So today began my second “weekend” since I started my job
here in GTNP. As I posted yesterday, I wasn’t totally sure when this weekend
would be since the schedule had been switched around. Yesterday was my sixth
day in a row to work, but in a way I wanted to work another day so I could have
Saturday off. Jesse’s planning to grill some food by our back patio and have
some people over to hang out on Saturday evening, and I really wanted to be
there. Turns out I do work Saturday, but it’ll be my first morning shift, so
I’ll be done by three. Cristina works that shift too, and Nate’s off Saturday,
so everyone will be free to hang out that evening by our dorm. A few other
people we know may join us. It should be fun. The EDR food is usually pretty
good, but it’s nice to switch it up every once in a while.
Yesterday
evening I worked with Nate and Cristina at the desk. They’re probably my two
best friends that I’ve made here so far, and it was the first shift that all
three of us had together. It was a really nice, stress-free, fun shift. Cristina
hadn’t worked the later shift at all before, but thankfully it was a day that
we weren’t busy and didn’t have any problems come up, so it wasn’t hard at all.
In fact, a lot of the shift was just the three of us standing behind the desk
talking to each other. A couple of hours before the shift ended, Christopher
said one of us could go early since we didn’t have very many more reservations
that we were expecting. Cristina was a little sick, so Nate and I let her go
first.
At one point
in the evening when there weren’t any guests around, I went over to the
activities desk across the lobby to book a rafting trip this morning. All the
employees were advised to do those events earlier or later in the season, when
it wouldn’t be as busy. It’s awesome that people spend a lot of money to stay
here and do all of these activities, and this company lets employees do them
for free.
I reserved a
spot for myself on the scenic guided raft trip that started at nine this
morning (didn’t have to get up too early, but got back in time for lunch). I
met up with five other people who were on the ride in the lobby this morning,
and the guide drove us over to the area where the rafts entered the Snake
River. One couple on the ride with me I’d actually checked in to the lodge a
few days ago. They didn’t recognize me until I mentioned it to them, though,
since I didn’t have my uniform on. We got into the raft at about 9:15 and were
on the water until almost noon. One animal that I’d never seen in the wild
before was a bald eagle, which I’d heard were often seen on the raft trips.
Several people that had seen them in the wild had told me how amazing it was,
so I was really hoping that we’d see one. Our guide, Jess, said that we would
actually pass a nest along the river.
After being
on the water for about half an hour, I got to see my very first wild bald
eagle, and the experience didn’t disappoint. It was perched in one of the trees
very close to the river’s edge. It’s hard to understand how big and beautiful
they are until you see one like that. Along the raft tour we got to see a total
of four bald eagles- three adults and one juvenile, which looks quite different
from the adults. Also near the end of the tour we saw a moose near the edge of
the water. Its antlers were still in velvet, but we could already see how big
and beautiful they were.
I was able
to get back to the lodge in time to meet Nate and Cristina for lunch. They both
go into work at three today. After lunch Cristina and I both sat out on our
back patio, just enjoying the beautiful day. It’s about 65 degrees here, bright
and sunny, with a cool breeze blowing. I honestly don’t think we’ve had a bad
day in the time I’ve been here. I’m really glad that we got lucky enough to
have one of the few dorm rooms that have the back door to this patio; we’ve
been using it a lot. The area right outside our back door is the best: mostly
shaded by tall pine trees, while still having some sunny spots, and we see and
hear wildlife back here quite regularly. It’s really cool to see “Todd”, our
neighborhood fox, run right past us. Elliot came out to join us for a while,
and the three of us planned to go on a horseback ride tomorrow afternoon, since
he’s off and Cristina is done at three. We then texted Jesse, who said he’d
join us. I might also go to the lodge’s pool tomorrow morning, or maybe even
later today, since it’s now open. Cristina and Nate just headed over to work;
I’m currently sitting on the picnic table by our back door writing this.
Looking over
this, I just realized that this is the longest blog post that I’ve written so
far. It’s already been a really fun weekend, and I still have tomorrow to do
more fun things around this amazing place that I live in.
What a great adventure you're on. I'm jealous.
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