Desert View - Day 24 - Loving it!

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(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

5:45 am - Monday - December 4th - Grand Canyon - 27º F, humidity 36%, wind 3 mph out of the northeast......forecast high for today is 49º F with partly cloudy skies.

So, here we are 24 days into our stay here at the Grand Canyon....what's the early verdict?  Well, we're getting acclimated to the area, to the weather, to the job, and to the people with whom we work.  We love working just 5.5 hours per day while getting paid $10.10/hour.  In reality, we net slightly more than we did each week working 7.5 hours per day at Yellowstone, plus it is not nearly as busy this time of year as it was during the summer months at Yellowstone.  Every time we visit Grand Canyon Village and see how busy the store is there we are grateful to be at the Desert View General Store......VERY grateful!  It still feels like we have been here longer than just over 3 weeks.

I had the 'close' shift Sunday.....I was up around 6:30 am, and bid adieu to TLE around 7:20 am as she left for work in the VW......she doesn't like walking to and from work by herself as far as I can tell, especially through the woods, so she drives.  I love walking to and from work, so it all works out well for each of us.  The wind had come up around 5 am, and by 7:30 am it was blowing pretty good.  I have no doubt the wind gusts might have reached into the 30's a few times during the day, but I am also pretty sure it never got into the 40's as forecast.  Generally the wind was pretty steady all day long, and into the evening.

Initially the store was not too busy when I arrived at 12 pm, but by 1:30 the foot traffic had picked up, and by the end of my shift I tallied almost $400 in cash sales.  If you would have asked me to guess I would have said somewhere in the $200's, so it was busier than it seemed.

It is gradually getting darker earlier each day as the winter solstice is still 17 days off, which means the sun will continue to set earlier and earlier each day until then.  I had to wear my Teka headlamp to walk home through the woods.  I was home by 5:40, and changed into more comfortable clothing a few minutes later.  TLE made pollo asado taco salad for dinner.....one of my favorites!

The wind continued to bluster until after I went to bed at 9:30 pm, but eventually it abated.....just a little later than originally forecast by the weather guessers.  In closing, TLE captured the following two pictures of our local elk bull while grazing on juniper berries just a few feet from the VW in the General Store employee parking lot behind the store.......

.....certainly not as grand as 'Touchdown' of Mammoth Hot Springs fame, but impressive nonetheless.  There are also a lot of mule deer, and regular deer (whatever 'regular' means).....amazingly there do not seem to be very many squirrels.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.