I got up around 5:30 and packed and checkout of the hotel in Bozeman Montana. My plan was to walk next door to the McDonald's and get some breakfast before driving the hour and forty minutes to West Yellowstone, but I was disappointed in that the McDonald's did not allow indoor seating. So I headed down the road in hopes that another place to get breakfast would show up. Unfortunately the fast food places did not have any indoor seating or were not open. So I decided just to have a late breakfast at the McDonald's in West Yellowstone. Heading down the highway the sun was just coming out but the day was already proving very hazy from the fires out west of us. It is such a shame in that the drive through the pass would have been more enjoyable if the day was clear.. The scenery along the river through the canyon is just fantastic. I drove along thanking myself for the new truck's adaptive cruise control capability. It makes driving and looking at the scenery so much more enjoyable and less stress on the driver. I never saw any wild animals along the route, as in the past I have seen big horn sheep, grizzly bears and moose. I arrived in West Yellowstone around 8:15AM and went to the McDonald's. No indoor dining there either so I took the breakfast and ate in my truck. Let me tell you about West Yellowstone prices. The breakfast I got would cost $4.69 at Linton McDonald's. Here it cost $8.00. The McDonald's in West Yellowstone is known as the most expensive one in the franchise.
I drove to Human Resources (HR) and checked in. I received my ID card, which I clock in and out with and had to sign a lot of papers concerning COVID and dorm living. The gave me three T-shirts and two aprons to use, but they wanted me to buy the used winter coat for $5. They gave that coat in the past because we worked in the freezers and refrigerators. I guess it is another cost cutting measure from Delaware North. After being released from HR I was told to go to my store to check in the with store manager. I neglected to tell you that HR is close to the entrance of the park and the tourists were already lined up trying to get in. The line of cars stretched for about a half mile. So it took me a little while to get into the park and head to the store. Once in the park the driving went smooth. I did notice that the park had the road closed from Canyon to Tower, which means a trip to Lamar Valley will take about 1 hour longer. This is not good at all but the roads need work and they have to shut down traffic to get them fixed.
I arrived at the store and the placed was jammed packed. I can tell immediately that it is going to be a busy busy summer/fall. I met the store manager and her husband, who is in charge of fountain. She seems very nice but also very busy. Her and her husband worked the lower general store last year and requested the upper if they could get it. She seems very capable and very personable for leading the store. She gave me my dorm key and told me to check in with Ron. Ron told me he already had me scheduled and my work week was Wednesday through Sunday. So I wont start work until Wednesday. I went around greeting the people I knew and worked with before. Mark, Mary, Heidi, Bob, Patrick, Pam, etc. It was great seeing these people again. I then went to work getting my things in my room. The pictures below are before and after:
After getting the items put in the room I went to talk to some friends about life with Delaware North and the store. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Delaware North decided to not charge the employees for the dorm rooms this year. That is a $50 a week raise for all employees. That is very good as the company has been rather cheap lately in how they pay and handle employees. I think they were doing it to ensure some loyalty and also improve morale. Which in a packed store with limited employees is rather needed. I also learned that the store hours, which I thought were set by Delaware North because of lack of employees, was in reality set by the park service. This surprised me as I think they don't have enough employees to go from 7:30AM to 9:30PM. It is way better to be open 9AM to 6PM with the staffing they have now. The only drawback of the present hours is no split shifts. Which means no naps in the middle of a work day. Walking 6 miles a day in grocery takes a toll on my legs and I enjoyed having a 2 hour split shift break. I know others did not but I sure did.
Well that is about it for today. I will be walking around the geyser area for exercise this evening. I went out in the afternoon but there are too many tourists out there. I hope the internet continues to be functional so I can update the blog regularly. We will see. Take care. Miss you Cathy.
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