the most part the rapids were light and easy.
- Along the way we spotted a golden eagle flying and an osprey nest perched atop a dead 40’ pondersona pine. The skies were a deep blue with an occasional big white puffy cloud floating by. Douglas firs and cottonwood trees dotted the rocky river’s edge.
FUN-food – We had happy hour wine with salami, cheese, and crackers before our dinner of fresh wild salmon, couscous, asparagus, and a spinach salad.
FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Idaho – Twin Falls
August 20, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Idaho – Twin Falls
- The whole point of staying in Twin Falls was to find my mother’s farm in Buhl where she was born and raised. Unfortunately I never asked her where it was before she died in 2006. So after doing some detective work before we left, and finding Becky in the Records office who was so helpful, we got the location based on her records from 1920 and headed out to find it.
Original Buhl Farmhouse
- The original parcel was 80 acres and only a small portion had been subdivided. Lucky for us, April lives on that adjacent property and she told us the house next door was the original home. She said it had been added on to and that her grandmother had rented it a number of years ago.
- Before our fabulous dinner at Elevation 486 we made a short drive to see Shoshone Falls. It is clearly a lot more spectacular in the spring.
- We even had more of a surprise when we found one name in the phone book that matched my mothers. We called and it turns out that he is the great-nephew of my grandfather’s brother.
Our Distance Cousins
- The next morning we drove out to Kimberly and found one of the other farms my family owned. Again we got lucky as Prescott; a neighbor came out and confirmed the original farm house.
FUN-fact – Cloverleaf Creamery in Buhl was recommended by everyone in Twin Falls as having the best ice cream. And it was!
Word Of the Week #576: Autonomy
August 19, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #576: Autonomy
Autonomy – personal independence and freedom.
Do you feel fulfilled in your job? Do you have the freedom to make decisions at work? Are your personal values aligned with the companies values?
This week features the fourth of the “6 Needs to Thrive at Work” that Michael Lee Stallard featured in his book, “When workers thrive, companies do too.” And as Stallard says “they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.
He writes, “The first three needs (respect, recognition and belonging) are “relational needs.” When these needs are met, we feel connected to the people with whom we work. The next two are “task mastery” needs and they affect how connected we feel to the work we are doing.
The first is the need for autonomy. Simply put, we need the freedom to do our work. Being consistently micromanaged or slowed down by red tape, bureaucracy or control-obsessed personalities (think Nurse Ratched from the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”), prevents us from thriving.
The following are excerpts from “The Compelling Case for Giving Employees More Freedom” by Shelley Prevost. “There is mounting evidence that suggests employees who exercise autonomy regularly at work are happier and more productive. The right workers in the right role can transform an entire department–maybe even an entire organization–but only if their ability to act on their intuition and creativity is unleashed.
People don’t just want a job anymore; they want a fulfilling job. Fulfillment at work comes with the freedom to make decisions and own your position. Employee empowerment breeds elevated customer service, because everyone treats their job like it’s their own company.
You need to instill your company values through training. Don’t just expect your company vision–as great as it might be–to be sufficient in motivating employees.
What are your values and why should it matter to them? Employees want to feel aligned with your company and you do that by making your operating values very apparent. Don’t make them guess at your expectations. Be very clear about what you value–and then make sure you’re living it!
What are some ways you’ve found to empower autonomy in your employees?”
This week’s focus is on creating a sense of autonomy. Are you allowed to act on your intuition? Do you have the freedom to be creative in your job? Do you feel a connection to the work your doing?
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