The Calf

H. Hazel and I finished our week of training and are now well-equipped to serve food, bus tables, and keep all of the coffee and pop* machines up and running in the Canyon Lodge cafeteria. The “caf,” or as I call it – the “calf,” had a “shakedown” lunch yesterday, serving food to all of the Canyon Lodge staff to practice before serving park guests. Actual work is so much more fun and fulfilling than training; even bussing, which I supposed would be my least favorite of my jobs, isn’t so bad. As a bonus, we got to eat delicious shakedown breakfast and dinner in the CL dining room. I was even kind enough to pay for the $103 dinner for my table of four with the fake credit card the assistant manager gave me.

This is Canyon Lodge’s big opening day. I had been looking forward to being part of it: going to work (not training), serving food, and talking to people from all over the country and world. However, we found out yesterday afternoon that Hilary doesn’t start until Sunday and that I don’t start until tomorrow evening. The mild disappointment of missing opening day was quickly replaced by excitement at the prospect of getting to go on our first backpacking trip. If everything goes according to plan, we will hike to and camp at Ribbon Lake on the other side of the canyon.

*I’ve made several friends from Michigan who all refer to soda as “pop,” which entertains me. I am also very amused when they point out where in Michigan they live using their hand (because most of Michigan resembles a mitten). I also take great pleasure in their pronunciation of “Oregon” as “or-uh-gone.”

The Canyon

After dinner last night, we went for a walk to see our area’s main attraction: the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  Only a couple of miles from the lodge, the canyon is gorgeous, complete with the 308-foot-tall Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.

On the way back, our group stopped and had a fun impromptu snowball fight - a rare treat for a Texan.

The Arrival

Everything has been splendid thus far on Hilary's and my summer adventure.

Zack Van Brunt (current surrogate son in the Newman household) graciously drove Hilary and me to the airport at 3:15 Friday morning so that we could catch our 6:00 flight out of Houston.  I slept on the plane, Hilary watched me sleep on the plane, and we were checked into our hotel in Bozeman, Montana before noon. We ate a great lunch at MacKenzie River Pizza Co., a recommendation from a professor of mine who got his undergraduate degree in Bozeman. After a brief walk around town, we returned to the hotel and caught up on lost sleep.

We rose the next morning and walked across the street to catch a groovin' bus, whose colors reminded me of the old Astros uniforms.  The bus crowd was lively, and we made several friends en route to Yellowstone.

Once we got to the park, we checked in, got our employee ID cards, picked up our uniforms, went to orientation, and got our room assignments - typical first day stuff.  Our newly acquired friends and our view of beautiful mountains (above) made the hours of line-waiting a lot more pleasant than they might have been. That evening, we arrived at Canyon Lodge and got settled into our rooms in the "Grizzly" dorm.  Much of the surrounding area is still covered in snow.

Training began today.  Hilary and I both found out that we will be cafeteria workers in the "front of the house," which thankfully will involve a number of non-dishwashing tasks.

I hope to explore the area on some little hikes in the coming week.