Here Comes The Weekend

Grizzly bear 399 and her two yearling cubs

            Well, last night’s shift was overall pretty easy, especially compared to the last two night shifts I worked. When I got there at three I learned that David and James had switched shifts, so I’d be working with David. Maggie was working a longer shift, so she’d be there too. After clocking in we saw that there were about 160 check-ins expected. Since there were three desk agents, plus Jen, working, that was very doable. Also, to make things easier, there were several tour groups coming in that we could do batch check-ins for, taking care of a bunch of check-ins all at once. Thankfully, it was going to be an easy shift.

            By the time I went to dinner we’d already knocked out over 100 check-ins. I met Tanner, Cristina, Nate and Jesse in the EDR and ate with them. They said that they might go to the Whistle Pig later, and I said I’d join them when I got off work. Later on in the shift, at about nine o’clock, there were less than twenty check-ins left, and Jen said one of us could go home. Maggie and I chose to stay, and David left early. Pretty much the entire rest of the shift was me, Maggie, Jen and Brian, who was also working, just talking to each other. The lobby got pretty dead by about 9:30. We were completely sold out again last night, but thankfully it was still a much easier shift than the past two.

            I go in at three again today. Today is my Friday, so I’m really hoping it’s another easy shift so that I’ll have time to go hang out in the Whistle Pig again afterward. When I checked the system yesterday it said that we have about 160 check-ins again, with almost 200 check-outs, so we shouldn’t be full again tonight. I’m not sure if we have any tour groups coming in, but I’m hoping we do, since that will make it even easier.

            My main plan for this weekend is going into town for karaoke tomorrow night, which everyone is really excited about. I think we’ll probably go into town fairly early so we can eat dinner there before going to karaoke. The EDR food usually is pretty good, but it’s also nice to do something different every once in a while. When I was talking to Brian last night, he mentioned that he might go cliff jumping on Thursday, and I said I’d definitely go with him if he did. I’ve heard that cliff jumping is one of the best things to do in this park, so I’m definitely not missing out on that. I might also go on a hike or something like that on Wednesday before going into town. Sounds like it should be another fun weekend for me here in the amazing Grand Teton National Park.

            Also, I said that I’d try to put pictures in my posts more often, so here’s another. This picture was taken by one of my coworkers who went to school for photography (here’s his website: http://www.trentsizemore.com/ ). This picture is of the very popular grizzly bear 399 with her two yearling cubs. The bears here are identified using numbers instead of names so people won’t think they’re tame. Bear 399 is probably the most popular bear in the area. She’s had quite a few cubs that now live all throughout this park as well as Yellowstone. I think it’s very appropriate that she’s the first wild grizzly bear I’ve ever seen.