Well back to work after two days off and it was very tough to even show interest in getting up and going to work, but I did get up and get to breakfast and head to work. What surprised me is that things were pretty slow all morning. So I was assigned to the stock room and I hung shirts all morning. We sell hundreds and hundreds of shirts and jackets every day. So every morning we have to bring the stock out of the dungeon and onto the floor. Also twice a week we get a delivery truck with pallets of boxes that have to be taken to the dungeon and opened and their contents put on the stock shelves.
After working the morning I went to lunch and rested until 2:30, which is the end of my break. After the break I went back onto the floor and business picked up but still was not overwhelming. So it was an easy day. Not too many customer events today but did meet a couple from Indiana, New Albany.
There were a few incidents in the dorm while I was off. Seems like alcohol is causing a few issues with those living in the dorm. It reached a tipping point yesterday where the boss came into the dorm and locked up the upstairs common room. This is the TV room for those living upstairs. I guess some people got drunk and trashed the place up. As a result we are having an all dorm meeting tomorrow to discuss drinking issues in the dorm and the cleanliness of certain dorm rooms. I am having a lot of trouble dealing with drinking in the dorm by the young and old. It is very sad to watch a young man drink daily to excess. I really think we have a few tenants in the dorm that need counseling or medical help to stop drinking.
On a related note, we had four more people quit. Two were cashiers and two were fountain workers. I will miss the two cashiers as they were very good workers. One is leaving for a better job and the other is having family issues back home.
We added a couple of Taiwan kids this past week but are still short of help. We also are hiring people who have been fired from the other contractor in the park. Not a good idea, in my opinion, but the desperation of Delaware North to fill positions is overriding their common sense. I still don't have a roommate and that is good. I think getting a drinking roommate will send me home fairly quickly.
I just thought I would blog this as there are some reading this who may want to follow in my footsteps. You need to know the good and the bad. If you are a couple then you would not have to put up with the dorm issues but all employees are affected when people quit and half hearted workers are hired.
You all take care and I want to say a special Happy Birthday today to my grandson Marek, who turned the big one year old today. Love ya Marek and miss all my family too.
This is a blog set up by me, Bret Hobbs, so that those who are interested can read about my adventure of working in Yellowstone. As well as other things I have written. Maybe one day when I am dead and gone my kids and grand-kids will be able to read this blog because I don't see Google going away soon.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 42
Today was my last day off before the fourth of July deluge of tourists. From what I hear it is going to be unreal busy. I decided not to go hiking today but I got up early to head to the old mining towns of Virginia City and Nevada City. I ate breakfast and headed toward West Yellowstone and then onto Virginia City. The drive was estimated on my GPS to take about two and a half hours. The drive took me through the town of Ennis Montana and I decided to stop and walk around the town for awhile. The town was rather touristy but still had some small town charm. I visited several stores and a couple of antique stores. Leaving one store I looked down and there were two credit cards and an ID card. I shouted out the name to the tourists around me but no one answered. So I went back into the store and gave them to the owner, who said she would call the police and give them to them. At least I tried.
I left Ennis and headed toward my destination. The drive was great as it took me through the Madison Rivet valley. The valley was surrounded by mountains on each side with the Madison River running through the middle. The views all around me were great and the amount of fly fishermen I saw on the river indicated that this area was a big recreational area. I would not mind living in the valley for sure as a house would have mountain views on both sides.
Going through a pass I arrived at Virginia City. This city was once the territorial capital and when gold was found the area held 30,000 mining men. The numbers of woman and children and Chinese that made up the population were not counted. Gold was what drove the town and also what almost killed it too. When gold could not be owned during world war two the town about died completely. There were several notable people that bought buildings and such to preserve the town because during hard times people were using abandoned buildings for fuel to burn to keep warm. During the gold boom the town had a very colorful, if not violent, past. There were several places where hangings took place and boot hill cemetery has a lot of people buried there after vigilantes got a hold of them. One building in town still has the rope burn marks on the rafters where some were hung. If you want to know more about the town or the area just Google Virginia City or Nevada City Montana and you will be amazed at what went on there. I also will tell you that the money was not in the gold but in selling goods and food to miners. I could not believe how many shops were in the town that sold everyday and special items to miners with a lot of cash. The town and the surrounding towns were full of good men, bad men, rich men and women, and some very mad individuals. Such as the guy who was a serial killer and during the winter decided that his victims were good eating too as the snows made it tough to get any food in.
I walked to the end of the town where the old train depot was because they still had a train operating that would take tourist from Virginia City to Nevada City. I paid for a round trip ticket and an entry fee to Nevada City walking town/museum. The train turned out to be a three horse diesel engine that pulled four cars for the tourists to ride on. The train may not have been authentic, but the tracks were the original narrow gauge rails that connected several of the mining towns in the area and to other towns in other states. The train left the station right on time and there was a woman who narrated stories for the tourists about Virginia City and it's neighbor towns. She also had the job of stepping off the train to set the rail switches so we could get on the right tracks to our destination. She had some great stories about the area, the population during its heyday and the gold in the area. Gold was still being mined by big companies and individuals working claims around the area.
We arrived at Nevada City and it's rather neatly restored train depot. The narrator told us where the museum of the town started and also if we wanted to pan for gold there was a place a few yards from the depot that we could try our luck. I was not here for gold but to look at the history, so I walked to the museum. The way the historic town is setup is it is surrounded by a fence with the museum being the starting point. Once you enter the museum entrance then you go through a back door into the old town. Each building is numbered and you are given a guide book to read about the history of each building. Some buildings are open for you to explore and others are not. The history of the town is pretty neat and the way they are preserving the past and filling the buildings with antiques is great also. There is also a working historic hotel in Nevada City that you can stay in. The hotel also has an unusual thing. It is a two story hotel and out the back is a two story outhouse. Pretty neat.
On a side note mostly all the workers, including our train narrator, thinks the old buildings are haunted. With all the killings and such, I would not bet against it.
I took the train back to Virginia City and the narrator had more stories about the area. The interesting thing was the number of Chinese who lived in the area. They were prohibited from filling claims but that did not stop then from digging tunnels. They also had a section of town that was very dangerous to enter unless you were well armed.
Once back at Virginia City I explored more of the town and found that the town is restoring each building as fast as they can afford. When the building is restored it is loaded with antiques of the town matching what the building was used for. So walking down the sidewalk you will see about half the buildings are museum type structure for you to explore and the other half are working businesses. The exception to this is a unique business. The business was a dress shop and cloth supplier. It was a business since the late 1800s until 1945. When the gold issue pretty much shut down the town. The lady that owned the shop walked out of the shop and put an out to lunch sign on the door and then locked up and left town. Today it looks exactly as it did when she left town. Same dresses on display and same cloth filling the shelves. A most interesting story.
I left the town and I am sure I will go back there before I leave as I want to talk to more locals who live there. I uploaded a bunch of pictures to Facebook of my trip also. I decided to head back to the dorm at old faithful through Idaho this time. Just to see some different scenery.
Thanks for reading and tomorrow I begin a day shift and I will keep you posted on the tourist traffic as we approach the fourth of July. Take care and stay well all.
I left Ennis and headed toward my destination. The drive was great as it took me through the Madison Rivet valley. The valley was surrounded by mountains on each side with the Madison River running through the middle. The views all around me were great and the amount of fly fishermen I saw on the river indicated that this area was a big recreational area. I would not mind living in the valley for sure as a house would have mountain views on both sides.
Going through a pass I arrived at Virginia City. This city was once the territorial capital and when gold was found the area held 30,000 mining men. The numbers of woman and children and Chinese that made up the population were not counted. Gold was what drove the town and also what almost killed it too. When gold could not be owned during world war two the town about died completely. There were several notable people that bought buildings and such to preserve the town because during hard times people were using abandoned buildings for fuel to burn to keep warm. During the gold boom the town had a very colorful, if not violent, past. There were several places where hangings took place and boot hill cemetery has a lot of people buried there after vigilantes got a hold of them. One building in town still has the rope burn marks on the rafters where some were hung. If you want to know more about the town or the area just Google Virginia City or Nevada City Montana and you will be amazed at what went on there. I also will tell you that the money was not in the gold but in selling goods and food to miners. I could not believe how many shops were in the town that sold everyday and special items to miners with a lot of cash. The town and the surrounding towns were full of good men, bad men, rich men and women, and some very mad individuals. Such as the guy who was a serial killer and during the winter decided that his victims were good eating too as the snows made it tough to get any food in.
I walked to the end of the town where the old train depot was because they still had a train operating that would take tourist from Virginia City to Nevada City. I paid for a round trip ticket and an entry fee to Nevada City walking town/museum. The train turned out to be a three horse diesel engine that pulled four cars for the tourists to ride on. The train may not have been authentic, but the tracks were the original narrow gauge rails that connected several of the mining towns in the area and to other towns in other states. The train left the station right on time and there was a woman who narrated stories for the tourists about Virginia City and it's neighbor towns. She also had the job of stepping off the train to set the rail switches so we could get on the right tracks to our destination. She had some great stories about the area, the population during its heyday and the gold in the area. Gold was still being mined by big companies and individuals working claims around the area.
We arrived at Nevada City and it's rather neatly restored train depot. The narrator told us where the museum of the town started and also if we wanted to pan for gold there was a place a few yards from the depot that we could try our luck. I was not here for gold but to look at the history, so I walked to the museum. The way the historic town is setup is it is surrounded by a fence with the museum being the starting point. Once you enter the museum entrance then you go through a back door into the old town. Each building is numbered and you are given a guide book to read about the history of each building. Some buildings are open for you to explore and others are not. The history of the town is pretty neat and the way they are preserving the past and filling the buildings with antiques is great also. There is also a working historic hotel in Nevada City that you can stay in. The hotel also has an unusual thing. It is a two story hotel and out the back is a two story outhouse. Pretty neat.
On a side note mostly all the workers, including our train narrator, thinks the old buildings are haunted. With all the killings and such, I would not bet against it.
I took the train back to Virginia City and the narrator had more stories about the area. The interesting thing was the number of Chinese who lived in the area. They were prohibited from filling claims but that did not stop then from digging tunnels. They also had a section of town that was very dangerous to enter unless you were well armed.
Once back at Virginia City I explored more of the town and found that the town is restoring each building as fast as they can afford. When the building is restored it is loaded with antiques of the town matching what the building was used for. So walking down the sidewalk you will see about half the buildings are museum type structure for you to explore and the other half are working businesses. The exception to this is a unique business. The business was a dress shop and cloth supplier. It was a business since the late 1800s until 1945. When the gold issue pretty much shut down the town. The lady that owned the shop walked out of the shop and put an out to lunch sign on the door and then locked up and left town. Today it looks exactly as it did when she left town. Same dresses on display and same cloth filling the shelves. A most interesting story.
I left the town and I am sure I will go back there before I leave as I want to talk to more locals who live there. I uploaded a bunch of pictures to Facebook of my trip also. I decided to head back to the dorm at old faithful through Idaho this time. Just to see some different scenery.
Thanks for reading and tomorrow I begin a day shift and I will keep you posted on the tourist traffic as we approach the fourth of July. Take care and stay well all.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 41
Today was first day off and I decided to head to Cody. I needed a haircut and some medicine for my arm, as I think I have a case of poison ivy or poison oak. The pharmacist said to try cortisone cream first. Cathy also said to try different soap and laundry soap. So I picked up those too. I also took Bob with me as he needed to pick up medicine. I got my hair cut at the Walmart style shop and the girl did a good job but I still do not like to be asked "Do you want those eyebrows trimmed back?"
After Walmart Bob and I had lunch in the park inside Cody. Yes I had peanut butter and jelly, the lunch of champions. After lunch we decided to check out a local museum called "Dug up Guns". Basically this museum displays guns and knives that had been found. The displays were great. Each gun was not only identified as to manufacturer and make but there was detail on where they were found and sometimes researched on circumstances around the gun. My favorite one was a double barrel stage coach shotgun that was found next to the largest gold cache found in Utah. The gold was from a Well's Fargo stage coach robbery.
We walked around town and I got some great pictures of inside the Irma hotel. Buffalo Bill Cody's hotel. I will be posting them on Facebook.
The drive to and from Cody was pretty but devoid of any animals worth stopping for. Maybe next time. The streams are starting to be less intense as the snow melt is almost complete and the mountains are starting to look more bare.
After dinner I decided to see if I could get to see White Cone Geyser go off. I saw it from a distance yesterday but wanted to see it up close. I drove through the Firehole Lake Drive and parked next to the geyser. You get to see this one pretty close and I waited about forty minutes before it erupted. It is a cone geyser and it shoots straight up just like it was coming out of a garden hose. The strange thing is that it being a cone geyser, everytime it erupts it leaves behind material that will in the future close it off and it will cease to exist as a geyser. I also went to see a Fumarole. This started out as a geyser when an earthquake occurred twenty five years ago. Then it transformed into a mud pot and then into a Fumarole. Basically a large hole in the ground that makes a very freaky noise, like it is breathing.
That is my day and tomorrow I will be traveling to a couple of old mining towns. Virginia City and Nevada City.
Take care and please leave a comment or email me at FalconSackett@Gmail.com if you have any questions.
After Walmart Bob and I had lunch in the park inside Cody. Yes I had peanut butter and jelly, the lunch of champions. After lunch we decided to check out a local museum called "Dug up Guns". Basically this museum displays guns and knives that had been found. The displays were great. Each gun was not only identified as to manufacturer and make but there was detail on where they were found and sometimes researched on circumstances around the gun. My favorite one was a double barrel stage coach shotgun that was found next to the largest gold cache found in Utah. The gold was from a Well's Fargo stage coach robbery.
We walked around town and I got some great pictures of inside the Irma hotel. Buffalo Bill Cody's hotel. I will be posting them on Facebook.
The drive to and from Cody was pretty but devoid of any animals worth stopping for. Maybe next time. The streams are starting to be less intense as the snow melt is almost complete and the mountains are starting to look more bare.
After dinner I decided to see if I could get to see White Cone Geyser go off. I saw it from a distance yesterday but wanted to see it up close. I drove through the Firehole Lake Drive and parked next to the geyser. You get to see this one pretty close and I waited about forty minutes before it erupted. It is a cone geyser and it shoots straight up just like it was coming out of a garden hose. The strange thing is that it being a cone geyser, everytime it erupts it leaves behind material that will in the future close it off and it will cease to exist as a geyser. I also went to see a Fumarole. This started out as a geyser when an earthquake occurred twenty five years ago. Then it transformed into a mud pot and then into a Fumarole. Basically a large hole in the ground that makes a very freaky noise, like it is breathing.
That is my day and tomorrow I will be traveling to a couple of old mining towns. Virginia City and Nevada City.
Take care and please leave a comment or email me at FalconSackett@Gmail.com if you have any questions.
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 40
Finally my Friday has arrived. I definitely do not like an evening shift followed by a day shift. Hard time getting up this morning, but I made it to breakfast and onto the floor to prepare for opening the store. The morning had me restocking the cashier station with paper bags and condiments for the customers who buy grocery items. Then I was called to help stock the booze section. I am amazed at how many varieties of hard liquor the store sells. I also learned a new phrase called "front those items". Which basically means pull the stuff toward the front of the display because we don't have enough stock to fill the shelves. The morning was pretty slow until around ten. Then the tourists started piling into the store. Worked hard until lunch break.
After lunch the tourists came in pretty steady and the rest of the day went pretty fast. Nothing remarkable happened with the customers but I want to tell you about a daily occurrence. Every day some tourist leaves something behind and we have a lost and found drawer. The drawer fills up fast and we have to move the items to another area. If the items are not claimed in a certain time then the park rangers pick up the stuff. What happens then I do not know. The strange thing is we have found money. Just this week I found a twenty dollar bill in front of my cash register on the floor. I also had a girl bring me two twenties that she found in the ATM machine. I handed over the money to Garth and he told me this week that a small pocket book with no ID was turned into him that contains three hundred dollars. So far no one has claimed any of the cash.
After dinner tonight I decided to go for a drive just to get away from people and the dorm. I headed into Firehole Lake Drive and stopped at the Great Fountain Geyser. This geyser does not go off regularly but it is known to erupt during a certain time frame. The sign said it could erupt between 6:45pm and 10:00pm. I got there around 7:15 and was the only one there. So I just sat down and enjoyed the evening of solitude and waited to see if the geyser would blow. After awhile a fellow and his wife joined me and we struck up a conversation. They were from South Dakota and he and his brother owned a business making pipe organ pipes. His business was only one of five left in the United States. Pretty neat. Around nine pm the geyser erupted and it was worth the wait. More spectacular than old faithful and erupted a lot longer. It was pretty neat and I posted videos of it on Facebook.
Well my first day off I will be heading into Cody with Bob. He needs medicine at the Walmart and I need to find a barber. I hope you all are doing well and life wherever you are is going good. Keep praying as God is listening and watching.
After lunch the tourists came in pretty steady and the rest of the day went pretty fast. Nothing remarkable happened with the customers but I want to tell you about a daily occurrence. Every day some tourist leaves something behind and we have a lost and found drawer. The drawer fills up fast and we have to move the items to another area. If the items are not claimed in a certain time then the park rangers pick up the stuff. What happens then I do not know. The strange thing is we have found money. Just this week I found a twenty dollar bill in front of my cash register on the floor. I also had a girl bring me two twenties that she found in the ATM machine. I handed over the money to Garth and he told me this week that a small pocket book with no ID was turned into him that contains three hundred dollars. So far no one has claimed any of the cash.
After dinner tonight I decided to go for a drive just to get away from people and the dorm. I headed into Firehole Lake Drive and stopped at the Great Fountain Geyser. This geyser does not go off regularly but it is known to erupt during a certain time frame. The sign said it could erupt between 6:45pm and 10:00pm. I got there around 7:15 and was the only one there. So I just sat down and enjoyed the evening of solitude and waited to see if the geyser would blow. After awhile a fellow and his wife joined me and we struck up a conversation. They were from South Dakota and he and his brother owned a business making pipe organ pipes. His business was only one of five left in the United States. Pretty neat. Around nine pm the geyser erupted and it was worth the wait. More spectacular than old faithful and erupted a lot longer. It was pretty neat and I posted videos of it on Facebook.
Well my first day off I will be heading into Cody with Bob. He needs medicine at the Walmart and I need to find a barber. I hope you all are doing well and life wherever you are is going good. Keep praying as God is listening and watching.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 39
Got up early today to eat breakfast because I wanted to go to the outside church services at 8am on the second deck of the old faithful inn. It was pretty chilly this morning but the sun was out to help some. I did wear my pullover sweatshirt and hat though. I walked over with my friend Jack from the dorm to the inn. Jack is one of the guys here I like very much and he has been around Yellowstone for many years so I can pick his brain some about places to see. The services were good and when our group was standing singing amazing grace we had a lot of tourists staring at us. I am hoping some were listening and the Holy Spirit was doing his work. The sermon was on the prodigal son and from the angle of acceptance of those who feel they are not worthy of heaven. After the services Jack and I went into the inn for coffee and tea. We sat in the chairs overlooking the huge fireplace and had a mini Bible study concerning the parables of Jesus.
I had the late shift today and went into work at 11:25am after lunch, which I skipped because I had a good breakfast. The store was only moderately busy. Today I got to work next to Doris. She is a great lady who lives just up north in Billings Montana. She has an infectious laugh and does great interacting with the guests. I usually don't work with her as she is normally in the gift section of the store but today they needed someone in our area that can sell alcohol to the tourists. We have a lot of young people working as cashiers who can't sell the stuff to tourists.
After dinner the shift was pretty busy and I did not have to do any stock work. Talked to some guys from Brazil who are glad they are here working rather than be in the middle of the chaos that is the Olympics in their country. Doris kept things lovely in our area. Living around here like she does, she knows a lot of the customers by name and jokes with mostly all of them. It was good to work side by side with her as the shift went faster. She is a retired beautician who is living of of social security and doing Yellowstone summer jobs.
I have been looking for girls names as suggestions to Logan and Shiann for our future granddaughter, but so far all the names have not passed muster for being the right one.
I got to meet a couple from Poland today and asked them what the name of their town was called. They repeated it several times but it still did not stick. I asked them if it was a small town and they said yes. I asked them how many live there and they said 80,000. Doris and I laughed and told them that was not small, but they said it was smaller than the cities around them. They were a very nice couple. I also talked a little with a guy from Norway and another guy who moved from Denmark to New Orleans. I have been doing great on first name pronunciation lately.
Well that is all for now. I have to get up early for work at 7:30am. You all take care and stay well.
I had the late shift today and went into work at 11:25am after lunch, which I skipped because I had a good breakfast. The store was only moderately busy. Today I got to work next to Doris. She is a great lady who lives just up north in Billings Montana. She has an infectious laugh and does great interacting with the guests. I usually don't work with her as she is normally in the gift section of the store but today they needed someone in our area that can sell alcohol to the tourists. We have a lot of young people working as cashiers who can't sell the stuff to tourists.
After dinner the shift was pretty busy and I did not have to do any stock work. Talked to some guys from Brazil who are glad they are here working rather than be in the middle of the chaos that is the Olympics in their country. Doris kept things lovely in our area. Living around here like she does, she knows a lot of the customers by name and jokes with mostly all of them. It was good to work side by side with her as the shift went faster. She is a retired beautician who is living of of social security and doing Yellowstone summer jobs.
I have been looking for girls names as suggestions to Logan and Shiann for our future granddaughter, but so far all the names have not passed muster for being the right one.
I got to meet a couple from Poland today and asked them what the name of their town was called. They repeated it several times but it still did not stick. I asked them if it was a small town and they said yes. I asked them how many live there and they said 80,000. Doris and I laughed and told them that was not small, but they said it was smaller than the cities around them. They were a very nice couple. I also talked a little with a guy from Norway and another guy who moved from Denmark to New Orleans. I have been doing great on first name pronunciation lately.
Well that is all for now. I have to get up early for work at 7:30am. You all take care and stay well.
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 38
Well up late this morning. It seems payday means to some buy alcohol and drink the night away. I had to have a talk with a dorm mate this morning about what quiet hours means. He apologized and I hope it does quiet down but I think alcohol is the problem. I have been praying for him and hoping to be able to get him to come to church services sometime.
Lunch was fantastic as I had something that I never had before called sweet potatoe mush. It was great and the ham they fixed was excellent too.
After lunch I headed into the store and relieved one of the workers. Ten minutes into the shift and the tourists packed the place and never quit until my break three hours later. The weather has been perfect for the tourist as the highs have only been in the seventies and sunny. Great weather for hiking and exploring the park.
I did get to help name a wolf doll for a little girl today. I asked her if she has a name for the wolf she bought and she shook her head no. I suggested Addison and her mom said she started to call the wolf that when she came back to my cashier station later. One day she may find out that is the name of the street the Cubs play on.
I also met a guy named Dirk. Same as my brother but with a better temperament. Sorry Dirk but had to say it. :)
After a dinner of BLTs I headed back onto the floor of the store. It looked fairly busy but the tourist dwindled down and by six thirty I was doing stock work. Fortunately I was not assigned named mug cups tonight. I was tasked with restocking the hunting and fishing area. This was going well until someone asked me how best to fish for trout. I told them I own a Popeil Pocket Fisherman if that answered their question on what I know about trout fishing. He laughed and quickly walked away to find another person to ask. It seems nobody respects the pocket Fisherman anymore. $19.95 and still going strong.
Not much else happened so I will leave you with an observation from some kids and parents interaction today. This place needs to build a woodshed. Some kids and some parents need a good beating. I have seen many whiny kids and parents that knuckled under their whining.
Tomorrow is church day and will get up early for breakfast and outdoor services at the Old Faithful Inn. I will this time dress warm as it will be around forty degrees tomorrow's morning. Take care all and I hope my readers are doing well.
Lunch was fantastic as I had something that I never had before called sweet potatoe mush. It was great and the ham they fixed was excellent too.
After lunch I headed into the store and relieved one of the workers. Ten minutes into the shift and the tourists packed the place and never quit until my break three hours later. The weather has been perfect for the tourist as the highs have only been in the seventies and sunny. Great weather for hiking and exploring the park.
I did get to help name a wolf doll for a little girl today. I asked her if she has a name for the wolf she bought and she shook her head no. I suggested Addison and her mom said she started to call the wolf that when she came back to my cashier station later. One day she may find out that is the name of the street the Cubs play on.
I also met a guy named Dirk. Same as my brother but with a better temperament. Sorry Dirk but had to say it. :)
After a dinner of BLTs I headed back onto the floor of the store. It looked fairly busy but the tourist dwindled down and by six thirty I was doing stock work. Fortunately I was not assigned named mug cups tonight. I was tasked with restocking the hunting and fishing area. This was going well until someone asked me how best to fish for trout. I told them I own a Popeil Pocket Fisherman if that answered their question on what I know about trout fishing. He laughed and quickly walked away to find another person to ask. It seems nobody respects the pocket Fisherman anymore. $19.95 and still going strong.
Not much else happened so I will leave you with an observation from some kids and parents interaction today. This place needs to build a woodshed. Some kids and some parents need a good beating. I have seen many whiny kids and parents that knuckled under their whining.
Tomorrow is church day and will get up early for breakfast and outdoor services at the Old Faithful Inn. I will this time dress warm as it will be around forty degrees tomorrow's morning. Take care all and I hope my readers are doing well.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 37
Payday today. Last week I work 39.72 hours. Not exactly the 32 I was promised, but I still don't have a roommate. So it balances out for me.
Well I will have to make an addition to yesterday's blog. I forgot to tell you that I experienced my first Yellowstone earthquake yesterday, but I did not know it. Yesterday at five in the morning there was a 2.1 earthquake centered in the old faithful area. I did not feel it or wake up but a few of those living in Yellowstone Lake felt it. I guess it is normal around here and not too many were concerned.
The shift today went pretty well the same as yesterday. Busy in the morning and slow in the evening with stock work to be done. The biggest issue today was what happened in Britain today. If you are not up on current events the British voted today to leave the European Union. The vote was very close. Somewhere around fifty two percent to forty eight percent. The prime minister even resigned. This event triggered a lot of panic in the stock markets around the world. I talked to the two British guys we have working with us and they were for leaving. I talked to British customers today who thinks that leaving was very bad. I talked to a Scottish person who said Britain just made a very bad mistake. There was a lot of talk and I can see how divided they were. The real effect on our British boys here is that their British money that they carry just lost a great percentage of its value to convert to American dollars.
Nothing much major happened. Talked to many customers and a couple who have been on the road since April 1 st seeing America.
Well that is about all for today. Another late shift tomorrow. Take care all and do good to those around you.
Well I will have to make an addition to yesterday's blog. I forgot to tell you that I experienced my first Yellowstone earthquake yesterday, but I did not know it. Yesterday at five in the morning there was a 2.1 earthquake centered in the old faithful area. I did not feel it or wake up but a few of those living in Yellowstone Lake felt it. I guess it is normal around here and not too many were concerned.
The shift today went pretty well the same as yesterday. Busy in the morning and slow in the evening with stock work to be done. The biggest issue today was what happened in Britain today. If you are not up on current events the British voted today to leave the European Union. The vote was very close. Somewhere around fifty two percent to forty eight percent. The prime minister even resigned. This event triggered a lot of panic in the stock markets around the world. I talked to the two British guys we have working with us and they were for leaving. I talked to British customers today who thinks that leaving was very bad. I talked to a Scottish person who said Britain just made a very bad mistake. There was a lot of talk and I can see how divided they were. The real effect on our British boys here is that their British money that they carry just lost a great percentage of its value to convert to American dollars.
Nothing much major happened. Talked to many customers and a couple who have been on the road since April 1 st seeing America.
Well that is about all for today. Another late shift tomorrow. Take care all and do good to those around you.
Friday, June 24, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 36
Well first day back to work on the night shift. Got up early to transfer pictures from my cell phone to my computer. Phone is getting filled up with pictures and videos. I am going to have to organize them logically one day.
The first three hours of the shift was pretty busy but I found out that I was glad I was not on the early shift. It seemed the credit card processing went down and all the cashiers had to go back to the old fashion "Knuckle buster" credit card machine. If you are my age you will remember them. You put the credit card in the slot then put the paperwork with all the carbons on top and slide the imprinting bar over the whole mess several times to get an imprint. The early shift cashiers were not happy people.
My shift today allowed me to meet a very nice couple from Israel and some very giggly girls from Switzerland. Also I talked to a couple from Spain who knew about Rota where Jacob was. He traveled to Spain this week for work.
The split shift after dinner was relatively slow so I put up stock. Getting to hate coffee mugs and shot glasses.
On a side note, what is with the Cubs? Losing four games in a row. Come on. Glad that is off my chest. :)
Well that is about all so I will leave you with a couple of Yellowstone observations.
Observation one: If you plan on coming here to stay or camp you better make reservations well in advance because it is only middler of June and already the entire park is full. No vacancies at all in any hotel or campground. I have many people come to my cash register wanting to know where they can stay. They are really disappointed when they find out everything is booked up.
Observation two: I was corrected recently that the correct pronunciation of "bison" is with the S sounding like a Z. I will have to verify that one but the intellectual that told me this seemed sincere.
That is all for now. Sleep well everyone.
The first three hours of the shift was pretty busy but I found out that I was glad I was not on the early shift. It seemed the credit card processing went down and all the cashiers had to go back to the old fashion "Knuckle buster" credit card machine. If you are my age you will remember them. You put the credit card in the slot then put the paperwork with all the carbons on top and slide the imprinting bar over the whole mess several times to get an imprint. The early shift cashiers were not happy people.
My shift today allowed me to meet a very nice couple from Israel and some very giggly girls from Switzerland. Also I talked to a couple from Spain who knew about Rota where Jacob was. He traveled to Spain this week for work.
The split shift after dinner was relatively slow so I put up stock. Getting to hate coffee mugs and shot glasses.
On a side note, what is with the Cubs? Losing four games in a row. Come on. Glad that is off my chest. :)
Well that is about all so I will leave you with a couple of Yellowstone observations.
Observation one: If you plan on coming here to stay or camp you better make reservations well in advance because it is only middler of June and already the entire park is full. No vacancies at all in any hotel or campground. I have many people come to my cash register wanting to know where they can stay. They are really disappointed when they find out everything is booked up.
Observation two: I was corrected recently that the correct pronunciation of "bison" is with the S sounding like a Z. I will have to verify that one but the intellectual that told me this seemed sincere.
That is all for now. Sleep well everyone.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 35
Today I got up early to get breakfast and head to the north east side of the park. I wanted to see Tower Falls. This is a waterfall into the Yellowstone river before it cuts into another canyon. I also wanted to see the general store that was there too. As it is a place that our company runs also. The trip was pretty quick with no major roadblocks other than a family of bison blocking the road trying to get north to better grazing area. I left around seven fifteen and arrived at Tower Falls around eight forty five. I pulled into the parking lot and looked over the general store that was there. I am grateful that I was not assigned there to work. The place is called Tower junction and not much traffic looks to stop there. Also there was no cell service at all in the area. Without cell service and being able to talk to Cathy I doubt if I would stay. The store was much smaller than ours but the people were friendly. I left the store, not buying anything because I don't believe in high priced tourist baubles, and headed toward the falls. After walking down several feet I came to the overlook for the falls. It was a very pretty falls and quite loud also. There was another trail behind the overlook that would take you down a quarter mile to the river bottom. I decided my legs still had enough energy left in them from yesterday's walk so I headed down the trail. Like all downhills it was a set of switchback trails. After several switchbacks I found myself at the edge of the Yellowstone River. But I was very disappointed that I could not get to the falls from this trail. I tried several directions but could not find any path to the falls. Disappointed I just walked around the river's edge in hopes of seeing a bear. But the sign at the top of the trail warning that this was a grizzly area was pretty false today. I hung out for awhile at the river's edge looking at the fly fishermen before I convinced myself it was time for a quarter mile climb to the top. My legs held up but I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath as the climb was pretty tough. I got back in the car and headed for my next stop of a lookout on Mount Washburn. The highway climbed steadily in altitude for several miles as I approached the mount. There is a trail for the hikers who are in very good shape that takes them up to the top of the mount, but that was way over my league for sure. I finally reached the turnoff that would allow me to drive to the lookout that was probably a thousand feet shy of the top of the mount. It was a switchback gravel road and you really needed to keep the speed down as you went up. I reached the lookout and got out of the car. I noticed another trail that you could hike the other thousand feet up to a fire lookout. That still was not in the cards today but I promised myself that one day before I leave I will drive up here for a hike up to the lookout tower at the top. I took several pictures and videos of the views from the top and soaked in the peaceful feeling at the top. It was really pleasant up there. The strange thing is that I looked down to the path I was on and there was bison poop. It is remarkable how high those guys climb for good grass.
I got back into my car and headed to Lamar valley where I would eat lunch. Lamar valley is a very big valley/meadow that is split in half by the Lamar river that runs through it and keeps the grass green. It is also a spot where fly fishermen try their luck. On a side note the snow that was up in the mountains when I first arrived has dwindled down. There is still snow on the peaks but the majority of the peaks are almost bare. When I reached Lamar valley I was amazed at how many bison herds had already made it into the valley. I estimate there was around two thousand bison in the valley already. Passing the first two herds I decided to pullover around the third herd for lunch. I could look at the herd and the river at the same time. There were two guys fly fishing in the river in front of me and the majority of this herd was on the far side of the river. The herd had a lot of calves and it was enjoyable watching them play with each other. There was even prong horn antelope in among the herd and the calves seemed to enjoy chasing them around. While eating a big bison crossed the highway and went right by me towards the guys fishing in the river. The guys kept a wary eye on the bison as it approached them. It veered off from them and went into a wooded area near them to eat. Lunch was great because the view added a lot. Can't beat peanut butter and jelly watching bisons.
After lunch I decided to head out the northeast entrance and head to Cody to get the car washed and update the cell phone. Instead of heading over the Beartooth range I turned onto the Chief Joseph memorial highway. This takes you over the mountains but a more gentle drive and not as high as the Beartooth. The highway was named in honor of chief Joseph and the band of Indians who tried to escape to Canada while being chased by the US Calvary. If you don't know this story I would suggest you read up on it as it is pretty sad. The views from on top of the pass was pretty great and the road to Cody was very nice.
I am getting really familiar with Cody and I like the town. I got my cell phone updated and uploaded some videos to Facebook at the local McDonalds. I found a great car wash and got a lot of trail dust and bugs removed from the car. I am sure Cathy would appreciate it as it is her car. Cody is in full tourist mode and they finally got the highway work finished. I headed back into the park and through the east park entrance and headed back to the dorm for dinner.
Tonight at dinner the boss handed out free socks made by the Pendleton company that makes the blankets we sell. I picked up two more free ones for Jacob and Logan. They have some freaky colors which may be why they gave them to us for free. :)
Just to keep you updated on our company and the staffing at the Old Faithful General Store. We got some new workers in this week. I still do not have a roommate and I like that for sure. We are still short handed in the fountain where food is prepared for tourists and it is the fountain personnel who run the ice cream stand in the store. So far no one has quit lately, which is good, but some are getting tired of long hours in the fountain. I think we may have some more workers coming in next week but I am not for sure. The other contractor at Yellowstone just lost an employee for dealing drugs and from what I gather had several quit lately or were fired. I am glad I did not apply for Xantera for a summer job for sure. I don't hear too many positives about that group.
Well that is all for today and I start night shift work tomorrow. So I get to sleep in. Yeah! Thanks for reading and stay well.
I got back into my car and headed to Lamar valley where I would eat lunch. Lamar valley is a very big valley/meadow that is split in half by the Lamar river that runs through it and keeps the grass green. It is also a spot where fly fishermen try their luck. On a side note the snow that was up in the mountains when I first arrived has dwindled down. There is still snow on the peaks but the majority of the peaks are almost bare. When I reached Lamar valley I was amazed at how many bison herds had already made it into the valley. I estimate there was around two thousand bison in the valley already. Passing the first two herds I decided to pullover around the third herd for lunch. I could look at the herd and the river at the same time. There were two guys fly fishing in the river in front of me and the majority of this herd was on the far side of the river. The herd had a lot of calves and it was enjoyable watching them play with each other. There was even prong horn antelope in among the herd and the calves seemed to enjoy chasing them around. While eating a big bison crossed the highway and went right by me towards the guys fishing in the river. The guys kept a wary eye on the bison as it approached them. It veered off from them and went into a wooded area near them to eat. Lunch was great because the view added a lot. Can't beat peanut butter and jelly watching bisons.
After lunch I decided to head out the northeast entrance and head to Cody to get the car washed and update the cell phone. Instead of heading over the Beartooth range I turned onto the Chief Joseph memorial highway. This takes you over the mountains but a more gentle drive and not as high as the Beartooth. The highway was named in honor of chief Joseph and the band of Indians who tried to escape to Canada while being chased by the US Calvary. If you don't know this story I would suggest you read up on it as it is pretty sad. The views from on top of the pass was pretty great and the road to Cody was very nice.
I am getting really familiar with Cody and I like the town. I got my cell phone updated and uploaded some videos to Facebook at the local McDonalds. I found a great car wash and got a lot of trail dust and bugs removed from the car. I am sure Cathy would appreciate it as it is her car. Cody is in full tourist mode and they finally got the highway work finished. I headed back into the park and through the east park entrance and headed back to the dorm for dinner.
Tonight at dinner the boss handed out free socks made by the Pendleton company that makes the blankets we sell. I picked up two more free ones for Jacob and Logan. They have some freaky colors which may be why they gave them to us for free. :)
Just to keep you updated on our company and the staffing at the Old Faithful General Store. We got some new workers in this week. I still do not have a roommate and I like that for sure. We are still short handed in the fountain where food is prepared for tourists and it is the fountain personnel who run the ice cream stand in the store. So far no one has quit lately, which is good, but some are getting tired of long hours in the fountain. I think we may have some more workers coming in next week but I am not for sure. The other contractor at Yellowstone just lost an employee for dealing drugs and from what I gather had several quit lately or were fired. I am glad I did not apply for Xantera for a summer job for sure. I don't hear too many positives about that group.
Well that is all for today and I start night shift work tomorrow. So I get to sleep in. Yeah! Thanks for reading and stay well.
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 34
Well today was a day of firsts for sure. I was invited to go on a hike with a couple I work with, Bill and Sandy. They come to us from Colorado Springs and attend church with me also. Bill said they were going to hike to Fairy Falls and asked if I was up for a ten or eleven mile hike. I have been here long enough to ask the big question, "Is the hike steady elevation or does it involve climbing?" Bill said it is mostly level and a easy hike. I told him I would love to go and he said they would pick me up at ten in the morning. Bill and Sandy live in a motor home in our employee camping area. I got up around eight to eat some breakfast cereal and pick up my usual lunch. Really do I have to tell you what it is? I got my lunch and proceeded to pack my day hike pack I used on my cancer/hospice walks. I made sure I put in plenty of water and applied a combination of sunscreen and mosquito repellent. The temperature today was going to be a high of eighty degrees. The highest we have had so far but the good news and bad news was the wind was going to be gusting around fifteen miles an hour. Facing the wind on the hike was going to be tough but having it at our backs would help. Bill and Sandy picked me up on time and we headed down the road about twenty miles to where the trailhead started. The hike started just short of the Nez Perce river and a very large meadow. Also to the left of the trail and several miles in the distance was the Grand Prismatic. We headed down the trail and saw only a few other hikers. About a mile up the trail we spotted a coyote. Unfortunately that would be the only animal we would spot on the hike. The hike took us through meadows, wooded areas and over several small streams. After about five miles we came to a clearing and bill said to look to the left. There she was in the distance, Fairy Falls. I expected a falls but did not expect how tall it was. She was about a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high and fell into a large collecting pool. The amount of water was not overwhelming but a good amount to create a very pretty falls. We hiked down toward the falls and we passed the steam that flowed from the falls and approached the pool. The falls provided a very nice mist that cooled the area and was very pleasant after a semi hot hike. We decided that the base of the falls would be a good place for lunch. So we all broke out our lunches and sat on a fallen log. It was not to long before our good lunch attracted the attention of a Raven. He must have been fed by some hikers in the past but we were not going to feed him at all. He would hop up on the log about two feet from me and just caw at me over and over. Once he felt he was not going to get anything from me he jumped over to the other side of the log next to Sandy and cawed at her too. I took several pictures and videos of the area and uploaded them to Facebook. After our hearty lunch we headed down the trail that would take us further into the hills and some geysers hidden in them, but first we had to cross the stream as the trail bridge was washed out. After examining several crossing place we chose one with the most fallen logs to use to walk on. I decided to go first and was very proud of my balancing ability. It would not been a high fall into the stream but it would still be a wet fall. We all made it safely and proceeded into the woods that would take us to the hills with the geyser. After a few miles we could tell by the smell that we were close to some geyser area. Sulphur aroma was all around. Also the creeks and streams we were near had that discoloration that is caused by being fed by a geyser. Up around a bend we spotted two geysers. Unlike Old Faithful these geysers were erupting all the time. Not high eruptions but steady. The main two we saw were erupting about the height of four feet in the air. The interesting thing about these geysers was there were no signs warning people to stay back and very hot. Evidently they trust hikers to have more intelligence than regular tourists. I got as close as I wanted and was able to take some great pictures. We headed down the trail that would take us through a very large meadow. The park set up many elevated logs to walk on in this meadow because the stream that went through the meadow would overflow in the spring and create a marsh verses a meadow. This condition created some excellent grass for the bison to graze on. The bison were no where in sight but their droppings were everywhere. One of the old timers here told me that the bison have a sense that summer was coming and the herd gradually moves to more northern areas because soon the grass in the meadow we were in will turn brown and die off as summer passes. There were a few bison left in the area but not as many as I saw when I first got here. Occasionally the meadow would give way to a geyser and hot springs. This is an amazing area for sure as just on this hike I saw so many elements of the park. Rivers, streams, creeks, hot springs, geysers, meadows, forests and amazing water falls. The meadow trail we were on met up with the trail we started on and the loop was complete. My legs were glad the car was in site for sure.
Bill and Sandy dropped me off at the dorm and I thanked them for including me on the hike. They said they will contact me next Tuesday for another hike. I thanked them again and told them I really appreciated the hike and the conversations on the hike. We got to know a lot about each other for sure and had several great discussions on God and the Bible and the Holy Spirit.
After dinner I decided to head into West Yellowstone to update my cell phone. Also to do a little wildlife hunting at dusk. Hoping that the animals may be more active then. I was pleasantly surprised that on my way back by biscuit basin a moose was making its way across a river and towards the road. I have yet to see a moose yet so this was a thrill. I took several videos of it and uploaded one to Facebook. A great way to end the day for sure.
Well I know I will sleep well tonight and I hope you all do to. Thank you Lord for some great scenery today. Stay well.
Bill and Sandy dropped me off at the dorm and I thanked them for including me on the hike. They said they will contact me next Tuesday for another hike. I thanked them again and told them I really appreciated the hike and the conversations on the hike. We got to know a lot about each other for sure and had several great discussions on God and the Bible and the Holy Spirit.
After dinner I decided to head into West Yellowstone to update my cell phone. Also to do a little wildlife hunting at dusk. Hoping that the animals may be more active then. I was pleasantly surprised that on my way back by biscuit basin a moose was making its way across a river and towards the road. I have yet to see a moose yet so this was a thrill. I took several videos of it and uploaded one to Facebook. A great way to end the day for sure.
Well I know I will sleep well tonight and I hope you all do to. Thank you Lord for some great scenery today. Stay well.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 33
Finally made it to my days off. Today was just nuts when it came to being busy. I got to work at eleven thirty and was not able to stop taking money for tourist purchases until I was relieved at two thirty for my break. It was crazy busy. After dinner break it finally slowed down around six. After today I really need the two days off.
On the bright side I met tourists from Moscow, Finland and the Czech Republic. The best customer experience was a lady with the last name of Hobbs. I told her we had the same last name and ask her if she was from Indiana too. She smiled and as soon as she talked I knew she was nowhere close to Indiana. She was from South Africa. I asked her well maybe your a rich relative that moved to South Africa to open a diamond mine. She said no such luck. Well it was a long shot hope that I could have found a long lost rich relative.
Not too much else happening in the wild world of Yellowstone cashiering. I am scheduled to go on a hike tomorrow to Fairy Falls with a couple I attend church with. Supposedly it will be a ten mile hike and from what I gather a very pretty destination. I will try to get pictures uploaded to Facebook of the hike. I hope to see some wild life also.
I will leaves you with another observation. Mostly all the foreign tourists are in rental cars. Since the manuals are in English they fail to understand the car alarm and what sets it off. If I don't hear a car alarm going off in the parking lot at least fifteen times a day I figure I probably lost my hearing.
Take care all and I pray LFCC's VBS is going great. Stay good.
On the bright side I met tourists from Moscow, Finland and the Czech Republic. The best customer experience was a lady with the last name of Hobbs. I told her we had the same last name and ask her if she was from Indiana too. She smiled and as soon as she talked I knew she was nowhere close to Indiana. She was from South Africa. I asked her well maybe your a rich relative that moved to South Africa to open a diamond mine. She said no such luck. Well it was a long shot hope that I could have found a long lost rich relative.
Not too much else happening in the wild world of Yellowstone cashiering. I am scheduled to go on a hike tomorrow to Fairy Falls with a couple I attend church with. Supposedly it will be a ten mile hike and from what I gather a very pretty destination. I will try to get pictures uploaded to Facebook of the hike. I hope to see some wild life also.
I will leaves you with another observation. Mostly all the foreign tourists are in rental cars. Since the manuals are in English they fail to understand the car alarm and what sets it off. If I don't hear a car alarm going off in the parking lot at least fifteen times a day I figure I probably lost my hearing.
Take care all and I pray LFCC's VBS is going great. Stay good.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 32
Had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. I think the cool evenings have created great sleeping weather for sure. After breakfast I entered the store and looked out toward the geyser and saw very few cars. Either the tourists were sleeping in or they decided to celebrate Father's day and not do tourists stuff. As the morning progressed we had very few customers so I stocked shelves. My job this morning was to stock the coffee mugs with names on them. It seems the names Steve and Terry are most popular but our "I love Dad" mug sold real well yesterday.
Today I met customers from Finland, the Philippians and Laos. You sure get to meet a lot of people from different countries for sure. I wish I had more time to talk to them as I would like to know about their countries.
My most interesting customer was a girl who came to my register and paid for a few items. Then she asks me if our manager was around. I used the walkie talkie to ask for Garth to come to my register. When he got there this girl asked Garth if my group was hiring because she said and I quote "I just got fired from Xanterra and wanted to know if I could work with your group." OK folks I may be old school but should your first sentence to a prospective boss detail that you just got fired? I may sound old school but girl you are a little off in your interview approach. Just a little.
Tomorrow is Friday and like every day before being off I have to switch shifts. So I will be working late shift tomorrow. Going in at eleven thirty and off at nine forty. I have not decided what I will do on my days off but I think a hike around another geyser basin may happen.
On a personal note. This being father's day I have thought about how my son's are both now father's and they both have made me so proud. I sure do feel old when I look around here and think of how Cathy, Jacob, Logan and I vacationed here and it just does not seem that long ago, but it has been several years. Time sure flies.
I will leave you with one observation. I think I may have to patent these. The majority of tourists, and many employees, hate the penny. I don't know how many tourists just walk away not wanting the small change. Also I have picked up several pennies in the store off the floor and outside on the ground. I even had a tourist ask me why the park does not round up or down and stop handing out pennies. The hate for Mr. Lincoln's coin is evident for sure.
Well I will be heading to night church at eight thirty. So you all take care and stay well.
Today I met customers from Finland, the Philippians and Laos. You sure get to meet a lot of people from different countries for sure. I wish I had more time to talk to them as I would like to know about their countries.
My most interesting customer was a girl who came to my register and paid for a few items. Then she asks me if our manager was around. I used the walkie talkie to ask for Garth to come to my register. When he got there this girl asked Garth if my group was hiring because she said and I quote "I just got fired from Xanterra and wanted to know if I could work with your group." OK folks I may be old school but should your first sentence to a prospective boss detail that you just got fired? I may sound old school but girl you are a little off in your interview approach. Just a little.
Tomorrow is Friday and like every day before being off I have to switch shifts. So I will be working late shift tomorrow. Going in at eleven thirty and off at nine forty. I have not decided what I will do on my days off but I think a hike around another geyser basin may happen.
On a personal note. This being father's day I have thought about how my son's are both now father's and they both have made me so proud. I sure do feel old when I look around here and think of how Cathy, Jacob, Logan and I vacationed here and it just does not seem that long ago, but it has been several years. Time sure flies.
I will leave you with one observation. I think I may have to patent these. The majority of tourists, and many employees, hate the penny. I don't know how many tourists just walk away not wanting the small change. Also I have picked up several pennies in the store off the floor and outside on the ground. I even had a tourist ask me why the park does not round up or down and stop handing out pennies. The hate for Mr. Lincoln's coin is evident for sure.
Well I will be heading to night church at eight thirty. So you all take care and stay well.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 31
Today is a special day. I have been working here for a month now. I would like to thank all those who has confidence that I could make it this far. Unfortunately that does not include my brother's Rick, Dirk and Linc who bet against me staying this long. Neener neener boys.
The day was pretty uneventful except I did get to meet my first tourist from Hungary. He was a very funny guy and has a great accent. He looked just like a Gypsy to me. He even made fun of my accent.
I also went out of my way to remind all the kids I saw that tomorrow was Father's day. But I had to be very careful that they were from the U.S. As that day does not mean too much to foreign tourists. The only time I got bit in the rear end about this was when a man was paying and two kids and a woman were behind him. I asked the kids if they knew what tomorrow was and they said no. I told them it was Father's day, to which the oldest kid responded "He is not our real Dad!" That I did not have a response for. But I still talked to the kids I met about Father's day anyway.
Well that is about all for today but I have a couple more observations about my time here.
Observation one: People are surprised that Wyoming does not have state taxes on purchases. But Wyoming forces Yellowstone to tax all purchases in the park at six percent. So don't think Wyoming does not collect taxes. They may not collect money from their residences but all you tourists are supporting them with your taxable purchases by the millions.
Observation two: We are required to try to up sell some items around the cash register to the tourists, such as tote bags, huckleberry sucker's, etc. You know your a good up seller if you can get foreign tourists to buy extra stuff when they can't speak English.
All for now and I will celebrate my one month anniversary by watching the Cubs on TV tonight. Stay smiling all.
The day was pretty uneventful except I did get to meet my first tourist from Hungary. He was a very funny guy and has a great accent. He looked just like a Gypsy to me. He even made fun of my accent.
I also went out of my way to remind all the kids I saw that tomorrow was Father's day. But I had to be very careful that they were from the U.S. As that day does not mean too much to foreign tourists. The only time I got bit in the rear end about this was when a man was paying and two kids and a woman were behind him. I asked the kids if they knew what tomorrow was and they said no. I told them it was Father's day, to which the oldest kid responded "He is not our real Dad!" That I did not have a response for. But I still talked to the kids I met about Father's day anyway.
Well that is about all for today but I have a couple more observations about my time here.
Observation one: People are surprised that Wyoming does not have state taxes on purchases. But Wyoming forces Yellowstone to tax all purchases in the park at six percent. So don't think Wyoming does not collect taxes. They may not collect money from their residences but all you tourists are supporting them with your taxable purchases by the millions.
Observation two: We are required to try to up sell some items around the cash register to the tourists, such as tote bags, huckleberry sucker's, etc. You know your a good up seller if you can get foreign tourists to buy extra stuff when they can't speak English.
All for now and I will celebrate my one month anniversary by watching the Cubs on TV tonight. Stay smiling all.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 30
Will another payday in paradise. This blog is going to be short today as not much occurred of note. The day started slow so I was tasked to put up stock until cashiers were needed. Around ten AM business picked up and remained steady for the next three hours until midday break. After midday break the tourist traffic was fairly steady. The interesting thing about work is that I must be adjusting well to the work load as we were told yesterday that our sales reached $60,000 a new store high for the year, but I felt it was only moderately busy. So I guess my cashier stamina is getting better. I did meet several people from Indiana today. A couple who said they were from Richmond Indiana. I joked you mean the camper trailer capital of the Midwest. They laughed and asked me how I knew that and I told them where I lived and the Tom Raper commercials have been running for years in our area.
After work the EDR had pizzas for us to eat and now I am sitting in the front porch of the general store blogging and enjoying the weather. Sunny and seventy degrees. Giving my legs a rest as the hike yesterday had made my knees scream at me today.
Since it was a short day I will leave you with a few observations I have seen since being here.
Observation one: the Chinese people have no concept of a line to the cash register. It must come from the fact that they live in a country where people pile on top on one another. They stand back and even though there is a line to my register the just walk up and lay their purchases down to be processed. I politely tell them that others were ahead of them and they shake their heads in an understanding gesture but don't move. It makes for some tense situations where I have to act as peacemaker.
Observation two: the bathroom habits of tourists are atrocious. I am so grateful my job is not in the restroom cleaning department and those doing that job should get three times what I make.
Observation three: The dress of some of the tourists are pretty shocking. For some individuals modesty is out the window.
Well that is all for now. You stay well and keep doing good.
After work the EDR had pizzas for us to eat and now I am sitting in the front porch of the general store blogging and enjoying the weather. Sunny and seventy degrees. Giving my legs a rest as the hike yesterday had made my knees scream at me today.
Since it was a short day I will leave you with a few observations I have seen since being here.
Observation one: the Chinese people have no concept of a line to the cash register. It must come from the fact that they live in a country where people pile on top on one another. They stand back and even though there is a line to my register the just walk up and lay their purchases down to be processed. I politely tell them that others were ahead of them and they shake their heads in an understanding gesture but don't move. It makes for some tense situations where I have to act as peacemaker.
Observation two: the bathroom habits of tourists are atrocious. I am so grateful my job is not in the restroom cleaning department and those doing that job should get three times what I make.
Observation three: The dress of some of the tourists are pretty shocking. For some individuals modesty is out the window.
Well that is all for now. You stay well and keep doing good.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 29
Back to work today at the early shift. 7am to 5:30pm with break from 11:30am to 2:30pm. The day was pretty slow and for most of the morning I stocked children's clothes and hats. I did not realize that Stetson made so many cowboy hats. We have been averaging $50,000 in sales per day with Tuesdays being our busiest day.
After lunch today I met my first couple from Israel and he even said I pronounced his name correctly. I also met a couple from northern Indiana who was familiar with Linton. They said they used to come into our neck of the woods to fish. They told me about the time they even stayed at the Allen's motel for a night and how worried they were about the place. I told them that they were braver than I was as I would never think about staying at that place.
The most special customer experience was when I met an elderly lady and her son. I ask them if they were having a good time at the park and she replied that it was the first time her son had ever been here. She said the came to bring her husband's ashes and based on her husband's wishes the ashes were to be put in the Snake River running in front of the Grand Tetons. She said her and her son did that yesterday and it went very well. I told her that I was sorry she has lost her husband. She told me it has been rough since he died and that two weeks prior to his passing she was diagnosed with cancer and she was undergoing chemo treatments now. I asked her how she was doing with the treatments and she said they make her tired for awhile but she said she recovers OK. From her credit card I learned her name was Michelle and I told her that I would lift her up in my cancer prayers tonight as I have many friends dealing with that disease. She looked at me and said she really appreciated it and she said she picked the right cashier to check her out today. I patted her on the hand when I gave her the bagged items she purchased and told her to take good care of herself and to keep praying. She smiled and said thank you and walked away to join her son. So for all my prayer warriors who read this please say a prayer for Michelle and her battle with cancer and the loss of her husband.
After dinner I decided to hike up the overlook trail again to see Old Faithful erupt from a distance and also to see if I could spot that grizzly again crossing the meadow or up on the overlook. I got some great pictures of the area and Old Faithful erupting and will upload a video to Facebook later. After not seeing the bear I decided to hike down and take the trail to Solitary geyser. It was about a half a mile away but through some pretty dark woods. So I thought I better keep my ears and eyes open for any creature in there. But as it turns out I did not have to worry about that as a Chinese couple with a little girl decided to follow me down the trail. So you know what is more effective than bear spray or bells at keeping bears at bay? That would be a chattering Chinese child. I swear that kid did not shut up the entire half mile through the woods.
I made it to Solitary geyser and sat down for awhile waiting for it to erupt. It's frequency was every ten minutes or so and usually only about four feet in height, but still interesting to watch as that geyser was the only thing in a clearing and out of the way of the other geysers around Old Faithful.
I hiked down another path that led me to the geyser area and hiked to the Old Faithful Lodge which is where I am now writing this blog. It has been a good day and will probably watch a little basketball in the dorm before heading to bed. Still do not have a roommate and I am not complaining. You all take care and keep praying for those you love and those needing God's interceding.
After lunch today I met my first couple from Israel and he even said I pronounced his name correctly. I also met a couple from northern Indiana who was familiar with Linton. They said they used to come into our neck of the woods to fish. They told me about the time they even stayed at the Allen's motel for a night and how worried they were about the place. I told them that they were braver than I was as I would never think about staying at that place.
The most special customer experience was when I met an elderly lady and her son. I ask them if they were having a good time at the park and she replied that it was the first time her son had ever been here. She said the came to bring her husband's ashes and based on her husband's wishes the ashes were to be put in the Snake River running in front of the Grand Tetons. She said her and her son did that yesterday and it went very well. I told her that I was sorry she has lost her husband. She told me it has been rough since he died and that two weeks prior to his passing she was diagnosed with cancer and she was undergoing chemo treatments now. I asked her how she was doing with the treatments and she said they make her tired for awhile but she said she recovers OK. From her credit card I learned her name was Michelle and I told her that I would lift her up in my cancer prayers tonight as I have many friends dealing with that disease. She looked at me and said she really appreciated it and she said she picked the right cashier to check her out today. I patted her on the hand when I gave her the bagged items she purchased and told her to take good care of herself and to keep praying. She smiled and said thank you and walked away to join her son. So for all my prayer warriors who read this please say a prayer for Michelle and her battle with cancer and the loss of her husband.
After dinner I decided to hike up the overlook trail again to see Old Faithful erupt from a distance and also to see if I could spot that grizzly again crossing the meadow or up on the overlook. I got some great pictures of the area and Old Faithful erupting and will upload a video to Facebook later. After not seeing the bear I decided to hike down and take the trail to Solitary geyser. It was about a half a mile away but through some pretty dark woods. So I thought I better keep my ears and eyes open for any creature in there. But as it turns out I did not have to worry about that as a Chinese couple with a little girl decided to follow me down the trail. So you know what is more effective than bear spray or bells at keeping bears at bay? That would be a chattering Chinese child. I swear that kid did not shut up the entire half mile through the woods.
I made it to Solitary geyser and sat down for awhile waiting for it to erupt. It's frequency was every ten minutes or so and usually only about four feet in height, but still interesting to watch as that geyser was the only thing in a clearing and out of the way of the other geysers around Old Faithful.
I hiked down another path that led me to the geyser area and hiked to the Old Faithful Lodge which is where I am now writing this blog. It has been a good day and will probably watch a little basketball in the dorm before heading to bed. Still do not have a roommate and I am not complaining. You all take care and keep praying for those you love and those needing God's interceding.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 28
Well I awoke to a major rain storm going on, so I decided to skip any hike today and head to Cody Wyoming and a visit to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum of the West. I got some granola and bacon for breakfast and picked up my sack lunch. Went back to PB&J as I felt nostalgic. I headed out in the rain and a temperature of forty four degrees. I knew that I will be losing the jacket when I get to Cody as know the temperature will rise several degrees as I lose a few thousand feet in altitude. The drive was pretty uneventful as there was not much tourist traffic over the mountain and through the Sylvan Pass. I took it easy as I think the rain looked kind of slushy hitting the windshield. The Pass still had snow on it but it is a lot less than the last time I came through. All the snowmen that were built in some of the turnouts are gone also. Heading down the pass toward the east gate went pretty smooth. After exiting the park I ran into a thirty minute work zone stoppage. Wyoming was still chip sealing the highway and I got my place in line with the other cars waiting for the pilot car that would lead us through. I had a nice conversation with the guy with the stop/slow sign. He wanted to know more about working in the park. He basically came to the conclusion that they paid too little, but understood the draw of working and being in the park. The pilot car finally showed up and our massive line of cars was able to head out. Once you get a few miles down the road and out of the mountains you get to speed up to 70 miles per hour. Believe me that is a great feeling after having to go only 45 miles per hour in the park. Leaving the park I see a Wyoming warning sign that is pretty interesting. It warns you that grizzly bear are dangerous and if you approach them you will be fined $5,000. A pretty big difference from Yellowstone's approach to bears.
Getting into Cody I went straight to the museum. Found out that being an employee of Yellowstone only got me three dollars off a ticket price. The museum is basically broken into four areas. The Buffalo Bill Cody exhibit of his life and times, the plains Indian exhibit, the western art exhibit and the firearms exhibit. They also had a transition section that had natural history exhibits. My first stop was the life and times of Buffalo Bill. Since I was last here the museum has updated a lot of their exhibits with new technology. They are putting LED monitors and interactive computer screens to good use. Even though I have seen much of the exhibits before I was able to watch a lot of old film footage of Buffalo Bill that I never seen before. There was also quite a bit of new donated items from Bill's time that went well with the exhibits. Buffalo Bill certainly had a colorful life and he was a very brave individual. I would recommend that you all read up on his life as you will be amazed at all he accomplished.
The second exhibit I went to was the firearms. The museum has the most complete collection of firearms in the world. They organize it by manufacture and then type of firearm and the year of manufacture. There is also special sections to show Hollywood guns, engraved guns, limited run guns, experimental guns, etc. I managed to only get through half of the collection before I took my lunch break. After a tasty PB&J lunch in my car I continued my walk through the firearms exhibit. After completing my circuit through I took the elevator down to the basement where more guns are stored and some other gun exhibits. The area also has the office of the head of the firearms exhibit and if you walk into his office you can ask him any firearm question. The basement also has the guns in sliding cabinets that you can pullout and look over the excess guns. Believe me the place has a lot of guns.
Heading back up the elevator I checked out the western art exhibit. I just love looking at Remington and Russell's sculptures and paintings. These two guys were amazing artists and adventurers. The place has many original paintings and sculptures to look at.
My next stop was the plains Indian exhibit. One thing they talked about with Buffalo Bill was his view of Indians changed as he grew older. He even fought for them to gain citizenship and to be treated fairly. Since I am not that up on Indian history I could not tell you if the exhibit was fair or not. But it sure was filled with a lot of items and information. They even had a pretty impressive theatre that detailed the Indians coping through all the seasons on the plains.
All in all the museum is well worth a stop if you ever get to Cody. Especially if you love firearms. After the museum I went to the local McDonald's and updated my cell phone. I headed back to the dorm then and during the two and half hour drive I got to listen to the Cubs lose to the nationals. :(
Well I will be back to early shift tomorrow and look forward to next time I get off. You all take care and thanks for reading about my adventure. Stay well and do good.
Getting into Cody I went straight to the museum. Found out that being an employee of Yellowstone only got me three dollars off a ticket price. The museum is basically broken into four areas. The Buffalo Bill Cody exhibit of his life and times, the plains Indian exhibit, the western art exhibit and the firearms exhibit. They also had a transition section that had natural history exhibits. My first stop was the life and times of Buffalo Bill. Since I was last here the museum has updated a lot of their exhibits with new technology. They are putting LED monitors and interactive computer screens to good use. Even though I have seen much of the exhibits before I was able to watch a lot of old film footage of Buffalo Bill that I never seen before. There was also quite a bit of new donated items from Bill's time that went well with the exhibits. Buffalo Bill certainly had a colorful life and he was a very brave individual. I would recommend that you all read up on his life as you will be amazed at all he accomplished.
The second exhibit I went to was the firearms. The museum has the most complete collection of firearms in the world. They organize it by manufacture and then type of firearm and the year of manufacture. There is also special sections to show Hollywood guns, engraved guns, limited run guns, experimental guns, etc. I managed to only get through half of the collection before I took my lunch break. After a tasty PB&J lunch in my car I continued my walk through the firearms exhibit. After completing my circuit through I took the elevator down to the basement where more guns are stored and some other gun exhibits. The area also has the office of the head of the firearms exhibit and if you walk into his office you can ask him any firearm question. The basement also has the guns in sliding cabinets that you can pullout and look over the excess guns. Believe me the place has a lot of guns.
Heading back up the elevator I checked out the western art exhibit. I just love looking at Remington and Russell's sculptures and paintings. These two guys were amazing artists and adventurers. The place has many original paintings and sculptures to look at.
My next stop was the plains Indian exhibit. One thing they talked about with Buffalo Bill was his view of Indians changed as he grew older. He even fought for them to gain citizenship and to be treated fairly. Since I am not that up on Indian history I could not tell you if the exhibit was fair or not. But it sure was filled with a lot of items and information. They even had a pretty impressive theatre that detailed the Indians coping through all the seasons on the plains.
All in all the museum is well worth a stop if you ever get to Cody. Especially if you love firearms. After the museum I went to the local McDonald's and updated my cell phone. I headed back to the dorm then and during the two and half hour drive I got to listen to the Cubs lose to the nationals. :(
Well I will be back to early shift tomorrow and look forward to next time I get off. You all take care and thanks for reading about my adventure. Stay well and do good.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 27
Got up very early today to get ahead of the tourists. If there is one thing I have learned since coming here is that if you want to see the spots that are high on the tourist visit list then start early. As most tourist don't get up early. Their day seems to start around ten thirty in the morning. I had a great breakfast of granola and ham. Picked up my sack lunch of a turkey sandwich. Ha I fooled you. Decided to try something different today. I packed my hiking gear and headed to the car. The car temperature for the outside read forty three degrees and I think the high was going to get to sixty four degrees but chance of rain also. It was chilly but then again I was going to be hiking so colder is better for me at least. As I headed out of the geyser basin I called Cathy and talked to her until our cell signal dropped. The scenery was great and I decided to turn into the Virginia Cascades drive for a look. The drive went up for about two miles and I pulled off the road at the top for a look at the Cascades. They were very pretty and at this time of the morning it was just me and the Cascades and a few chipmunks. It was sure peaceful but I pulled myself from the tranquility and got back into the car to head to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
To give you a little background the canyon for tourists is divided into two viewing areas. The north rim and the south rim. The Yellowstone River drops through two falls into the canyon. The upper and the lower falls. After filling my car with gas I headed to the north rim and the lower falls. Now you can park your car and walk a short way and see the falls from a distance but my plan was to take the trail to the lower falls. This trail drops eight hundred feet and puts you right at the edge of the lower falls. The eight hundred foot drop is done gradually using the tried and true method of switchback trails. I headed down the switchbacks and I could tell right off my arthritic knees did not like the downhill moves. Going uphill was no problem but downhill put a lot of pressure on them. I was glad I brought my hiking stick and a fanny pack with water. After several switchbacks the trail leveled out at the edge of the Yellowstone River. It was sure beautiful down there but that did not compare to what awaited me further down the trail. I knew the falls were there because I had heard it's roaring since getting out of my car but now at the bottom the sound was deafening. I could see up ahead where the trail ended at two platform. The platform on the right was right next to the falls and the platform on the let was ten feet higher but gave the tourist another vantage point to see the river as it flowed into the falls. I went to the left platform first. Folks I cannot begin to describe the power of those falls. The Yellowstone River came roaring to the falls with a monster force and then dropped off more than a hundred feet to the bottom and then proceeded to flow down into the canyon. The mist and spray the falls made made it look like it was creating it's own cloud at the bottom. Looking across the falls to the other side you could see where other tourists were lined up on the south side for a look at the lower falls. There was even a set of stairs on that side that would take a person down over the canyon for a great look at the falls but I heard that it was closed due to ice building up on the steps. I stayed down in that area for about a half an hour just looking at the power of the river and listening to the roar of the falls. Very few tourists were down there yet so I practically had both platforms to myself. After a while, and several pictures, I headed back up the eight hundred foot switchback trail to the top. I can tell you this folks it was tough going but not as bad as I feared. I think my lungs are getting used to the altitude finally. Once I made it to the top I found the north rim trail that would take me through the woods on top of the canyon rim and over to the upper falls.
The north rim trail was a hike of about two miles up and then two miles back to where I parked the car. So it was not a bad hike. Since I was the only one on the trail I paid particular attention to the woods to my right as I did not want to surprise a bear or wolf. So I whistled while I walked and created enough noise that anything or anyone on the trail would hear me coming. The trail skirted the edge of the canyon over the Yellowstone River and there was many opportunities to step out on an overlook and take some pictures. The trail even had to go over another water fall created by small streams coming off the hills into the Yellowstone. It was a very pretty walk and mostly level ground. I reached the tourist area where they could view the upper falls and was grateful to see there was a bathroom. I still cannot get over how cold those out house type bathrooms can be on a delicate rear end. :)
The upper falls was very good also but after seeing the lower and it's drop into the canyon, the upper was not as loud but it's drop is still spectacular and I think about eighty to a hundred feet also. By this time there were many tourists taking up the small space that the platform had, but eventually I was able to get close enough to take some good pictures and videos of the upper falls. One of the things most tourists do learn is etiquette when it comes to cameras. Mostly all the tourists stay out of the way if you are trying to get a good shot of something and that makes it pleasant when you are packed on a platform overlooking a gigantic water fall. After spending several minutes looking at the falls I decided to get out of the crowd and head back into the woods for a hike back to my car.
I took my time walking through the woods back to the car as I wanted to explore some areas that were over the canyon and into the woods. Mostly to get better pictures but also to see if I could spot some wild life. The park does a great job at identifying the trails in the park with markers and flags on certain trees. So it is real easy to follow a trail and not get lost. Once back at the car I decided to drive to the top of the canyon at a place called Grand View. As this spot gave a person a great view of the grand canyon of Yellowstone. I found out that the north rim trail continues in the area and I was able to walk it some more down to other view points on the rim of the canyon. I was able to see an osprey nest on one of the spires jutting out of the canyon close to a viewing area. She had two chicks in the nest and the tourists were waiting for the mate to come back so that the one on the nest would move to allow the photographers to photo bomb the chicks. As I proceeded on the trail I found another area that would allow a tourist to drop down several hundred feet to the side of the canyon. I looked down the trail and decided I already did my major climb for the day and would try that climb another day.
I hiked back up to the car and got there in time for the rain to start. I have found out that the weather in the mountains can come and go really quickly. So the rain may turn into sunshine in ten minutes. I drove out of the canyon area and headed in the rain to the Yellowstone valley where a herd of bison usually graze. The rain continued because I was following the clouds heading south east. I decided to pull off to a view point that overlooked the valley and the Yellowstone River to eat my lunch. A few bison were in the distance and I happily ate while watching them through the rain. Canyon area has great cell coverage so I took that opportunity to call Cathy and get filled in on what was happening at home.
After lunch the rain turned to sprinkles and the temperature dropped to 55 degrees, so I decided to call it a day and head back to the dorm. I took the long route back as I took the road next to Lake Yellowstone for a more scenic drive. I arrived at the dorm around two PM and decided I could do my laundry. After laundry was done I met with Bob, a coworker, and we decided to head into West Yellowstone. Me, so that I could get my cell phone updated with a WiFi connection and Bob so that he could pay some medical bills and pick up some cigars. After we got our stuff done we decided to eat at the local Chinese restaurant. Folks let me tell you that this is the first Chinese restaurant that I have ever been in that Chinese outnumbered Americans. It seemed like every Chinese tourist in town was in the place, but the food was good and pricey. It is the first meal I have had to pay for since I got here as the EDR does a great job to feed us.
Well that is about all for this exciting day. I hope to do another hike tomorrow at a local geyser basin and then head into Cody for a movie or just to see the museum again. I have heard that Yellowstone workers get in free to the museum and I am always looking to save money. You all take care and I pray you all are doing well.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 26
Today is my Friday and I am sure glad of it. This day has been very trying as the tourists kept coming and coming and some were not very nice. I don't know why they had very little patience today but it certainly showed. A few of the incidences involved parents and kids and a very comical argument between a Chinese husband and wife. It seems the husband did not want to spend as much as the wife was putting on my table. I stopped scanning the stuff and just waited for the chatter to stop. Finally the Chinese wife won and indicated with a head nod for me to continue scanning. I did not make eye contact with the husband as I did not want to add insult to injury. We even had a guide dog start an argument with another dog in the store.
Needless to say I am looking forward to a couple of days off. I have yet decided where I will go but I leaning toward going to the grand canyon of Yellowstone and look around. The second day I may head to Cody to go to the museum.
On personal note I found out today that Kenny Weathers passed away. I visited him and his wife Carol many times before I left. He will be greatly missed and please all my friends pray for Carol and the family. Carol and Kenny have been so nice to me and so faithful to LFCC. They both love the Lord and felt that if the doors were open that they needed to be there to worship and to study the word.
Take care all and stay well.
Needless to say I am looking forward to a couple of days off. I have yet decided where I will go but I leaning toward going to the grand canyon of Yellowstone and look around. The second day I may head to Cody to go to the museum.
On personal note I found out today that Kenny Weathers passed away. I visited him and his wife Carol many times before I left. He will be greatly missed and please all my friends pray for Carol and the family. Carol and Kenny have been so nice to me and so faithful to LFCC. They both love the Lord and felt that if the doors were open that they needed to be there to worship and to study the word.
Take care all and stay well.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 25
Got an early start today because I wanted to attend morning church services held at the Old Faithful Inn. I got up and showered and put on some good clothes that I brought, but unbeknownst to me the services were held outdoors on the second floor of the inn. Needless to say I did not dress warmly enough but I survived. We sang worship songs and the young man, a Tennessee preacher's son, delivered a fine message on David's grace shown to Jonathan's son Mephibosheth. He even paused during the message when Old Faithful erupted. A great way to start the work day for sure.
Work was very busy during the day and I barely had time to converse with the tourists. But today's best customer experience was talking to a couple who decided to leave their Ohio home and see the U.S. by car. People after my own heart. They have been as far as the California coast and as far south as the grand canyon. I think they were on day twenty six and from what they indicated they had many more days and miles to go. I could tell by their faces that they were having a blast seeing the country and being on the road. I was even able to give them a few tips on places they were heading to. I told them I could help them west of the Mississippi but nothing east of Indiana.
When my first break came I was very tired and I used part of the time for a good nap. My feet and legs have been doing better but after a solid nonstop cashiering for three solid hours, I can get tired.
After the mid afternoon break I ate dinner and went back to work. It slowed down quite a bit and I spent the bulk of my evening doing stock work. It amazes me how much future yard sales items people are buying. Around eight my boss tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I wanted to leave early, say eight instead of nine thirty. I told him that would be great so I could attend the Sunday night services at the rec center. Around eight I pulled my till and headed to the counting room. I have to tell you that getting my till ready and counting it at night is getting easier all the time. I just wish the counting folks would tell me how I am doing. I always wonder if I am short or not.
Went to Sunday night services and found out that even though they changed locations the message was the same as Sunday morning. So I listened to the repeat message on David's grace given to Jonathan's son. Still I picked up a few more nuggets from the word. We also had a special prayer for the tragedy in Orlando. So sad.
Well that is all of my day and I have to get to bed early as I have a turn around early shift tomorrow. It was good to see that the first Sunday services in our new worship center back home went well. Praise God for He is good. Take care and remember the famous cry from Teddy Roosevelt as he went up San Juan hill. "Go Cubs".
Work was very busy during the day and I barely had time to converse with the tourists. But today's best customer experience was talking to a couple who decided to leave their Ohio home and see the U.S. by car. People after my own heart. They have been as far as the California coast and as far south as the grand canyon. I think they were on day twenty six and from what they indicated they had many more days and miles to go. I could tell by their faces that they were having a blast seeing the country and being on the road. I was even able to give them a few tips on places they were heading to. I told them I could help them west of the Mississippi but nothing east of Indiana.
When my first break came I was very tired and I used part of the time for a good nap. My feet and legs have been doing better but after a solid nonstop cashiering for three solid hours, I can get tired.
After the mid afternoon break I ate dinner and went back to work. It slowed down quite a bit and I spent the bulk of my evening doing stock work. It amazes me how much future yard sales items people are buying. Around eight my boss tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I wanted to leave early, say eight instead of nine thirty. I told him that would be great so I could attend the Sunday night services at the rec center. Around eight I pulled my till and headed to the counting room. I have to tell you that getting my till ready and counting it at night is getting easier all the time. I just wish the counting folks would tell me how I am doing. I always wonder if I am short or not.
Went to Sunday night services and found out that even though they changed locations the message was the same as Sunday morning. So I listened to the repeat message on David's grace given to Jonathan's son. Still I picked up a few more nuggets from the word. We also had a special prayer for the tragedy in Orlando. So sad.
Well that is all of my day and I have to get to bed early as I have a turn around early shift tomorrow. It was good to see that the first Sunday services in our new worship center back home went well. Praise God for He is good. Take care and remember the famous cry from Teddy Roosevelt as he went up San Juan hill. "Go Cubs".
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 24
Got up early today because I wanted to take a long walk around the area. I walked through the store and out the front door. Looking left and right I decided to go left and head through the Old Faithful Inn parking lot to look for license plates I needed. Yes I am still in need of 6 states to get the coveted Hobbs' travel trophy. :) The nice thing about where I live is that I can walk in most any direction and see a lot of nice things. I can stay off the tourist paths or hop on them at most any point. Today I jumped on the tourist path after passing through the Inn's parking lot. Finding no state license that I did not have I proceeded on down a trail that would take me about midway through the Old Faithful Geyser basin. It was not long before I was standing next to two bison that were busy eating grass in the woods. They did not pay any attention to me and I did not bother them. I connected with a trail to some geysers and pools that I have not seen before. I took several pictures and uploaded a few to Facebook. The path I was on headed back to the Old Faithfull Lodge and veered close to the woods. So I always kept an eye out for any bear that might be up at this time of the morning. I headed back to the river that Old Faithful feeds into and across the bridge over it. I did not tell you but the morning was perfect for walking. Overcast and cool, but the mosquitoes were out in force and after my walk I was going to by some spray as I have been bitten several times.
The walk ended back at the Old Faithful Store where I work and I think I did 3 to 4 miles in distance. I went back to the room and got ready for lunch and work. The work day was uneventful for any customer surprises but was pretty busy for sure. I think I had more Texas and Utah customers than I have ever had before. I even met a guy working here that went to Indiana State University. After my mid afternoon break I got a surprise when I went back to my station to work. My cashier spot was pretty swamped and I looked up to see Jim O'Bryan staring at me. I said hi and had to let him know that there was no way I could stop now to talk. He saw that I was swamped and left. I hope to see him and his family tomorrow as I know they are here as a group in a motor home. It was good to see a familiar face from home.
On a personal note that is pretty much Murphy's Law. Last night after my paycheck was deposited I decided to transfer money to pay off my van loan. Cathy is driving my van and I am driving her car this summer. I texted Cathy and told her I just paid off the van and to expect the Credit Union to send us the title soon. She said that was good and she was heading to our grandson Oliver's T-Ball game. Later that afternoon she texted me that she just backed into Doug Lee's truck with my newly paid off van. She is handling all the insurance and repairs issues with the help of my sons I hope. Such is life and thank you Murphy's law.
I hope you are all doing well and I thank you for reading the blog. Keep each other in your prayers and show Jesus whenever you can to those around you. Stay well.
The walk ended back at the Old Faithful Store where I work and I think I did 3 to 4 miles in distance. I went back to the room and got ready for lunch and work. The work day was uneventful for any customer surprises but was pretty busy for sure. I think I had more Texas and Utah customers than I have ever had before. I even met a guy working here that went to Indiana State University. After my mid afternoon break I got a surprise when I went back to my station to work. My cashier spot was pretty swamped and I looked up to see Jim O'Bryan staring at me. I said hi and had to let him know that there was no way I could stop now to talk. He saw that I was swamped and left. I hope to see him and his family tomorrow as I know they are here as a group in a motor home. It was good to see a familiar face from home.
On a personal note that is pretty much Murphy's Law. Last night after my paycheck was deposited I decided to transfer money to pay off my van loan. Cathy is driving my van and I am driving her car this summer. I texted Cathy and told her I just paid off the van and to expect the Credit Union to send us the title soon. She said that was good and she was heading to our grandson Oliver's T-Ball game. Later that afternoon she texted me that she just backed into Doug Lee's truck with my newly paid off van. She is handling all the insurance and repairs issues with the help of my sons I hope. Such is life and thank you Murphy's law.
I hope you are all doing well and I thank you for reading the blog. Keep each other in your prayers and show Jesus whenever you can to those around you. Stay well.
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 23
Got up early today so I could take a walk around the geyser basin and read a little while sitting on the porch of the general store. The day was perfect as the temperature got to a high of seventy eight and sunny with a cool breeze blowing. I enjoy sitting on the porch and people watch. Listening to the tourists comments and conversations is very interesting. Today I heard a woman tell another that the bird they were looking at was a big hawk. In reality they were looking at a Raven. I watched a car pull in that had two bikes on top. Once the tourists exited the vehicle and headed into the store, the Raven hopped up onto the top of the car and then on top of the bicycle seat. He then proceeded to peck at the seats and I am sure put a few holes in them. What he was after is anyone's idea. They are very tricky birds.
Nothing much happened at the store today business wise. I did meet my first customer from the Netherlands. He was pretty cool. I also talked at length with a woman who was in a cross country bike race. She was needing camping info but there was not much camping close to the old faithful area. She decided to find a place just off the road and into the woods to sleep for the night. I wished her well and told her to stay safe. Also good luck in the race as she said there would be more bikers coming.
The highlight of the night was a customer with a Polish name who challenged me to pronounce her last name right. I looked at the credit card and studied and finally pronounce the name. She smiled and laughed and said I nailed it. Her friend then gave me her card and told me to pronounce hers and I looked and threw up the white flag immediately. It began with"Scz" followed by nine letters and I was not even close. So against the Polish challenge I was fifty percent. Not too bad.
That is all for the day. Not very much happened but it was payday and that helped. Take care you all and I was very pleased to hear that the LFCC dedication was well attended. Give God all the glory as we have been blessed.
Nothing much happened at the store today business wise. I did meet my first customer from the Netherlands. He was pretty cool. I also talked at length with a woman who was in a cross country bike race. She was needing camping info but there was not much camping close to the old faithful area. She decided to find a place just off the road and into the woods to sleep for the night. I wished her well and told her to stay safe. Also good luck in the race as she said there would be more bikers coming.
The highlight of the night was a customer with a Polish name who challenged me to pronounce her last name right. I looked at the credit card and studied and finally pronounce the name. She smiled and laughed and said I nailed it. Her friend then gave me her card and told me to pronounce hers and I looked and threw up the white flag immediately. It began with"Scz" followed by nine letters and I was not even close. So against the Polish challenge I was fifty percent. Not too bad.
That is all for the day. Not very much happened but it was payday and that helped. Take care you all and I was very pleased to hear that the LFCC dedication was well attended. Give God all the glory as we have been blessed.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 22
First day back after my two days off. I worked the late shift today. Got in at 11:25 and off at 9:45 with a three hour break in the middle. The shift is timed so that the early shift can eat breakfast before going in and lunch when we replace them at 11:25 and dinner when we come off our break at 5:30. So the split shift does work well to get everyone fed and rested from being on their feet for 3 to 4 hours at a time. Speaking of being fed. The EDR (Employee Dinning Room) had a special lunch theme today. It was a Hawaiian luau theme where the place was decorated up with music from Jimmy Buffett and the food was island theme. Everyone who entered the EDR was given a lei to wear while they ate and if they chose they could wear it while they worked. Have I told you we have the best cooks in the park? Lunch was great and I am glad I had to work right after it to work off some of the meal.
The work day was pretty steady but not overly busy. I got to work with some of the new people who came in this week. Most all of them are young people who are attending college. Kyra, who I worked with tonight, attends a college in Missoula Montana and her contract will take her to mid August, then she and several others will have to get back to start the new semester. She seems rather nice and polite and her major is political science and it seems she is leaning toward government work or embassy work as she is learning a language also.
Not too much happened at the shift today other than getting off early because it slowed down a lot after 6PM. I met several nice people today and my favorite was a couple from Italy. They were from Milan and we tried to communicate as best we could but it was sometimes choppy. They asked a lot of questions about Old Faithful, many I could answer now that I have been here for more than three weeks. I had a few customers ask me what they could do or see in the park that would be special. I told them that it all depended on if they liked to walk or not. You see the park has quite a few areas where you have to get out of your car and hike a little. Some tourists that come here really expect the attractions to be by the road where they can see it. That is just not so here as most take a little effort to get to.
One thing I have neglected to talk about is the staffing for the park. There are two contractors that most tourists deal with and they are the contract employees for the hotels and lodges and the contract employees, like myself, for the stores. All are temporary employees and many are returning employees but most are brand new like myself. The biggest issue that I see is many new employees were sold a bill of goods by the human resource department of the firm that hired them. When the employees get here to work they find that the job and living conditions were not exactly as described by the HR that hired them. So three weeks into my employment I have seen employees up and quit because of broken promises. It is very hard for the supervisors to deal with seasonal employees and to get them all trained properly, but sometimes the big disconnect between HR's promises and the reality can be more than people can handle. The biggest issue I see is over working some people because HR did not get enough people to fill all the places needed. It is a spiral effect that if you continue to work people more and more without days off, then they quit. When people quit the ones left have to work more and more hours. In my case I was told that I would be working 32 hours a week and have three days off. So far that has never happened, as I have been working just short of 40 each week with only two days off. I have waited to talk to my supervisor about this issue because I knew we were getting more help in. So I will wait and see what the schedule starts to look like as we get a few more cashiers trained. Another issue is the living conditions. It is not the physical dorm that is the problem but the employees who break the rules on noise and personal hygiene. Every employee hired has to agree to a level of personal conduct and grooming, as this is in everyone's contract that they signed. I have been amazed at how many grown up men can't seem to take care of themselves by washing regularly and doing their own laundry. So here is the spiral effect again. The supervisors do not come down hard on these individuals because they are short handed and do not want to lose any employees over discipline, but those that try to keep the rules get frustrated when nothing seems to happen to get the problem people taken care of. So what happens is the rule followers up and quit due to living condition issues and more work is then assigned to others to take their place in the store. To say the least I pray for my supervisors to do what is right and to have wisdom in these situations. In the mean time I have had to be a dorm guard and call some people on the noise and also make not so subtle comments to those that fairly stink that they need to bath or clean their clothes. I just thought I would let you know that sometimes this job is not all roses and great mountain views. Just in case anyone is planning on following in my footsteps. But the one thing I can say about the group I am with is this. Our group has less problems than quite a few other groups working in this park.
Well that is all for now. Take care and please pray for Tom Chambers. I was notified today that the cancer has moved to his brain. Tom and Karen both need prayer and support now. Thanks and goodnight.
The work day was pretty steady but not overly busy. I got to work with some of the new people who came in this week. Most all of them are young people who are attending college. Kyra, who I worked with tonight, attends a college in Missoula Montana and her contract will take her to mid August, then she and several others will have to get back to start the new semester. She seems rather nice and polite and her major is political science and it seems she is leaning toward government work or embassy work as she is learning a language also.
Not too much happened at the shift today other than getting off early because it slowed down a lot after 6PM. I met several nice people today and my favorite was a couple from Italy. They were from Milan and we tried to communicate as best we could but it was sometimes choppy. They asked a lot of questions about Old Faithful, many I could answer now that I have been here for more than three weeks. I had a few customers ask me what they could do or see in the park that would be special. I told them that it all depended on if they liked to walk or not. You see the park has quite a few areas where you have to get out of your car and hike a little. Some tourists that come here really expect the attractions to be by the road where they can see it. That is just not so here as most take a little effort to get to.
One thing I have neglected to talk about is the staffing for the park. There are two contractors that most tourists deal with and they are the contract employees for the hotels and lodges and the contract employees, like myself, for the stores. All are temporary employees and many are returning employees but most are brand new like myself. The biggest issue that I see is many new employees were sold a bill of goods by the human resource department of the firm that hired them. When the employees get here to work they find that the job and living conditions were not exactly as described by the HR that hired them. So three weeks into my employment I have seen employees up and quit because of broken promises. It is very hard for the supervisors to deal with seasonal employees and to get them all trained properly, but sometimes the big disconnect between HR's promises and the reality can be more than people can handle. The biggest issue I see is over working some people because HR did not get enough people to fill all the places needed. It is a spiral effect that if you continue to work people more and more without days off, then they quit. When people quit the ones left have to work more and more hours. In my case I was told that I would be working 32 hours a week and have three days off. So far that has never happened, as I have been working just short of 40 each week with only two days off. I have waited to talk to my supervisor about this issue because I knew we were getting more help in. So I will wait and see what the schedule starts to look like as we get a few more cashiers trained. Another issue is the living conditions. It is not the physical dorm that is the problem but the employees who break the rules on noise and personal hygiene. Every employee hired has to agree to a level of personal conduct and grooming, as this is in everyone's contract that they signed. I have been amazed at how many grown up men can't seem to take care of themselves by washing regularly and doing their own laundry. So here is the spiral effect again. The supervisors do not come down hard on these individuals because they are short handed and do not want to lose any employees over discipline, but those that try to keep the rules get frustrated when nothing seems to happen to get the problem people taken care of. So what happens is the rule followers up and quit due to living condition issues and more work is then assigned to others to take their place in the store. To say the least I pray for my supervisors to do what is right and to have wisdom in these situations. In the mean time I have had to be a dorm guard and call some people on the noise and also make not so subtle comments to those that fairly stink that they need to bath or clean their clothes. I just thought I would let you know that sometimes this job is not all roses and great mountain views. Just in case anyone is planning on following in my footsteps. But the one thing I can say about the group I am with is this. Our group has less problems than quite a few other groups working in this park.
Well that is all for now. Take care and please pray for Tom Chambers. I was notified today that the cancer has moved to his brain. Tom and Karen both need prayer and support now. Thanks and goodnight.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 21
Well the last day off before going onto late shift was pretty interesting. I got up early again because I knew it would take me some time to exit the park and get into the Teton range. After a great breakfast I picked up my picnic lunch and headed south. It took me about an hour and a half to get to Jackson lake with only one stop along the way. I stopped by Duck lake to see if any bears were sitting in the meadow, but none were up at that time. Reaching Jackson lake I decided to take an inner road that would bring me closer to the Teton range than the highway that runs along the Snake river. It was a good decision because my first stop was Jenny lake and dam. I walked across the dam and took some great pictures of Jenny lake with the mountains backing it. The overflow of the lake through the dam was running very fast. Heading down south from the lake the road moved closer to the mountains and provided many opportunities for stopping for pictures. Which I did. Standing there looking up at the mountains I was amazed how small I felt compared to them. Moving down south more I exited the Teton park and caught up with the highway to Jackson aka Jackson Hole. Some around here want the town to be referred to as just Jackson but since the airport I passed is called Jackson Hole airport, I will still call the town Jackson Hole. I am such a rebel. I managed to find a street parking place in town, which is pretty near impossible at the height of the tourist season. I exited my car and decided to walk around this historic town. The first thing I noticed was if there were ten shops in a row. There would be 3 realtor offices, 3 art shops, 2 diamond and gold jewelry shops, 1 leather and fur shop and one shop I designate "Something I was interested in." This pattern repeated over each block with the exception of an occasional place to eat. The restaurants were kind enough to post their menu outside so that I could see I could not afford to eat there. After walking several blocks up town I decided that this town cost a lot of money and catered to a lot more wealthy people than me. It was a nice town to look at as it showed history and a personality but as for parting with any of my hard earned dollars, no. I found my car and proceeded to head up to Jackson pass which connects Wyoming to Idaho. The drive up started to increase in altitude as I think I climbed two thousand feet in a short while. It was a very steep road and several trucks had a hard time making it to the top of the pass.
I made it to the top around noon and decided to have my lunch at a pullout facing down the hill. The view was unbelievable as I faced not only down the hill but could see Jackson Hole and the mountains beyond. While I ate several people stopped and commented that a picnic at that spot was a pretty good idea. I told them Jackson could have its high priced meals. A PB&J sandwich with this view was worth much more.
After lunch I headed over the pass and descended at a ten degree grade into Idaho. One thing I can say about the two side of the Tetons is this. They are not even close to resembling each other. The Wyoming side has the Snake river and dry climate with a great view of the mountains and lakes. The Idaho side has gentle hills ascending into the mountains with fertile farm land all around. Another difference is the people. Jackson Hole has its wealthy types and Idaho has its down to earth types. The small towns I drove through in Idaho reminded me of rural Indiana. The spring planting is done and the start of crops shooting up is happening. The drive was pleasant and the town's I stopped at were very nice. I drove north through Idaho and headed toward West Yellowstone Montana.
I arrived in West Yellowstone around two thirty and proceeded to my favorite WiFi connection so I could upload some videos. West Yellowstone was fairly calm as most of the tourists were in the park. I am sure that in a few hours the town would be crawling with tourists. I stopped off at the local cinema to see when a movie I wanted to see would come out and then I headed back to the dorm.
On the drive back into the park I was thinking about the three states I passed through today and how each was different and yet all connected by national parks. It was a pretty neat drive. Almost to my dorm a car decided to pass on the other side and thanks to prayers by my family I managed to pull off the road before getting hit head on. The speed limit of 35 and 45 in most of the park causes people to sometimes do some stupid things. Thankfully I made it back to the dorm and dinner.
Tomorrow I begin five days of late shift work so I would imagine my blog will regale you with good tourist stories. I am still waiting for the tourist to ask me "What time do you turn Old Faithful on in the morning?" Don't laugh as that has been asked before according to a co-worker of mine. Take care and pray for those you love and for those you are supposed to love.
I made it to the top around noon and decided to have my lunch at a pullout facing down the hill. The view was unbelievable as I faced not only down the hill but could see Jackson Hole and the mountains beyond. While I ate several people stopped and commented that a picnic at that spot was a pretty good idea. I told them Jackson could have its high priced meals. A PB&J sandwich with this view was worth much more.
After lunch I headed over the pass and descended at a ten degree grade into Idaho. One thing I can say about the two side of the Tetons is this. They are not even close to resembling each other. The Wyoming side has the Snake river and dry climate with a great view of the mountains and lakes. The Idaho side has gentle hills ascending into the mountains with fertile farm land all around. Another difference is the people. Jackson Hole has its wealthy types and Idaho has its down to earth types. The small towns I drove through in Idaho reminded me of rural Indiana. The spring planting is done and the start of crops shooting up is happening. The drive was pleasant and the town's I stopped at were very nice. I drove north through Idaho and headed toward West Yellowstone Montana.
I arrived in West Yellowstone around two thirty and proceeded to my favorite WiFi connection so I could upload some videos. West Yellowstone was fairly calm as most of the tourists were in the park. I am sure that in a few hours the town would be crawling with tourists. I stopped off at the local cinema to see when a movie I wanted to see would come out and then I headed back to the dorm.
On the drive back into the park I was thinking about the three states I passed through today and how each was different and yet all connected by national parks. It was a pretty neat drive. Almost to my dorm a car decided to pass on the other side and thanks to prayers by my family I managed to pull off the road before getting hit head on. The speed limit of 35 and 45 in most of the park causes people to sometimes do some stupid things. Thankfully I made it back to the dorm and dinner.
Tomorrow I begin five days of late shift work so I would imagine my blog will regale you with good tourist stories. I am still waiting for the tourist to ask me "What time do you turn Old Faithful on in the morning?" Don't laugh as that has been asked before according to a co-worker of mine. Take care and pray for those you love and for those you are supposed to love.
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 20
Well I am sitting in the laundry room doing my weekly washing and contemplating the day. The day off was great as I got an early start after breakfast. Kathy, one of our great cooks, prepared me a sack lunch and dinner as I would be gone for both lunch and dinner. Two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I was in heaven. My plan was to make a beeline for the northeast entrance of Yellowstone and head out of the park to Cook City and then onto the Beartooth highway and up and over the Beartooth range to Red Lodge. What I mean by beeline is that I really was not going to stop anywhere in the park as I did not want to take time up looking at things along the way because I wanted to get into the mountains for lunch. As usually on the way out I did spot a coyote, a bear and several bison but did not stop to take any pictures. Now if I had spotted a moose I would have stopped as I have not got a picture of one of those yet. It took about two hours of driving to get out of the park and onto the Beartooth highway. Once I reached there the temperature was around sixty degrees and as I headed up in altitude the temperature started to drop to around fifty five. Which surprised me as I figured out would get lower than that. The more I climbed to the top the more snow appeared. Some lakes on the way up were still covered in snow and ice but were quickly melting as the days got warmer. That is the reason I wanted to head up there now. To see the top with as much snow as I could but still have the highway cleared. Several times on the way up I saw several gates and signs warning that the road is closed and to turn back. But all the gates were open. There was also signs warning that the highest is not monitored after five pm. So if snow started or a landslide happened after five pm until eight am, then you were on your own. As I got about half way up there was a pullover where you could see a massive waterfall. With the snow melting the water was coming down the falls so fast and hard that the noise was just unbelievable. I took a video of it and uploaded it to Facebook, but as always it does not do it justice. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the highway was not really populated with tourists. So stopping every so often at overlooks was pretty easy to get into and out of. I kept an eye on my car's navigation system as it used GPS to show altitude. As I approached eleven thousand feet I kept my eyes open for a great pullout where I could eat lunch with a view across the mountain tops. I came around a curve at ten thousand eight hundred feet and there was a great pullout facing the mountains and the lakes below. I backed into it and popped the back hatch opened and climbed into the car to prepare my PB&J. With feet dangling out the back I ate lunch with a most incredible view. Sitting there for a few minutes I looked to my left and there was a sign detailing the areas lakes and some info on the fauna around the area. At that moment I remembered that sign because when Dad and I came up here on motorcycles back in the nineties I read it after getting off the motorcycle. That brought back memories of Dad showing me this place for the first time. I closed my eyes and could see in my mind's eye Dad and I pulling up here on the two BMW's. He on his limited edition pulling a trailer and me on Dad's other 1976 BMW. I opened my eyes and looked out at the mountains we both admired and was tearing up some. I said out loud "Thanks Dad for showing this to me and I sure do miss you." Several people came and went while I was eating. Most took pictures of the view and of each other with the mountains behind them. I finished lunch and dropped out of the back of the car onto the ground. I looked up and noticed a large cloud and was amazed of how close it was. Like I could almost reach up and touch it. After another look around I climbed into the car and headed down the mountain to Red Lodge. I knew I would be back before my summer was over for sure.
Just a short drive down I came to a ski lift. It seems that skiing at the top of the mountain is popular when the road is open. A few snowboarders were around though. Soon I saw a sign indicating I have entered into Montana and left Wyoming. After several switchbacks and descending three thousand feet I leveled off for a trip into Red Lodge. Red lodge is an interesting town with a colorful history. I like the fact that Jerimiah "liver eating" was it's first constable. He is the same character that Robert Redford played in the movie where they changed his name to Jeremiah Johnson. I walked around the town and could tell they were very prepared for the tourist season. One notable thing about the area is that a few miles out of town is the only palladium mine in the US. Palladium is used in catalytic convertors and is pretty expensive.
Leaving Red Lodge I headed to Cody Wyoming using the highway that takes you around the mountains and not over them. I wanted to hit Cody so I could use the McDonald's WiFi to update my cell phone and upload some videos to Facebook.
Cody was not too busy with tourists yet and I was able to buy a tea and sit down for some wifi work at the McDonald's. I also was able to call Cathy when I was driving through town to fill her in on what she was missing. I passed through Cody and headed back into the park through the east entrance. I was hoping to see a bear when I drove along side the Shoshone river but none showed. I entered the park around six pm and headed toward lake Yellowstone where I stopped at another overlook for dinner. Rain was beginning to come over the mountains and my dinner view was pretty neat seeing the storm approach. Lightening flashed occasionall but the rain held off long enough for me to finish my dinner.
I managed to make it back to the dorm in time to do laundry which is where you find me now. Tomorrow I plan on another long drive through the mountains but these will be the Tetons. I plan on heading south to view them from the Wyoming side and then head through the Jackson pass into Idaho and see the back side of the Tetons from the Idaho side. So until tomorrow you all take care and do good when you can.
Just a short drive down I came to a ski lift. It seems that skiing at the top of the mountain is popular when the road is open. A few snowboarders were around though. Soon I saw a sign indicating I have entered into Montana and left Wyoming. After several switchbacks and descending three thousand feet I leveled off for a trip into Red Lodge. Red lodge is an interesting town with a colorful history. I like the fact that Jerimiah "liver eating" was it's first constable. He is the same character that Robert Redford played in the movie where they changed his name to Jeremiah Johnson. I walked around the town and could tell they were very prepared for the tourist season. One notable thing about the area is that a few miles out of town is the only palladium mine in the US. Palladium is used in catalytic convertors and is pretty expensive.
Leaving Red Lodge I headed to Cody Wyoming using the highway that takes you around the mountains and not over them. I wanted to hit Cody so I could use the McDonald's WiFi to update my cell phone and upload some videos to Facebook.
Cody was not too busy with tourists yet and I was able to buy a tea and sit down for some wifi work at the McDonald's. I also was able to call Cathy when I was driving through town to fill her in on what she was missing. I passed through Cody and headed back into the park through the east entrance. I was hoping to see a bear when I drove along side the Shoshone river but none showed. I entered the park around six pm and headed toward lake Yellowstone where I stopped at another overlook for dinner. Rain was beginning to come over the mountains and my dinner view was pretty neat seeing the storm approach. Lightening flashed occasionall but the rain held off long enough for me to finish my dinner.
I managed to make it back to the dorm in time to do laundry which is where you find me now. Tomorrow I plan on another long drive through the mountains but these will be the Tetons. I plan on heading south to view them from the Wyoming side and then head through the Jackson pass into Idaho and see the back side of the Tetons from the Idaho side. So until tomorrow you all take care and do good when you can.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Yellowstone Adventure - Day 19
Woo woo, last day of work before two days off. Today I worked the late shift and was pleasantly surprised after a very busy morning that the crowd died off later in the evening. The store supervisor for tonight let me go two hours early. A good day for sure. The best customer encounter today was explaining to a couple of French speaking ladies the difference between the word geezer and the word geyser. I told them old faithful is a geyser and Bob, who works next to me is an old geezer. To which Bob overhearing said "What!".
I also received a pleasant surprise tonight that I did not expect. During my afternoon break I was resting in my room when Garth, are you still laughing at his name, knocked on my door and said I had two visitors in the store. To which I said "me?" He indicated they asked for me by name. So I put on my flip flops and went to the store. I saw a couple waiting off to the side and I asked them who were they waiting for and they said Bret Hobbs. It took me awhile to place them but I finally did. They were Jim and Iva Hough. Jim and Iva have a cabin next to John and Maryann Griggs on flathead lake. John introduced Cathy and I to them quite some time ago. Maryann got Jim to friend me on Facebook so he could read my blog. Jim and Iva stopped by to say hi on their way to their cabin on Flathead lake. I asked them if they wished a tour of the general store and they said yes, so I gave them the behind the scenes tour of the catacombs we use to store our goods to the tunnel that connects the catacombs to our dorm. They also got to see the employee dining area and grocery stocking area. They seemed to really like the tour and you never know if Jim and Iva decide to come work for the store I can get fifty dollars a piece for recruiting them. But I think Jim and Iva would rather be at the cabin on Flathead than work in the store all summer. It was sure neat to have a visitor that knew me and I hope they have safe travels to their cabin.
Since I got off early I decided to head to the old faithful lodge to watch old faithful at sunset. I found out that she would not erupt for several minutes so I decided to head to the woods behind the lodge to see if I could see any wildlife. Directly behind the lodge is a small river that runs into the old faithful geyser basin. Off of the river is a few small geysers and a meadow that heads up to a medium sized hill. I sat in one spot for awhile but nothing was moving. So I moved around to another side of the river and a different view of the meadow. After a few minutes the biggest grizzly bear I have ever seen came out of the woods on my right and headed to my left and up the meadow to the hill. Folks I am not kidding you when I say it was big. It was larger than a bison and I was seeing it from a distance. I will upload a video of it when I can but it won't do it justice. When it was close to me I could not get a good picture because it would go behind trees and bushes in the meadow. My video of it is when it started to climb the hill. What a great evening.
My first day off tomorrow will be a trip across the Beartooth mountains and into Red Lodge Montana. I already have put in my request for a picnic lunch of, yes you guessed it, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I plan on eating lunch while sitting on a mountain peak 11,000 feet up. I just talked to someone at the lodge who said the snow is still high up on top of the mountain and the mountain lakes are still frozen over. It will be a great day and an all day trip.
Well that is about it and please keep praying for my friend. God knows who he is and God is in charge. Take care and stay well.
I also received a pleasant surprise tonight that I did not expect. During my afternoon break I was resting in my room when Garth, are you still laughing at his name, knocked on my door and said I had two visitors in the store. To which I said "me?" He indicated they asked for me by name. So I put on my flip flops and went to the store. I saw a couple waiting off to the side and I asked them who were they waiting for and they said Bret Hobbs. It took me awhile to place them but I finally did. They were Jim and Iva Hough. Jim and Iva have a cabin next to John and Maryann Griggs on flathead lake. John introduced Cathy and I to them quite some time ago. Maryann got Jim to friend me on Facebook so he could read my blog. Jim and Iva stopped by to say hi on their way to their cabin on Flathead lake. I asked them if they wished a tour of the general store and they said yes, so I gave them the behind the scenes tour of the catacombs we use to store our goods to the tunnel that connects the catacombs to our dorm. They also got to see the employee dining area and grocery stocking area. They seemed to really like the tour and you never know if Jim and Iva decide to come work for the store I can get fifty dollars a piece for recruiting them. But I think Jim and Iva would rather be at the cabin on Flathead than work in the store all summer. It was sure neat to have a visitor that knew me and I hope they have safe travels to their cabin.
Since I got off early I decided to head to the old faithful lodge to watch old faithful at sunset. I found out that she would not erupt for several minutes so I decided to head to the woods behind the lodge to see if I could see any wildlife. Directly behind the lodge is a small river that runs into the old faithful geyser basin. Off of the river is a few small geysers and a meadow that heads up to a medium sized hill. I sat in one spot for awhile but nothing was moving. So I moved around to another side of the river and a different view of the meadow. After a few minutes the biggest grizzly bear I have ever seen came out of the woods on my right and headed to my left and up the meadow to the hill. Folks I am not kidding you when I say it was big. It was larger than a bison and I was seeing it from a distance. I will upload a video of it when I can but it won't do it justice. When it was close to me I could not get a good picture because it would go behind trees and bushes in the meadow. My video of it is when it started to climb the hill. What a great evening.
My first day off tomorrow will be a trip across the Beartooth mountains and into Red Lodge Montana. I already have put in my request for a picnic lunch of, yes you guessed it, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I plan on eating lunch while sitting on a mountain peak 11,000 feet up. I just talked to someone at the lodge who said the snow is still high up on top of the mountain and the mountain lakes are still frozen over. It will be a great day and an all day trip.
Well that is about it and please keep praying for my friend. God knows who he is and God is in charge. Take care and stay well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)