After discussing things over with Cathy and making sure that all of Janie's personal effects were taken care of, I decided to ask if Delaware North needed me back. The response I got was a resounding "Yes!" It seems the store is losing employees and can use all the help it can get. So I made my reservations for hotels on the way back and I left the Friday after the memorial service. Janie's memorial service was very nice and very well attended by many who knew her and wanted to pay respects to my in-laws Don and Norma. It is hard to lose a daughter and they are handling it as well as can be expected. Debbie and Cathy did great getting all things arranged and we all worked hard to get Janie's apartment and belongings taken care of.
The trip back to the store was uneventful, as I took three days to get back versus the two it took me to get home. I am too old to be traveling that far in two days. Once I got to South Dakota the traffic was great and when I got to Buffalo Wyoming the traffic to Yellowstone, in my direction, was pretty much non-existent. So that made for a great relaxing drive into the park. I stopped by Wall Drug to say hello to my friends and I could tell that the tourist season was winding down considerable. Pauline said that they had a great and busy summer. I like that store not so packed as it was very pleasant to walk around in. When I went over the Big Horn mountains I got a pleasant surprise by 3 moose that stopped me. They had no care in the world and just walked around the road. I had the road to myself and when I reached Shell Falls I was surprised to see I was the only one there. That has never happened before and I loved walking around the falls and not having to deal with anyone else.
I arrived in Cody Wyoming and gassed up and had lunch at the Irma. For the first time I have to admit that the food was terrible. I can see they are losing help and the cooking was very substandard. I left Cody and headed to Yellowstone. The traffic was pretty good until I got to Lake Yellowstone. Then it started to slow down until I reached the dorm. I only saw one elk the whole way through until I reached the dorm area and there was a bison feeding behind the dorms. I checked back in with the store manager and got my room key. I am in the same room as before and grateful for it. I have a room to myself and that will make my stay here rather nice. I checked in with Ron my grocery boss and he told me to go back on my old schedule of Wednesday to Sunday, but I will work some on Tuesday when the delivery truck arrives. Due to a shortage of workers we are only getting one delivery a week now on Tuesdays. So the delivery will be huge for a while until the store tourists season slows down. I can already tell that things have slowed down. The cashiers have told me several times that it has and the stock on the shelves do not seem to be hit as hard as before. I am sure when I get back to work I will be told what items to not stock until they are gone on the shelf. As we cant send back open boxes of stock only unopened boxes. Ron also indicated that he is not receiving around 40 percent of the items he has ordered. The items are either out of stock or unavailable.
Today being a free day I wanted to go to Idaho Falls to get my oil changed but they did not have an opening. So next Monday I will drive there and get my oil changed. The weather here is changing to fall as the temps are cooler now. The nights are in the thirties and the days are in the mid seventies. It wont be too long before it snows for the first time I am guessing. I may take a short hike around here to Black Sand Basin, as I have never been there before. Well take care and thanks for reading.
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Shell River at the bottom of the Canyon
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