"There is nothing so American as our national parks. The scenery and wildlife are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native. It is, in brief, that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. The parks stand as the outward symbol of this great human principle." Franklin D. Roosevelt

Friday, August 21, 2009

Welcome Back, Carl!

Internet, sweet internet. I haven't been able to access Blogger lately, thus my lack of postings. But I am currently sitting in my sweet new room and using my very own computer to post this. Out of the blue my computer finally hooked up to the internet -- and it only took 3 1/2 months! And my new room I mentioned is because of a new position that I have: Dorm Lead. I am now responsible for the dorms (though no cleaning responsibilities) and what goes on in the dorms. I will still work in the store with new hours: noon until 6:00 and then I will spend 2 hours attending to dorm duties. Yup, my new room is a step up from my last. Though it looks identical to my previous room it does have one thing the last one did not have....a private bathroom!

Hayden Valley has been a rush of activity lately. Earlier this week a bison carcass was about 50 yards off the road. Tons of people have been sitting on overlooks (much of the roadway has had cones put up to prevent parking jams) watching as grizzly bears and coyotes feasted at it. Though the carcass is pretty much gone there has been quite a bit of grizzly activity in Hayden. I have not heard much about the wolves.

The bison have also taken to areas around the road lately. Another traffic jam concern. I have turned around before getting into the valley a few times after seeing car after car lined up behind bison covering the roadway and seemingly in no hurry to leave. I made it through the valley a couple times this week and watched a bull bison pawing dust up from the ground and hitting his lovely lady in the face with it. It looked a little comical.

With the road closed for the year between Norris and Madison the roads are pretty congested with traffic this week. It should be slowing down with the approach of schools starting. It does make for a long drive (2 1/2 hours generally) to make it to West Yellowstone from Canyon.

The store is getting ready for the annual Christmas in August celebration. On August 25 we will celebrate Christmas complete with Christmas attire (including sparkly Yellowstone Santa hats), decorations, a feast and then a Christmas show which will include snacks and employee skits. I am in 2 skits and I will also present a video that I have made which shows all the pictures I have taken of employees at work and at play. Everyone is looking forward to it.

And I certainly cannot sign off without letting you know about Carl returning. He was able to come back to Yellowstone and he arrived here this afternoon. Everyone is very excited about having him back and I know he is excited to be back. His huge grin on his face when he exited his car said it all. Welcome back, Carl!