Saturday, May 26, 2007

Hurry up and Relax

Birthdays Birthdays...

On Chuck’s birthday, we decided to take a hike up elephant back once again. It was extremely fun with the group of us (Molly, Jacob, Chuck and I). No bears this time, instead we got to the top and found ourselves among the clouds. It was so humid and cold, but beautiful to watch the clouds float between the trees around us. We got back to the dorms at about 8:30 and headed to the pub for pizza and drinks. Everyone bought Chuck a round to celebrate. Afterwards, we came back to our (Molly and I) room and played cranium until the wee hours of the morning. At one point we also dragged Chuck down the hall in a sleeping bag which was probably one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen! It was a great way to spend my last day off.
The next day Molly and I walked around chasing an elusive grizzly bear for most of the morning. We never actually saw it but the ranger had been tracking it with a radio collar and told us that it was just out of sight down the shore but had to keep everyone away. We walked back to the dorms just enjoying the day and met a peculiar man who was just in the park to take pictures; he was very nice and exceedingly interested in our lives as we live in Yellowstone. Being the talker than I am, I spent almost an hour talking with this man before I had to rush back to get ready for work.

Work this week is kind of crazy…the foreigners have arrived so we have plenty of server assistants; they are all very nice and eager to know us and work. My schedule for the week consists of 3 double shifts in a row, two of which are splits; after that I have an early breakfast and then it’s vacation time again for a few days! I don’t mind working so much, I just come home and sleep, think of the money and count down to my days off.
I still absolutely love it here, and the weather is finally getting warm again!

Camping season is almost upon me….

80's Dance

Molly's 21st Birthday was also a success! We went into Cody and bought a cake, a crown, ate some real food, and began planning our 80's outfits. The pub's theme for the night was an 80's dance and it seemed like everyone was going to go all out for it.

We headed to the pub at about 10 o'clock, all decked out. Ordered a pizza, assuming we wouldn't get it until also midnight anyways; and waited for her hour to arrive. Well, we got impatient and had her start drinking at 11, she was well on her way to drunk before midnight. The DJ announced her birthday at midnight as she blew out the candles! We danced the night away and watched Molly drink round after round until the pub closed down. The adventure home was one of the best, Molly was making speeches and announcing to everyone that it was her birthday as Chuck and I carried her home. When we got back Molly almost instantly fell asleep. I went outside to watch the rest of the drunken 80's night goers return from the pub. Yellowstone definitely knows how to have fun.




























More Updates...


I still love the park! My working hours are extreme, I work double shifts 5 days a week; but our managers say it's going to get better as more people arrive. I can onl
y hope that's true, I had some awful blisters on my feet after last week. The weather has been nice, no snow and right around 50 degrees. I think I will go whitewater rafting next Thursday with Molly, and hopefully camping on my days off as well.

I hope everyone back home is doing well, I apologize that it is so hard to get in contact with me.




Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The Plight of Three


After the events of last night, I've decided to recount my summer adventures from Yellowstone National Park here for everyone to read and remember. A few of my friends also have blogs; their links are posted on the right. Many of the stories will be the same but from different perspectives.


Thus, from the beginning.

I applied for a job in Yellowstone with the simple hope that I wouldn't spend my summer working in the foundry again. To my surprise, my accidentally submitted, uncompleted application was accepted in less than 2 weeks. I told my parents about the job and they said that I should go for it. Without a second thought I packed up my things and headed west. I left Waupaca, Wisconsin on May 10th and drove 11 hours to Spearfish, South Dakota where I stayed the night. The following day I finished my drive to the park and stayed in another hotel in Gardiner, Montana. Here I met my first coworker; "Tex" was staying in the room next to me and we met while unloading our trucks. I discovered he would be working in Old Faithful, whereas I am at Lake Hotel. Nevertheless we hung out most of the evening and decided it would be best for us to still together the next day during registration.

Day 1 in the park was hectic and long. We registered in Gardiner, then drove through the park to Mammoth Springs where we attended an orientation. From here we were to head to our working locations. I said good-bye to Tex and began the 1.5 hour drive to Lake Yellowstone. Upon arrival I was assigned a room and told that I start work the next morning at 8 a.m.

I moved in and awaited my roommate. Molly moved in only a few hours after I did. She is from Cheyenne, Wyoming and I am truly lucky to have her as a roommate. We work/live great together! Our suite mates are Aubrey and Laura K.

Day 2 and beyond. We trained 8 hours a day for the first 4 days, in the evenings my new found friends and I would take walks down to the Lake and around the area. It's beautiful in the park, and living here gives me a sense of calm that I've never experienced before.

The main group that I spend time with consists of Molly my roommate, Jacob from Indiana and his roommate Chuck from Michigan; they will be mentioned periodically throughout the blog.

Kayaking mishap...

Jacob has his own version of this story if you are interested; but these are the facts....

On May 13th I decided it would be a good day to go have some fun on the cold choppy lake. It was no different than some of the other lakes or even rivers that I have been on. Secondly, I live in Upper Michigan right on Lake Superior (the water temperature is always cold, I swam in it the last week in April) so cold water doesn’t bother me.

The main reason I wanted to get out on the lake was to see if I would get any cell phone reception. So I go into my kayak as soon as I got used to the waves, and paddled out maybe 8 strokes; at this point I got out my cell phone. Here is where I ran into trouble…I was holding my paddle with one hand and my phone with the other. A wave hit me from the side (had I been holding onto my paddle properly it wouldn’t have been a problem) but instead I proceeded to put my cell phone away because I knew what was coming next. So I turned over in slow motion (not having my splash skirt on to complete the roll) and flooded my kayak. I didn’t move for a moment because I was laughing and still attempting to zip my pocket shut so I wouldn’t lose my cell phone. Then instead of just getting back into my kayak I thought swimming back to shore would be easier (I was only about 4 side strokes from where I could touch the ground). In the mean time, Jacob rolled up his pants and walked in up to his knees in a failed attempt to “rescue me”.

Once on shore I laughed and dried my cell phone (which still works!) Then I lingered on the beach for about 10 minutes just taking in the humor of the moment. On the walk back the truth is no one saw me…I was saddened by this because I thought it was hilarious. The only two people who witnessed me drenched were Jacob (obviously) and Molly who I had to track down to show.


Bear Encounter...

Elephant Back Trail

I went on my first real hike tonight and of course we saw a grizzly bear! On the way back down the mountain we stumbled upon it. It wasn't full grown but we were WAY to close for comfort. So the group of us (5) continued on quickly without getting any pictures.

The bear knew long in advance that we were coming because we were making plenty of noise and almost walked right past without seeing it. She turned around and made sure we knew that she was there and then continued along her way. Thank goodness other hikers warned us at the top that there was a grizzly in the area. We reported the sighting to a ranger, ironically, it was the same ranger who just warned us about entering the bear closure when we began our hike.

Finally, the event which brought me to this blog….


Happy Birthday Chuck...

"...this could be bad"

Last night Chuck, Jacob and I took a drive to Idaho Falls. The purpose was simple, retrieve Chuck's suitcase and stop at Wal-Mart to get supplies from the outside world; "liquor and cheap cigarettes" as Chuck put it.

The drive began normally, it had been snowing all day but we didn't think anything of it. We stopped to photograph elk and buffalo along the way to the West Gate. Outside of the park we drove on singing and talking about life in Yellowstone. We arrived in Idaho Falls to discover that Chuck's suitcase had already been delivered to Old Faithful. Without lingering on the fact that our trip was pointless at this point we continued on to Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy for everything from snacks to paint, hair-dye to flash lights.

We pit-stopped for some dinner and then began our drive home. The sunset was amazing, colorful and enchanting. We entered back into the park at about 10 o'clock and went to Old Faithful. While we were there we met up with some friends and enjoyed a few minutes relaxing in the Inn. Next, we went down to the employee living area and retrieved Chuck's suitcase.

It was now getting late, beyond 11 o'clock and both Chuck and Jacob had to work at 5 a.m. We drove through the park being extremely cautious of the elk and bison. As we approached Ibsen Lake we noticed the bridge was sheer ice. Chuck slowed us as much as possible before we hit it but the ice took control of the vehicle and caused us to go into a slide. He was able to keep us on the road for a long time but the ice just wouldn't end... the car slid into the ditch right between two trees and then the decline of the ditch took out momentum and the car rolled over into the marsh directly on the Continental Divide.

Hanging upside down within the car we made sure everyone was ok, and then got out to collect ourselves. The marsh had provided a soft landing for us, everyone walked away unscathed. Once we processed what had happened we looked around the area to figure out what to do next. My phone which had exited the vehicle during the roll was laying in the mud (my phone is such a trooper) it is yet again working but we didn't get any reception in the region we were in. Earlier in the day Chuck had bought a sleeping bag, thank goodness for that, I was wet and cold and it was so warm.

We stay together by the car, tried to stay warm, and waited....

Approximately 45 minutes later a pick-up truck came down the road. The two gentlemen inside did not have room to take us anywhere but they turned around to get a ranger. Not too long after that a semi-truck came down the road he attempted to stop and help us but he went into a slide for the next 1/4 mile and almost went into the ditch himself. Jacob went to see if he was ok, and told him to just keep moving but to radio in the accident when he could. Again, the three of us were left on the side of the road alone. The rangers responded quickly and were at the scene 15 or 20 minutes after the first truck had stopped. The road was so icy it was difficult to even walk on.

The rangers put us in their vehicle for warmth and began to survey the accident. The car is totaled. The wrecker was on the way...all we could do was wait. 3 hours later the car was back on it's tires and out of the marsh. 4 rangers, 3 firemen, and a tow-truck driver had now spent much of the morning with us. We hitched a ride back with the wrecker and arrived at our dorms around 4 in the morning (again, Chuck and Jacob have to work at 5 a.m.). We got what we could out of the car before it was towed to Fishing Bridge.

The three of us stayed awake until the boys had to go to work. I would think being involved in rolling a car into a marsh would be grounds for a day off....low-and-behold, it's not. They both worked full shifts. I returned to my room and explained the situation to my worried roommate. Then I collapsed into my bed, muddy and wet for a few hours of well deserved sleep.

So that's the excitement in Yellowstone. We are all safe, uninjured and left with a rather unique story. Tomorrow is Chuck's Birthday....what a way to celebrate.

*Ironically, the first day I got here someone told me that Yellowstone is great because it starts off awkward and then you meet friends and it turns into an amazing bonding experience... this last week and a half have proven this statement true.*