Coworkers, Cool Places, and Crazy Weather

            Last night’s shift was actually pretty fun. It had a few busy, hectic times to it, but overall it was still an easy shift. A lot of it just consisted of joking around with Nate, David, and Jen, who are actually the same people that I’ll be working with tomorrow evening. It actually seemed to pass by pretty quickly since we were always either working with guests or entertaining each other.

            I got up this morning early and went to breakfast with Cristina and Nate before they went in for their morning shift. After that, instead of going on the employee hike that Shane had set up, I went and did some hiking of my own (don’t worry- I had my bear spray and stayed on the trail!). I hiked out to a beautiful area called Oxbow Bend. The trailhead for that one is right behind the corrals right here on the lodge’s property. Oxbow Bend is, I think, one of the most beautiful areas in the park. On calm days like today, the mountains reflect in the Snake River perfectly, making for a really amazing scene. The hike out to it is about two miles, and once I got there I just sat and enjoyed the view for a while. Then I continued hiking, looping back around a different way than I’d come, passing another beautiful spot called Christian Pond. The hike was a total of about five miles, and I arrived back at the lodge just in time for lunch.

            I’d been considering going to the pool after lunch, but it started to get really cloudy and dark not long after I left the EDR. I swear, the weather in this place really can turn on a dime. The wind also kicked up quite a bit, so I nixed the pool and came back to dorm to relax after that hike. It started to rain a little after Cristina got off work at three, and we both hung out in our room with the back door standing open. There’s an overhang outside our door, so the rain doesn’t come in the door if we leave it open. All that was let in was the great smell of the rain and the cozy sound of it coming down outside.

            By about 5:30 the rain had stopped and Cristina, Jesse and I headed to the EDR for dinner together. After eating we walked back through the lodge and stopped at the activities desk, where Tanner was working. We talked with him for a while, and I scheduled an activity for me to do with one of my days off this coming week (more on that to come).  My schedule this week is very open. I only work tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday. Sounds like a great time to get out into this park and have some fun.

            As I mentioned earlier, I work at three again tomorrow with David, Nate, and Jen. I’ll probably get up early for breakfast again. I like joining Cristina before she goes in, and I feel like I’m getting charged for three meals a day no matter what, so I might as well use all three as often as possible.