Why
are you doing this? Well I guess the answer to this goes back a few years. A
long time ago my father, Tony Hobbs, asked my brothers and I if we would like
to take a road trip out west on some BMW motorcycles. I was the only one that
wanted to do this as the other brothers had other obligations or they were just
chicken. I have never seen the mountains up close or anything in the west
at all. Sure I flew to California for the Navy but never really saw what
was between Indiana and California. Dad and I set out on a 21 day road trip on
two BMW motorcycles with plans to camp and tent most of the time. Dad's route
took us from Indiana to Illinois to Iowa to South Dakota to Wyoming to Montana
to Idaho to Utah to Nevada to Colorado to Kansas To Missouri to Illinois and
then back to Indiana. He showed me many great natural sites and some great
tourist traps, but it was the mountains that just stuck in my mind and my
heart. After we got home I just could not wait to get back to them again. So
over the years our family has taken many trips to the west. It seemed to me
that all those trips had a time limit and my time out west always seemed to be
rushed. As I got closer to retirement my wife Cathy and I talked about how it
would be so great to work out west and have plenty of time to explore the area
and meet people. So every time we went out west we picked the brains of those
who were working at the national parks. They told us mostly the same story.
They were retired and worked in the mountains in the summer and then moved
south to work at another place in the winter. Cathy and I talked about this
many times and we decided to try this out when I retired. So after I retired I
investigated where to apply and found the place on line. I applied to work the
2016 summer season (May 18 through September 4th) in June of 2015, as I was
told to apply early. After a phone interview I was accepted as an employee
of Delaware North Companies Yellowstone. The only thing left to do is a
drug test, that has to be completed a month prior to my reporting.
Why is Cathy not going with you? Well most people think that she chickened out, but that is not true. Some things happened here that affect her wanting to be gone for 4 months. Her Mom recovering from a stroke and having to babysit the grand kids would be two of the top reasons. But another being that we would be living in a dorm for 4 months and she just was not too sure about that. I will be investigating the camper method of housing while I am there and to show her maybe the dorm life would not be too bad at all. We would be sharing a room together but the bathroom would be down the hall. Since I was in the Navy none of this bothers me but Cathy was not too sure. When time came to put in the application she said these very words: "You and I have been talking about doing this for 5 years and I will not stop you from doing this. Even though I will miss you, you need to experience what you have been dreaming about for so long." I told her I would miss her too and driving west without her by my side is definitely going to be weird, but with cell phones and the Internet I will be in much more contact with her than I was when I went away for 5 months on my last submarine mission. I also think that after two weeks of receiving pictures and stories of my adventure that she will wish she went with me.
Will Cathy join you there when your contract is over? I am hoping to get Cathy to fly out on September the 5th and we can have a nice vacation driving home.
How will you get there? I will be loading the car up on May 14th and drive to West Yellowstone where I check in on May 18th for employee indoctrination.
Do you know where you will be working? Yes my contract is to work as a cashier in the retail store located in the upper Old Faithful area.
Do they pay you? Yes they do and I will be making a whopping $8.35 an hour. My contract is for 32 hours a week. So I will have three days a week to do as I please. Out of my pay they will take $22.89 per week for the dorm and $59.57 per week for meals (3 meals a day, 7 days a week) and $7.85 a week to cover a worker medical facility. If I complete my contract they will give me a bonus of $3 per day for all the days I worked. The work day will usually consist of working 3 to 4 hours then a break of varying lengths and then back to work for another 3 to 4 hours.
Are there any perks for working in Yellowstone? I get free entry into Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I get 30 percent off anything I purchase in the park. I can start to take classes to become a Yellowstone tour guide.
What will you be doing on your days off? I plan on doing a lot of hiking in areas that are off the beaten path. When you visit Yellowstone you tend to see the main tourist areas and see them rather quickly if you are staying somewhere outside of the park. I want to use this time to explore areas that I have never seen before. I also may learn to fly fish. If not fly fishing then at least to sit at the rivers edge with my feet in the water and enjoy the view of those fly fishing. I will also be planning trips outside of Yellowstone to the Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, Red Lodge, etc. There are so many great places to visit around Yellowstone and I would like to have time to visit these places and talk to the locals.
Will you be attending church there? I will be looking into a place to worship when I get there, but from my talks with those seasonal workers, there may not be a local church close. The seasonal workers indicated that they would form their own church services and Bible studies with other workers who camp there. I may be leading a few Bible studies if God leads me to or delivering a message or two.
Some final points that just come from my insides. All my life I have done things that looking back were just acts of stepping out of my comfort zone into a new adventure. When I decided to leave Linton and join the Navy. When I decided the Navy routine was not good enough I volunteered for submarine duty. When I volunteered for an Indian Ocean mission because the Artic missions were getting too routine. When I told Dad I would go on his motorcycle adventure out west. When I set up my own cancer/hospice walk for a few years just so I could walk 30 miles a day. I guess I like to test myself out by doing some things that were kind of an adventure. I guess that is why I want to work at Yellowstone. Another test and another adventure before I get too old to want to try these new things. If you have read this to the end, well I hope it answered your questions. I will try to blog every once in awhile to let you know how things are going. Please keep me in your prayers and also keep Cathy in your prayers as she will have to take care of quite a few things that I would have done, including killing spiders and bugs. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment