Tamela Rich's Blog, page 12

Troubadours in Thermopolis, Wyoming

Thermopolis, Wyoming reminds me that we all need a steam valve. Basically, that’s what Thermopolis is—North America’s steam valve. Its the world’s largest mineral spring, to boot.

The pools at Fountain of Youth Campground

I stayed at the Fountain of Youth campground, which  has its own ”Sacajawea hot spring,” named after  the woman who led Lewis & Clark to the Pacific. The mineral water from the spring cascades through three pools, getting progressively cooler, which allows campers to pick the temperature they prefer to soak in.

I enjoyed two days in the area soaking, exploring rock formations and hiking among the grazing deer at twilight. Enchanting. You can see spectacular pictures of the area here on my Flickr album.

Poolside serenade

During my last evening in the campground, under indigo skies, as Sacajawea’s fountainhead tinked behind the audience of vacationers, our fellow campers Randy and Wormz serenaded us with singer-songwriter fare from the poolside bandstand.

The poolside bandstand at Fountain of Youth campground

I especially loved Randy’s rendition of “Suzanne” by Leonard Cohen. Wormz sang and played some of her original pieces, too. It reminded me of a house concert I once attended with cellist Daniel Sperry.

I hope you’ll listen to my interview with these talented musicians. They’re having quite an adventure traveling the country in a conversion van. In the interview they mentioned some great festivals and outsider art installations that I’ve added to my list of places to visit. I bet you’ll do the same. Listen up!

A Full Week of Appearances in Billings, Montana

This summer I’m headed for a week of  speaking engagements and book signings in Billings, Montana, one of my favorite cities. Here’s the lineup, in case you are in the area or know someone who is.

Monday, July 8 St. Vincent Hospital is sponsoring an evening with me, where I’ll tell stories from and sign  my book.

 

Tuesday through Thursday I’ll be headlining the Women On Wheels®   International Ride-In as follows

Tuesday, July 9 10:00-11:30 a.m. I’ll meet with Chapter Directors and State Ambassadors for a strategic planning session:Wobbles, Switchbacks, Detours & Blind Corners: Charting the Future of Women On Wheels® followed by the “President’s Roundtable. That evening, I’ll keynote  the Opening Ceremony

Wednesday, July 10 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Solo Travel: Dream or Nightmare? followed by Over-Packed Bike? Over-Packed Life? Let’s “Lighten Up” with Mindful Minimalism from 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, July 11 10: 00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  Live Full Throttle: Life Lessons from Motorcyclists Who Faced Cancer. That evening I’ll speak and sign books at the Billings Cancer Clinic from 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Friday, July 12 I’ll speak at the Yellowstone County Relay for Life, which begins at 7 p.m.

If you have an event you’d like for me to keynote, please get in touch. My autumn calendar is filling up.

Here’s an excerpt from a keynote I delivered to the National Coalition of Breast Centers in March, 2013.

 

The Accidental Cancer Advocate from TamelaRich on Vimeo.

Women on Wheels® Here’s What I Have Planned for Us in Billings!

When we get together in Billings, here are four sessions I hope you’ll enjoy.

I hit the road in two weeks!

I’ll be with WOW’s president, Cris Baldwin, and the Heartland Chapter for dinner and some laughs on Monday, June 24. We’ll tell you all about it when we get to Billings or you can catch some pictures on my Facebook Page.

Women on Wheels® Here I Come!

I’m looking forward to being with several hundred Women On Wheels® (WOW) at their 27th International Ride InTM  this July. They’ve asked me to keynote the opening ceremonies and lead four workshops (outlined below).

To get there from my home in North Carolina, I’ve planned this itinerary. Are you on my way? Then let’s rendezvous!

View Larger Map

ITINERARY

Sunday, June 23, I’ll depart the BMW Riders Association Rally  in Asheville, NC, headed for Kentucky. The rally should be quite an experience, because  I’ll be camping on the Biltmore Estate there with my friend Jill and other Beemer enthusiasts. Mountain-crisp air, I can smell you from 100 miles away!

Monday, June 24 should find me in St. Louis, Missouri meeting WOW President, Cris Baldwin. I hope to have time to visit the BMW Owners Association in nearby Ellisville before heading up the Great River Road to the Dickeyville, Wisconsin Grotto.  Two years ago, while riding on the Great River Road I caught a glimpse of it but I didn’t have time to stop. I want to know more about Father Wernerus, who built the grotto in spite of conventional wisdom. People from around the country and the globe brought him stones, petrified wood and other shiny objects to make it happen. Take that, conventional wisdom!

Saturday, June 29 is my target date for arriving in Denver, CO. I’ll be interviewing members of the Baha’i Faith for an article I’m writing and then spend a few days with one of my dearest friends and her hubby. Since I visited Kim and Ken during my first roadtrip in 2010, they have converted their entire back yard, and some of the front, to food production. Organic food at that.

Thursday, July 5 I’ll leave Denver for Billings, MT. I’ll build in some time to soak in a Thermopolis hot spring then hit Chief Joseph Highway and Bear Tooth Pass then speak to a cancer support group at St. Vincent Hospital when I hit Billings on Monday, July 8.

Women On Wheels®  Seminar Schedule

Tuesday, July 9

10:00-11:30 a.m. I’ll meet with Chapter Directors and State Ambassadors for a strategic planning session: Wobbles, Switchbacks, Detours & Blind Corners: Charting the Future of Women On Wheels® followed by the “President’s Roundtable.

7:00-9:00 p.m. Keynote for the Opening Ceremony

Wednesday, July 10

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Solo Travel: Dream or Nightmare?

3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.  Over-Packed Bike? Over-Packed Life? Let’s “Lighten Up” with Mindful Minimalism.

Thursday, July 11 

10: 00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  Live Full Throttle: Life Lessons from  Motorcyclists Who Faced Cancer

Here’s the official schedule for the entire event. 

About Women on Wheels®

Women On Wheels® was founded in California by an avid woman motorcyclist in 1982 and this past year celebrated it’s 30th Anniversary.  The purpose of WOW was, and still is, to unite all women motorcycle enthusiasts, whether they ride their own machine, are motorcycle passengers, enthusiasts, or future motorcyclists. WOW members are located throughout the United States, Canada, and several other countries. WOW has nearly 1800 members with 75 chapters and is going strong!

Lost in Death Valley

Chuckwalla lizard at Dante’s Overlook in Death Valley

Traveling with my parents in Death Valley National Park after sunset, we took a gravel road that was designed to cross the park. However, we found that it was completely unmarked, which left us to our own devices.

Fork left or right?

Our choices ended up in a cul de sac so we retraced our route back to tarmac some 70 miles away before we would run out of gas. Whew!

Remember, the difference between an adventure and a catastrophe is whether you live to tell about it. Click to listen to a morning-after debrief with my parents at Mel’s Diner in Beatty, NV. You won’t want to miss it!  We all love the way Dad’s Subaru Forester handled the task, as you’ll hear, and Mom sings the praises of BioFreeze for her aching back. My parents are such good sports!

 

 

Here’s a video my mom took through the windshield.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lost in Death Valley after sunset from TamelaRich on Vimeo.

The Enchanted Highway

Like so many of you, I was brought up not to lie. So while I’d like to say the best website in the world is mine, it’s not; it’s Roadside America. When you’re mapping out where to stop between points A and B, you’ve got to consult Roadside America.  If you don’t, you’re missing a treat.
Today we’re going to North Dakota on the Enchanted Highway, a Roadside America favorite. I took the Enchanted Highway the morning after I visited the small motel I talked about in “Motels Without Ratings,” not far from Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
A Guinness Book of World Records Holder!
Here’s how you’ll get there: headed west on I-94 at Exit 72, you’re going to see on the north (right), this beautiful scrap metal sculpture called Geese in Flight. At this point, you’re looking at a Guinness Book of World Records holder for the largest scrap metal sculpture in the world. The entire world, folks!

But lest you think the fun is over with Geese in Flight, it doesn’t stop there. You’ve got six more installations to go, courtesy of former principal and high school teacher Gary Greff who took action to stop the exodus of jobs from the area. Gary decided to bring tourism to Regent, ND by erecting roadside kitsch from scrap metal, even though he had no welding experience and wasn’t an art teacher. Mr. Greff  negotiated favorable land leases from local farmers and set to his task of creating the seven sets of sculptures that make up the Enchanted Highway.

Now there’s a life lesson in that! How many of us do something about a problem in our town? Too few, for sure (myself included).
Your best vacation snapshots
It’s easy to get to the seven sculptures; they’re right alongside the road with ample parking lots. When you pile out of the car, take your camera because these will be the vacation snapshots you go back to time and again; these will make your friends and family smile. Exotic beaches, yawn; metal sculptures in North Dakota, yeah!

One of the dozen fish at Fisherman’s Paradise

It starts at Exit 72 with Geese in Flight, as I’ve said, then you come to

Lava Hot Springs and Risk Taking

One of the pools. Note the highway atop the cliff!

I’ve often wondered who the first genius was who thought of soaking in a natural hot spring for medicinal purposes. Brave.

I got my first chance to soak in a volcanic hot spring in a little town called Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. It’s located about 100 miles southwest of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Wyoming, Idaho and Utah come together.To get to Lava Hot Springs, you just pull off the road. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d miss it!

I’ve mentioned before that Idaho is full of volcanic activity, and the spring’s heat originates from an ancient volcano that’s constantly venting. About 2.5 million gallons a day circulate through the public pools, and while I always thought they’d have a funky order, maybe sulphuric, they don’t smell like anything. The ph tilts alkaline and the temperature ranges from 102 – 112 degrees Fahrenheit.

They’ve recently renovated the public areas. You can choose a pool with jets if you have back trouble, for example, and a masseuse is on staff. The other pools are un-jetted, and the floors are wonderfully soft gravel. No matter where you soak, you’ll enjoy lingering and talking to friends while you watch the trucks go by on Route 30 on the overhead cliffs. Speaking of the cliffs, the town installed beautiful hanging gardens on the hillside too.

I have a healthy appreciation for risk takers, and the first person who decided to see if they wouldn’t boil alive in a hot spring was a risk taker for sure. Whether you’re an inventor, an explorer or an entrepreneur, we’re all in your debt. Thank you, to the world’s risk takers who’ve made life better for us all.

Mastermind Group for Business Authors Forming in April

I’m forming a new mastermind for non-fiction authors beginning April 11, 2013. Download this PDF with all the details

[image error]If you’ve been saying “I need help writing my book,” this mastermind group might be just what you need to move the book out of your head and into readers’ hands. You could have a template for your book by Memorial Day!

Working with five other business professionals and led by yours truly, here’s what you’ll accomplish:

Defined business goals for your book.
An Ideal Reader Profile and set of Reader Objectives.
Key Messages, Themes and a “Voice” for your book.
A “Goldilocks Chapter” of your book, which is a template/sample chapter that’s not too long, not too short; not too complex, not to simple.
A detailed table of contents with which to begin writing the book by yourself or in collaboration with a professional writer.
A primer on copyright concerns.
Sufficient information necessary to:

Decide whether to seek a publisher or to publish independently.
Choose your book’s format and distribution channel(s).
Begin developing a marketing strategy for your book that could begin before the book is finished.
Hire a team of professionals to help you finish your book, if necessary.

I’m forming a new mastermind beginning April 11, 2013. Download this PDF with all the details.

FAQ
What is a “mastermind,” anyway?

Napoleon Hill, who studied success and wrote Think and Grow Rich in 1937 (which still sells millions of copies) originally championed the mastermind principle.

He said, the mastermind is two or more people working in harmony for a defined purpose. It’s the means through which you can borrow and use the education, experience, influence and possibly capital (I would add “including social capital”) of other people in carrying out your own goals in life. It allows you to accomplish more in a year than you could achieve by yourself.

Who will be in my mastermind group?

Current mastermind clients include the CEO of a marketing agency, a medical doctor, business consultants and advisors, the CEO of a non-profit organization, a healthcare administrator, the head of a foundation, and the regional manager of a mortgage bank. I am forming a new group in April, 2013 of similar professionals.

Is this a writing class?

No, the mastermind is not focused on spelling, punctuation and the dozens of other skills that can be hired. The mastermind’s focus is producing a book that will resonate with your ideal reader. Like the proverbial tree that falls in the woods with no one to hear it, you don’t want to waste your time writing a book that no one will read.

What if I want to start with something smaller than a book?

The mastermind process will set you down the right path for a smaller project.

The TOC can be your editorial calendar for series of blog articles or newsletters throughout the year.
You will have a full chapter that you could turn into an ebook to download.
Your full chapter can become a seminar or presentation.
Carry your key messages throughout your annual communications.

Craters of the Moon

Craters of the Moon Lava Field

When you think of Idaho, I bet you don’t think of it being an inactive volcanic site, but that’s what it is. President Coolidge designated a large area in southern Idaho as a national monument, and called it Craters of the Moon, based on what people could see of the moon at the time. Scientists now know that the craters on the actual moon are the result of meteors more so than lava.

You don’t have to fly across five hours of the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii in order to see a 750,000-acre lava field and learn a lot about the origin of the Earth itself. Visit Idaho.

Goodbye, Yellowstone

The Snake River Plain has long fissures of volcanic activity called The Great Rift.  Yellowstone National Park is part of the same tectonic area as Craters of the Moon and about every 2,000 years, there’s volcanic activity there. Care to guess how long it’s been since the last volcanic activity?

You guessed it; we’re ripe for another blow up. We could wake up tomorrow morning and find that Yellowstone as we know it is gone. Its ultimate destiny is to look like Craters of the Moon.

Years ago scientists said Mount St. Helen could blow up. And it did. And Yellowstone could too. All that beauty and nature that’s part of our national psyche could be gone tomorrow.

Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky. It slips away, and all your money won’t another minute buy.

When we think about something ancient, like our planet, we think of it as being permanent because our lifespans are so short in comparison, but everything’s in a state of flux. Life is change. Yellowstone won’t be here at some point. Some day future generations will say, “Man I wish I could have lived to have seen Yellowstone” but then again, they’ll have other marvels of their worlds.

So if you’re not embracing change in your own life, just remember, change IS life. Just because your life is tough right now, hold on, it will change. You think you’ve got it made right now? It will change. Life is never steady state.

So carpe diem, (seize today). It’s all you have. Just like Yellowstone, tomorrow you might not be here either.  Some day, I can promise that you won’t be.

View from Cinder Cone 1 from TamelaRich on Vimeo.

Middle Aged Motorcycling Urges

The Idaho Biker Bunnies and my newly-decorated bike

I remember the day I became an “Idaho Biker Bunny.”

I was in line at a Wyoming Taco Bell with four other Conga riders from Idaho, whom I met in 2010 on my first road trip. They agreed to escort me from Cheyenne through their beautiful state all the way to Boise, where I would then finish the trip to my ultimate destination of Bend, Oregon. This is one of many, MANY times that people have said, “Oh yeah, come on, I’ll show you my corner of the world.”

The eavesdroppers

I noticed a middle-aged couple behind us as we waited in an extraordinarily long line. We riders ranged in age from 48-78 and were animated in our discussion about our recent experience in Cheyenne and our plans for Lava Hot Springs later that night. You know how you can tell when someone’s hanging on your every word but trying not to be too obvious about it? That was the woman. The man, on the other hand, took action. “Hey, ladies. Are you the biker bunnies with those motorcycles out in the parking lot?”

That certainly broke the ice! The wife began asking us all kinds of questions about our bikes and our sport. We could tell she was itching for an adventure and encouraged her to take a licensing course.

Reflections on Conga III with the Idaho Biker Bunnies from TamelaRich on Vimeo.

The forbidden fruit

For many of us, motorcycling has been a forbidden fruit, sort of like Ralphie in The Christmas Story–”You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”

I didn’t consider motorcycling when I was a teenager, but as you know, got an irresistible itch in middle age. I learned that I’m not alone in my middle-aged itch. For women, there’s something about middle age and motorcycling. Testosterone takes a more prominent position in the mix than ever before, which makes us more willing to take risks. The kids are often out of the house or otherwise not requiring so much of our attention, so why not?

Life is short.  If you want to do something, just because you weren’t allowed to do something before, just because you might think it’s frivolous, WHATEVER! Follow the urge. Taking up motorcycling gave me a new lease on life. It opened up opportunities that I never anticipated. I just knew I wanted to ride a motorcycle!

GO FOR IT–whatever “IT” is!