Since I hadn't been to Grant Village yet this year that is exactly where I went yesterday. The store there is beautiful and I love the layout. I also like the look of the store in Fishing Bridge. That store has an outdoor feel to it. The main attraction there is a huge stone fireplace that has a fire in it on cooler days. Grant was just remodeled and it's look is much more up-to-date. The Canyon store has been remodeled twice in the past 7 years. The theme here in Canyon is much different from the rest of the stores in the park. Our theme here is about the 1950's & 1960's when cars were becoming much more popular inside the park. It's nice but somehow seems a little out of place with all the natural beauty around.
After my stop at Grant Village I headed off to West Yellowstone. Once I got there I was a bit disappointed in myself for not remembering to pick up my free tickets to see the Yellowstone IMAX movie. I will have to remember to get my ticket and just put it in my glove compartment. Feeling a little daring I decided to head back to Canyon through the road construction instead of going back the way I came (by Old Faithful and by Lake Yellowstone). A new bridge is being constructed by Gibbon Falls between Norris and Madison. There are possible 30 minute delays since there is a section with only 1 lane and the road closes at 10:00 pm until 8:00 am every night as the night crews work. In August it will eventually close permanently for the season. Some of the crews stay at the Canyon RV park so I've gotten to visit with a few of the workers and they give my updates on their progress. It's amazing to see the huge equipment that have been moved in, some of which are up on the cliff over the current roadway. Anyway, I only had a 5 minute wait (I timed that right) so I was glad I decided to head that direction. I took a couple pictures of the construction.
Since my wildlife viewing has been rather lackluster lately (warm days and working until 9:30pm) I took the north loop last night. I saw a grizzly by the Blacktail Lakes and another one by the Chittenden Road at Mt. Washburn. Then I was off to the fireside ranger talk which was about the 'greening' of Yellowstone. The talk was about all the recycling program within the park and using reusable resources. It was interesting and made me appreciate all the trash sorting I do..............there are recycling bins everywhere and I had to attend a company talk strictly about the company policy on recycling and the use of chemicals.
I will be busy today at work. A man from corporate (Buffalo, NY) will be in the store tomorrow. Everything needs to be stocked, polished and shiny.
