Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - The Day Before Working

    Since I had Sunday off I decided to head into Rapid City and up into the Black Hills to visit Mount Rushmore.  After I watched the church services on YouTube, and the baptism, I got changed and headed out.  The day was very nice and it is a relatively short drive from the dorm/trailer to Mount Rushmore.  Probably around 1.25 hours.  I decided today to park and go see the presidents up close instead of just from the highway.  The way it is set up is that Mount Rushmore is free but they charge you 10 dollars per car to park.  I was very disappointment that a major access to the presidents was under construction and this limited the viewing area to just a small area to the side.  I was glad that the number of tourists were down and so I was able to get close to take some good pictures.  After viewing the presidents I decided to go down the road about a 1/4 of a mile and stop at the turn out called "Profile". The second picture above is where that is taken.  It was never planned to have Washington's profile available from this viewpoint, it just turned out that way when the road was constructed.  Also as a side note, it was not even planned to be Washington. You see when Borglum did the project planning Jefferson was supposed to be on the outside left and not Washington.  But the rock turned out to be not cooperating and Jefferson was moved to the right of Washington.  A little trivia you can store in you memory in case it ever comes up on Jeopardy.

   After traveling around a bit I decided to head to Wall-Mart for some supplies and then to Popeye's, the best chicken around, for lunch.  But due to the virus Popeye's was closed.  So I went to Culver's instead.

   After lunch I headed back to the trailer and decided to work off the lunch with a hike around the town of Wall.  When I say around the town, I mean around the town.  I left the trailer at the edge of the Badlands and walked up to the interstate and then back around to the trailer.  Over 3 miles in total.  The sad thing I saw is the amount of places not open, closed down or pretty much empty.  You see Wall's population is 818 but when tourist season comes the number of tourists that visit Wall Drug is thousands a day.  The hotels and campgrounds are usually full and tour buses arrive all the time.  This virus has really put a crimp on the economy here and congress' decision to pay people more in unemployment then they were making in their jobs is really causing places to stay closed as they can't get any workers.  I hope that when Wall Drug opens tomorrow that things will start to pick up as many people are depending on tourist money to survive.

   On a side note.  I was happy to hear that I would not be getting a roommate while here and surprised that I would not be in a regular dorm, but a trailer in town.  After staying here two nights now I have come to the conclusion that regular dorm life has its advantages.  Sure I like having a room to myself but at Yellowstone when I had one to myself I knew I could leave my room and go to the TV lounge or into the store or to the front of the store and visit with people.  Not having this ability here does create a loneliness feeling that I never had at Yellowstone.  I am sure when I start working tomorrow and for 8 hours I am around hordes of tourists, that I will appreciate the quite time in the trailer.  But I think I will miss hanging out with the other workers in the dorm and just shooting the bull.  Being alone is nice sometimes but I think it will start to wear on me if I don't figure something out about getting around people during my off time.

   Again thanks for reading and have a great day.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - The Check In

   After two days of driving I arrived at Wall South Dakota on the afternoon of May 29th.  I headed right to the Wall Drug store and called HR to get my welcome packet and get assigned a dorm room.  Because of the Corona Virus the place is closed and the HR people have to meet me outside.  They plan on opening Monday June 1st.  After exchanging hellos, I climbed back into my truck and opened the packet that gave me the directions to the dorm.  Well my first surprise was that the map to the dorm showed several dorm locations.  My second surprise was that the dorm was not really a dorm as I had been used to.  It seems Wall Drug has bought property all around Wall over the years and has put small houses and trailers on the property to be used as housing for their staff and temporary workers.  A pretty smart move I think.  After an initial issue with where I was to be staying, HR sent me to the correct dorm/trailer.  I have included a picture of the dorm below.  It is a two bedroom, one bath trailer with a nice living room.  Wall Drug includes high speed internet, which they are working on getting fixed and a large flat screen TV to stream to.  The kitchen is stocked with utensils and two refrigerators. During non-virus season, this trailer would house 3 workers.  I have been assured by HR that I will have it to myself for the length of my contract.  Which is a good thing because of the virus issue.  The trailer is only a ten minute walk to the store, which is what I will be doing because once the store opens up parking will be at a premium.

   HR told me to take the weekend to get settled in and to report for paper work processing and work on Monday June 1st at 10:30.  Initially I will be assigned to the shoe/boot area as a cashier.  I am not looking forward to standing on my feet for hours on end.  As I really liked moving around in the grocery store at Yellowstone.  We will see how my knees hold out.

   I had their maintenance man come by to fix the front door lock and had a nice discussion with him.  He has worked for Wall Drug for 20 years and has some good insights into the store. I asked him if they will be opening all the store departments and restaurant.  He said he thinks so but it really depends on if they can get help and keep them.  He said half of their camper workers did not show up due to the virus and several foreign workers will not be showing up due to transportation into US issues.  So he thinks I will be working long hours and possibly overtime.  We shall see.

   Well that is about all for today.  I will be traveling to Rapid City, which is 50 minutes away, and do some shopping.  I have already picked up grocery items but need to really concentrate on getting healthy food into the kitchen.  I am hoping to lose weight while working here, but that will depend a lot on my preparing healthy meals and avoiding a lot of processed food.  Thanks for reading and keep me in your prayers as I try to be Jesus to all those I meet.

Wall Drug Adventure 2020 - Preparation

   Well it is a week before I am to report to Wall Drug for my summer employment.  I need to arrive on the 29th of May and supposed to start June 1st.  My last day will be August 16th. With the Corona Virus causing major disruptions in the economy, I was surprised that my original contract was still in effect. My best guess is that they had a lot of people cancel their contracts or that HR could not get very many foreign workers this year.  I have a feeling I will be working at a store that is in need of workers.  Well at least they pay overtime at time and a half. The good news is it will only take me two days to get there, with only one night in a hotel. Tomorrow I will get the two totes cleaned out and start packing for my working in South Dakota. Wall Drug's HR has only indicated that I will be in a room by myself.  They have yet to give me any details on how they are going to run the store/restaurant to help alleviate the virus from spreading.  They just said they are working on a plan and I will find out when I get there.  Cathy has advised me to be ready to leave if the store's plans endanger my health.  I agree with her warning, but this virus, and it's prevention, has been generating a baffling array of advice from many sources. 
   My friends at Yellowstone will start to arrive for work on May 25th.  The park will definitely be in a reduced operating environment.  Many hotels, lodges and restaurants will not be opened or will open later in the summer as the park initiates a phased approach to full operation.  I worry about my 83 year old friend Jack who will be working once again in the grocery at Old Faithful General Store.  He should be home and resting, but he loves Yellowstone and cannot stand being cooped up in an apartment under quarantine.  I will be praying for him for sure.
   After my contract is over, Lord willing, I will head up to Yellowstone and see my friends.  I am sure I will miss working there this year, but South Dakota will provide me with a lot of new adventures and I hope new friends.  I plan on taking a long route back home so that I can visit a few people that I worked with at Yellowstone.  Most will be working in Colorado.  So I know the trip will be very pretty.

Special Places To Visit: St. Ignatius Mission Montana

   While traveling up Highway 93 toward Glacier National Park, Cathy and I decided to stop and see the mission at St. Ignatius Montana.  My Dad told me about this place and said I really need to stop and see it as he said words could not even come close to describing it.  Well he was completely right.  Cathy and I were awed by the paintings, better yet frescoes, that were created.

From their web site:

   The Mission in St. Ignatius consists of four buildings: the 1891 church, the original 1854 log church and residence, the 1864 Providence Sister’s residence, and the 1960 Rectory. The most predominant of the buildings is the church itself.  Construction began in 1891 and took two years to complete.  All materials were sourced locally with the bricks made from local clay and trees milled on site.  The interior of the church contains fifty-eight murals painted over a fourteen-month period in 1904-5.  The artist was a Jesuit Brother who served as the Mission cook.  Brother Carignano, SJ, (1853-1919), with no professional training in art, completed the paintings between his regular duties as the Mission cook and handyman.  The paintings depict scenes from Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, and the lives of the saints.  The triptych behind the main altar show the three visions of St. Ignatius of Loyola for whom the Mission (and town) are named.   

  I could not believe the beautiful paintings could be created by a person with no painting experience.  The Lord does work in mysterious was for sure.  The perspectives and the pictures were just unbelievable.  How he ever got the shapes correct while painting on the ceiling, I will never know.  Viewing the paintings from the ground they looked perfect, even on curved walls.  How could a person get the perspectives right while being on their back up near the ceiling?  Amazing.  I very  highly recommend stopping and seeing this mission, even if you have to make a detour off I-90 to do it.

Special Places To Visit: The Tree of Utah

   On a vacation I decided to travel across the Great Salt Lake Desert of Utah.  This was west bound on I80.  Traveling across this desert stretch of highway made me think of how hard it would have been to travel across it in  wagon.  The vastness of the desert was incredible and for miles and miles that is all you saw.  Until about 25 miles east of Wendover and midway between the former railroad communities of Arinosa and Barro there appeared a giant sculpture. Talk about surprised.  After miles and miles of desolate salt flats, there ahead was a large sculpture.  I had to park and see what this was all about.  The sculpture was created by the Swedish artist Karl Momen in the 1980s and dedicated in 1986. The sculpture is 87 feet tall and is constructed mainly of concrete.  It consists of a squarish 'trunk' holding up six spheres that are coated with natural rock and minerals native to Utah. There are also several hollow sphere segments on the ground around the base.  Inscribed on the plaque are the words from Ode to Joy by Friedrich Schiller; also used as the chorus of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. It has been said that Momen was moved to create the 87-foot-tall tree after having a vision of a tree while driving across the desolate Bonneville Salt Flats.

 

 

Special Places To Visit: Old Territorial Prison Deer Lodge Montana

     Just off I 90 in North Western Montana you will find the town of Deer Lodge and in this town is the old territorial prison.  The old prison is a great tourist attraction and you will find many interesting historical things inside.  The history of the old prison is very interesting and the tours through the prison are very interesting also.  I highly recommend stepping inside one of the cells and just get a feel of what it would have been like to have to live there 24/7.  You get to also see the gallows that was used to hang a few individuals.
   The prison is a great visit but the town is also a great place to eat.  Find yourself a non-franchise place and gets some good cooking.

 

 

 

Special Places To Visit: The Ghost Town at Bannack Montana

 From their web site:
   Bannack is a well-preserved ghost town near Dillon in Beaverhead County, Montana. ... Bannack is one of the many mining towns built in the 19th century in the United States because of the Gold Rush. News of the “golden rivers” expanded fast and prompted the greatest rush to the West since the California Gold Rush in 1848.

   While living and working in Yellowstone I ventured to see this ghost town.  I was very surprised by how well it was preserved. Bannack operates as a National Historic Landmark and is managed by the state of Montana as Bannack State Park.  There is an area to camp as well as plenty of parking for tourists like myself.  You pay a fee to get into the town and are free to roam around.  When I picked up the literature of the town I was giving the warning that rattle snakes were around and liked to cool themselves in and by the town's many buildings.  I was surprised at how many buildings were still standing and that the park personnel took great care of them.  I walked around for a few hours and explored the area.  The history of the town is very interesting and the violence that was also present is an interesting read too.  You can even walk to where the gallows stood that saw some justice done to those who committed some crimes for the gold.

From their web site:
   Even though Bannack was extremely remote and situated in a region where the winters are extremely cold, at its highest peak Bannack had approximately ten thousand people. There were three hotels, three bakeries, three blacksmith shops, two stables, a grocery store, a restaurant, a billiard hall and four saloons.