Well my second week working is in the books. The highlight of the week for me was mostly financial. I got my first payday and the money was deposited properly. I am also happy that they raised their hourly rate from 11 dollars an hour to 15 dollars and hour. The interesting and frustrating thing about that raise is that they still can't get people who want to work and live in the park. I think the outlying areas are paying more than 15 dollars and hour and that is what is hindering employment. But the good part of not being fully staffed is I get my own room in the dorm and I will take that any day.
The first part of the week was sunny and most of the snow on the roofs have melted, except for the three foot accumulation above my dorm window. Toward the end of the week it started snowing again in the night and ealy morning. So winter is not done with Yellowstone just yet. Some of the tourists are prepared for the cold and snow and others are wearing shorts and such and shivering. We are selling a lot of hot chocolate and coffee in the store. The grocvery section has not been very busy yet, as there has only been limited tourists wanting grocery items. This week we received three truck loads of back stock in preparation for when the tourists start flooding in. Ron, my boss, estimates that Memorial Day will be the start of getting swamped with tourists and it wont end until Labor Day. It took us two days to get the back stock properly stored. We are finding that quite a few items that are being shipped to us have either expired or will expire shortly. Ron is not happy about that.
One of the highlights this week is the appearance of a Pine Marten in the store. Yellowstone had a record snowfall this year and animals were trying to get into the store and have a place to shelter for the winter. We knew we had a few in the store but we thought we got them all out before a lot of stock arrived, but one or two evaded our traps. The little guy below hides in the rafters in the day and sleeps and then prowls the store at night eating my groceries. When all the snow finally melts, then he or she may find there way out of the store. Unless we are able to trap it and get the rangers to release it somewhere in the park. He is a cute little thing until you get close to it and then it is all teeth.
The tourists that are showing up now are a lot of foreigners. I think they are mostly staying in the Snow Lodge. The tourists are somewhat taken aback by the snow and the limited hiking right now, but if they would have looked on the park's web site they would have seen warnings of such. I went hiking around the geyser basin and several areas were still under snow and some around 2 feet deep. You had to be causious for sure while walking the paths. Most of the toursists in the area just want to see Old Faithful, they really do not want to put the effort into trudging around in the snow to see the other geysers. I am sure as things melt, the tourists will finally see some of the better geysers in the area. Mostly Yellowstone right now is a driving park. Not too many people want to explore further than the plowed roads.
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| The view out my dorm window. Snow still coming down. |
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| The parking lots are still surrounded by piles of snow. |
I probably mentioned before that the prices for items in the store are very high. See below what 10 ounces of turkey costs and what a small lunchable costs. I always recommend to those visiting here to stop at Walmart and buy supplies before hand. You will save a lot of money if you do.
On a sad note, it always happens that while I am here a death of a friend or family member happens. My friend Dave Wildridge had been battling cancer for around two years. He lost the battle this week. Dave and I worked at Crane for many years until he decided to leave the government paycheck for a civilian job. We had such a blast working together and clowning around early in my career. I have many great memories of our time together. We saw computers go from main frames to minis to personal to the cloud. He helped direct CORP into what it is today. I can remember so many long lunch hours hitting baseballs and throwing footballs, just to get our minds off the computer and engineering stuff. We had a blast during those times. Cancer has taken him way too soon and my heart has been hurting all week for his wife Susan and their family. Rest in peace Dave and you will always be a "Club" member. Thanks for the laughs and I will always remember shooting you in the game "Outlaws" that we played on the government internet.
Well that is about all for my second week. On my day off tomorrow I will be heading to Idaho Falls and catch the new Guarding of the Galaxy movie. I hope also to get some pictures of the Snake River falls. Talk to you all next week.
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