Updates from Yellowstone!!

May 15, 2007

So Shane and I, having finally arrived in Gardiner the night before, found ourselves at the door leading into Xanterra’s Check-In point. At this point, a million and half thoughts are running through my head. You can imagine what would be running through a 20 year old’s brain at this point in time…I’m 2,000 miles away from home, I have just traveled all the way across the country with my twin brother, I’m going to be gone for 3 months and will not see my family. Needless to say, my mind was totally racing.
At the check-in (which they hadn’t received my paperwork that my mom had overnight Fed-Ex’d a week ago!), the employees began hounding on Shane because he was going back to Pittsburgh and wouldn’t be spending the summer in Yellowstone. They said they had open spots and that he could easily sign up and work here for the summer. I guess it wasn’t for him.
All that check-in stuff was boring. Got an employee card and uniforms, filled out more paperwork, attended an orientation session in Mammoth, ate lunch at the EDR (employee dining room) with Shane (we bought him a coupon for a few bucks). After all that, it was time to head down to Old Faithful area to check in.
There really was not a lot going on for me today after this point. I checked in, got Shane situated so he could stay in my room for the night, moved all my stuff into my dorm (Columbine) and then just began to meet a bunch of cool people. Shane and I went hiking around the geyser basin and just enjoyed seeing some of the wildlife.
We ate dinner at the Old Faithful Inn and just really took in the sights of such an amazing building. I’ve heard it said it’s the largest wooden structure ever built. If you haven’t seen this building, it is huge. It seems to have about 7 stories, all made out of logs (it’s a huge log cabin, looks “Adirondack” if you know what that means). There are all these little nooks and crannies with which you can hide yourself away and lounge on these chairs. There is also a huge stone fireplace (it actually has 4 fireplaces in it). We also grabbed some ice cream and then I talked to some of the National Park Service rangers about volunteering with them so that I can get some experience with them (seeing as how I’m a Parks and Resource Management major, it would help to have a foot in with the park service).
After it got dark, Shane and I took a walk down by the creek with Tanner (from Texas) and Matt (Iowa) who were some guys that I met during the training today. They’re really nice guys and Matt is a really good Christian and so we had some good conversations about that. We were watching a mother bison and her calf play down near the creek. On our walk we met up with some other guys and heard that there was a bonfire being held by some people in our dorm, so we went to that for a little bit. There was a guitar player and a man on a drum playing together and it sounded so cool (like an African tribal type music). After this, we just pretty much went to bed.

May 16, 2007

Today I began my official training. It started at 8:30 in the morning with some safety training over in the Employee Pub. This was really boring, but I got to meet some awesome people. We then moved over to Old Faithful Lodge to continue more specific training for our jobs. I got placed in the pantry doing prep cooking. The work sucks, but the people I’m working with are really great. I’m working with my roommate, Nate (Minnesota), and other people: Brooks (Michigan), Dan (New York), Ingrid (Iowa). They’re all really cool and I enjoyed getting a chance to talk to them all day long.
They served us prime rib for lunch because they’re testing out some recipes and making sure that all the different cafeteria stations know how to do their jobs. I met a really awesome girl named Jessica, who is a recreation major at a college in Michigan, but is from Minnesota. She was interesting to talk to because we’re studying the same thing at school and are interested in a ton of the same activities.
Work pretty much sucked. I cut cakes, plated them, wrapped them, and stored them. I also did fruit cups, salads, etc. I’m going to be asking for a change of position soon. I really would like something that allows some sort of interaction with the guests (with this job I’m stuck in the back of the kitchen).
After work (and returning all my phone calls from the day), Shane, Matt, Nate, and myself drove 2 hours down to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was a great drive down through Yellowstone, the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Highway, and Grand Teton National Park (which we got some great pictures!!) We dropped Shane off at his hotel, after driving around Jackson for a little bit not being able to find a hotel. This town is really neat! It’s a lot bigger than I thought it was and a few of us are going to spend some of our long weekends down there. There seems to be a lot to do. It’s a bigger town with theatres, stores, malls, outdoor recreation stuff, and a lot more. I think it’d be awesome to spend at least 2-3 days there exploring the town.
On the way back, after dinner at Wendy’s, I almost hit a whole herd of elk. We were driving back through Grand Teton National Park (and yes, I’ll admit I was going way too fast), when I heard Matt scream “Stop!” I look ahead in my headlights and I see 8 elk crossing the road. I slam on the brakes and the tires start squealing, the anti-lock breaks click in, and we finally come to a stop about 2 feet from one of the cow elks. Close call.
We continued the drive just talking the whole way. They’re really great guys and I had a good time talking with them. Easy to talk to and I can see them becoming really good friends this summer. Now here I sit in my bed. It’s 11:55 and I need to be up at 8:30 to continue some training and get to work. So for now...goodnight! Keep me in your prayers and I’ll be sure to keep you all in mine! God Bless!