The Season Has Started!

The season has officially started and the Hotel has been open for 5 days now and I've been so busy training and all that Michael has had to write all the blog posts! Most of my training was meeting the group, paperwork and a ton of computer training.  Its pretty hard to learn a computer system that is older than you are (We are using a DOS system that is from the 1980s...).  Part of our training was a bus tour, however, and that was super fun!

Old Faithful Geyser

We left from the hotel about 8 AM and drove from the Lake area up to Old Faithful, the whole way learning new things from the tour guide and also a few bad jokes.  For example: In the older days of Yellowstone people would ride in carriages around the park and they would stop for lunch by some hot springs where they would put their eggs in metal basket and put them in the springs to cook.  After a few minutes they would have hard boiled eggs.  That's not allowed anymore, but do you know why its not allowed?....... Because there is no poaching allowed in Yellowstone!! Hahaha.  So you can see that the tour guide jokes are really very hilarious.  But anyways, when we arrived at Old Faithful, we arrived just in time to see Old Faithful Geyser go off.  I've saw it go off in the summer last time I visited when I was a teenager, but it looks really different in the winter because it produces a lot more steam.  It was really neat to see.

Canyon Falls

Old Faithful Inn

After Old Faithful we went around the park, noting interesting geological features and visiting every hotel/lodge/campground to familiarize ourselves with each to better be able to help the guests.  We went to Canyon and saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone as well as the Upper and Lower Falls there which was quite amazing, especially with all the snow around them.  After, we had to radio in to see if we could take the road directly to the lake area, which unfortunately we could not due to construction, so we had to go all the way back around the park to get back.  This made our trip about 10hours long and we didn't return until about 6.  Needless to say we had a very long workday that day, since we were getting paid for the tour.  The tour was really helpful though as I have had quite a few guests ask me about things in the park and now I know the answers.

Map of Yellowstone showing the Bus Tour Route

  
I've had quite a few check-ins so far at the front desk, but its nothing compared to how they say next week will be when the hotel will be pretty much all filled up!  So far I have really enjoyed work, and I think Michael has too.  We've been meeting so many fun and nice people here (including nice guests so far :-) )  All the people I work with at the front desk are awesome and we get along really well.  Michael and I have asked for the same days off so we will be able to hang out on Tuesdays and Wednesdays which is nice because some of our friends have Wednesdays and Thursdays off so we can go hiking and hang out with them some.

We have been enjoying our time here very much so far.  Going to the pub with friends after work, or going for a drive to see wildlife.  Eating at the Employee Dining Hall (or EDR for meals) is always fun because you are bound to see someone you know and you can catch up with them while eating.  The food is really very good most the time, and Michael and I have become friends with a few of the EDR staff since some live in our dorm, so we are certain to get extra of all the good stuff.

Yesterday we moved rooms in our dorm.  The one we had on the end, though we liked it, was right next to an outdoor staircase that leads to the rooms upstairs and so we could hear everyone going up and down at all hours of the day and night.  It was just too loud.  So we moved up the hall a few doors to a new room, and have already gotten it all organized.  I think we will like this spot, and our new setup much better.