Friday, July 17, 2009

News from Yellowstone

Things are still exciting at Yellowstone. People coming and going; some getting tired or overworked or wanting to move on to something else, and that happens most frequently in the kitchen and housekeeping departments for obvious reasons, being shorthanded and overworked. So new people are continually streaming in. One thing that stays the same is the ever present mosquito. They kind of fade away, then another rain, which happens every couple of days or so and then here they are again.



Most of our Chinese kids have left. Their contracts were very short term. The most polite kids you could ever meet. They will work day & night and are ever curious and and bowing and "thank you". But they do make a racket when they are all congregated in the EDR or dorm with their high pitched voices.



Joe did an orientation for 4 new girls from Taiwan and he now has a permanent fan club. They all speak in unison, "Hi, Joe", Bye Joe" "Have good day, Joe"



We have very few internationals now but do have one boy from Macadonia, which is unusal.



We have spent a couple of weekends outside the park. Staying at a charming B&B in Ennis, Mt. run by an English lady who has horses & dogs she has rescued and true English Gardens, which are unexpected as the homes around her are all quite bare. There were Pronghorn playing in her yard.



We spent one weekend (our weekend being Monday & Tuesday, which works out really well as we can usually get specail rates and the tourists have moved on to other places) at a B&B in Red Lodge, Mt. The route there is quite interesting, going through the Beartooth Mountain Range which is a 68 mile stretch of beautiful 11,000 ft high mts. The pass is closed from Labor Day through Memorial Day and the goal of everyone is to be able to go over the pass the first weekend it is open as it is like going through a snow tunnel for 68 miles with the snow being higher than the cars.



Our trail to the EDR has opened after being closed for a week . An angry mama elk was charging people and tho no one was attacked, it was scary to run into her. Tho yesterday I came upon a couple of beautiful bull elk on the trail and they ran up by the guest lodges and everyone was taking pictures so they will have something to show for their stay at Grant.



Gotta go to work and count money.