Acclimation......

6:19 am - Friday - 49º F, 68% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the east southeast....partly cloudy with a forecast high of 89º F.....it's going to be hot in the General Store!

What a day!  Thursday was the hottest day so far at Mammoth Hot Springs General Store with inside temps hitting just over 90º F.  I am, however, finally getting acclimated to the higher temperatures of summer once again.  But, I get slightly ahead of myself.

In our original site here at YRVP we had a clear, unobstructed view of the southern sky, however, in our new site there is a tree off the left front corner of the Newell that partially blocks that view.  I thought I could live with a satellite signal in the 69-70% range, but after a month the tree has leafed out more, and my signal was down to 49-50%, so it was time to address the 'growing' problem.  On Tuesday I had actually gotten out my portable Winegard 'Carry Out' dish to see if I could find a better view of the southern sky within the two sites I occupy, but was not successful in getting any signal, so Wednesday I was determined to try another solution......move the Newell forward 2+ feet to get a better angle around the offending tree.

I had to disconnect the sewer, and take off the wheel covers before moving the Newell, and then figure out how far forward I could move without intruding into the 'street'.....that ended up being just about 2 feet.  After moving the Newell, and re-leveling I dialed in the Winegard crank up dish once again......victory!  I was able to get the signal up to 79-80%!  That is a big improvement!  How long until the offending tree's growth causes a problem again?  We'll see.

We left, as is our custom, for work at 1 pm.  We have been running our rear A/C on the Newell for about an hour each day as we get dressed for work, then shutting it off and opening up all the windows.  By the time we get home at 10 pm it is relatively comfortable inside.  Sometimes, however, we have to turn on the A/C when we get home for about 30 minutes to cool down the interior, but we don't see any point in leaving the A/C on all day while we are gone.

As I have written previously, there is no A/C in the General Store where we work.  There are 10-12 ceiling fans scattered throughout the store, and another half dozen portable fans to keep air moving on the main floor, but the last week, or so, it gets pretty warm from about 2 pm to 6 pm.  In the 'Fountain' we are surrounded by heat generating equipment.....two hot dog rollers, a chili cooker, a nacho cheese heating machine, an ice making machine that puts off heat, the main ice cream freezer which puts off heat while keeping the ice cream from melting, and finally the pretzel machine......we are encircled in this wall of heat that seems to cling to our corner of the store.  We have been gradually adding fans trying to disperse that heat......we now have 3 fans in our corner of the store, and it is now getting more tolerable.  Of course, as I mentioned earlier in this missive, I am also gradually acclimating to the higher daily temps.

We emptied 19 tubs of ice cream in the 'Fountain' on Thursday, and the line in front of the fountain did not begin to dissipate until 5:30 pm.  It was never a long line, but there were always 8-10 folks in line from 1:30 to 5:30.  TLE and I took our 'lunch' at 5:30 just as things were quieting down.  It never got super busy again, but the time still passed quickly.

Once again at 9:45 pm we were on our way down the Gardiner River gorge carving the turns, and enjoying the cool night air rushing in through our open sunroof.  Life is good!

As has often been the case with the numerous workamping jobs we have worked in the almost 6 years we have been nomads it always comes down to the people we work with that make each job worthwhile.  We are thoroughly enjoying the folks we work with each day, and that kind of pushes the hot temps into the background of our thoughts.  It is the new friendships that we take away from this current work experience that will hold a special place in our hearts for years to come.

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Integration....

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7:26 am - Thursday - 55º F, humidity 65%, wind 2 mph out of the east southeast......partly cloudy with a forecast high of 89º F......ouch!

I was up by 6:40 am writing my latest blog entry and thinking about an 'out and back' bike ride north on US-89 again.  The air was cool, and the skies were mostly clear so I set out to ride to Corwin Springs (about 6.6 miles north) and back before the temp got too warm.

The air at 9 am was crystal clear after another rain and thunder storm during the night, and the views were big and long as I began my ride......

.....as I rode northward there was a lot of southbound traffic heading for YNP, no doubt. Within about 25 minutes I was entering my turn around point, Corwin Springs.....

.....one of the main attractions of Corwin Springs is 'The Lighthouse Restaurant'......

......according to Yelp (4 stars) and Tripadvisor (4.5 stars), this is the top rated restaurant in the Gardiner area (technically this restaurant is listed as being in Gardiner, MT).  I'm sure TLE and I will be checking this one out in the near future!

I made my turn around and began the mostly uphill trek back to TRVP.....I felt compelled to stop and take a couple more pictures of the mighty Yellowstone River........

......I was back at YRVP before 10 am......in all I covered 13.3 miles in less than an hour averaging 14.4 mph over that distance.

Wednesday was the beginning of our 5 day work week, and we were on our way winding along the Gardiner River to Mammoth Hot Springs by 1 pm as is our custom.  Upon our arrival around 1:15 the General Store seemed quite crowded, and we were both concerned that this might be one of those days where the customer lines are never ending, but as it turned out that was just a short lived situation.  The rest of the day was busy, but not overwhelming........the hours seemed to melt away once again.....I caught this pleasant sunset around 9 pm after we had finished cleaning up the 'Fountain' area.......

In a couple of days we will have been here in YNP for a month.......hard to believe.  We are getting ourselves integrated into the community, and enjoying our co-workers.  On the way home from work we stopped off at a local bar called The Rusty Rail, the only place open after 10 pm in Gardiner, to have a beer with friends and co-workers Dodge, Roscoe and Jeannie before continuing on home.  Draft beer is only $3.25 a pint!

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Spa Day.......

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7:12 am - Wednesday - 53º F, humidity 78%, wind 1 mph out of the southeast....partly cloudy with a forecast high of 81º F.

 It's been a while since TLE and I treated ourselves to a spa day, so we decided Tuesday would be just that for us at Chico Hot Springs which located 30 miles north of Gardiner in Pray, MT........

......first up was our massage at the Day Spa facility located on a hill overlooking the rest of the Chico Hot Springs complex.  TLE's appointment was for 11 am, and mine for 11:45 am.  We opted for 'spot' massages for our first visit which last 30 minutes and cost $50 each.  Full body massages last 55 minutes and cost $85.

......we were done with our massages by 12:20 pm, and on our way down the hill to the Chico Hot Springs Complex which includes a hotel, saloon, hot pools, and a poolside grill as well as a pool side bar.  There is a shaded hot pool kept at 105.3º F, and a large cooler pool kept at 98.3º F......the following picture was taken in the hot pool with the cooler pool in the background.....Yelp gives them a solid 4 stars on over 100 reviews.....we would agree!

.....the hot springs were first discovered in 1865, and Chico Hot Springs Resort was established in 1897......

.....the facilities are all up to date, and are well maintained.  The changing rooms in the pool area are first class and include a small spin machine to put remove all the water from your suit after you are finished soaking.....sweet!

Around 2 pm we decided we had soaked enough and headed for home.....

......the view down the valley as we left Chico Hot Springs......love the big, long views!

We were home just before 3 pm.....what a wonderful spa day it was for us!  I took a nap immediately upon return to the Newell and slept for almost an hour.  Around 6 pm I lit the Sea-B-Que in preparation for two filet mignons TLE had purchased several weeks ago at Raley's in SLT.   A great way to end another relaxing day!

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Bozeman, MT

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6:52 am - Tuesday - 50º F, humidity 75%, wind 2 mph out of the east.....clear blue skies.....forecast high for today is 77º F.....ahhhh....a small cooling trend!

After two successive 'weekends' spent exploring YNP we decided to do a little exploring outside YNP......we were in the VW a little after 11 am driving north......US-89 northbound is a beautiful two way road that winds its way along the banks of the Yellowstone River  for about 52 miles to Livingston, MT where we then merged on to I-90 eastbound another 21 miles to Bozeman.  The skies were quite cloudy, and as one might expect we were rained upon a few times going and coming from Bozeman.

Bozeman is the nearest large city, and is also home to Montana State University.  This town founded in August of 1864, was named for its founder, John M. Bozeman.  Our first stop was the local Goodwill where TLE and I both found a few articles of clothing without which we could not live.......we found it had been raining whilst we were in the store.....

....by this time is was close to 1 pm and time to scratch another itch we had......some brews and pub food.  There are numerous micro breweries in Bozeman, however, all but one, Bridger Brewing, were closed.  They have a 4.5 star rating on over 100 reviews, and those reviews were not lying.  Bridger Brewing has alfresco dining, but on this day with intermittent rain showers we opted for a rainless lunch and chose a table inside......

.....I ordered a 'Summer Shandy' and TLE ordered their 'McTavish Scotch Ale'

Summer Shandy and McTavish Scotch Ale.....both quite yummy!

.......Bridger Brewing's food specialty is pizza and we both chose to order a slice with a house salad ($8).  All of their food prices were very fair.  We would definitely visit them again.

 Giant pizza slices!

Next up was a visit to the local COSTCO to do some shopping, then to Target for TLE and for me a haircut.  Ya'll know I like to get my haircut at Supercuts, but alas, there are no Supercuts in Bozeman, so chose 'Great Clips' just across the parking lot from Target.

......initially I was told it would be an hour wait, but ultimately I was seated having my hair cut within 30 minutes.  That worked well for TLE as she had not been in a Target for quite a while, and enjoyed browsing up and down their aisles.  I received a great haircut from Kelly, and was on my way back across the parking lot in a driving rain to pick up TLE from Target.  It continued raining most of the way back home, but finally stopped about 25 miles south of Livingston.

Eventually the rain stopped, and we were treated to a beautiful view as we drove south on US-89 back to Gardiner, MT......

.....we were home by 5 pm with big smiles on our faces.  A very nice, uneventful day spent with each other doing things we enjoy doing together.

It was still quite warm when we arrived back at YRVP* so we opted to turn on the A/C for about an hour to cool off the interior of the Newell......still so thankful our 35 year old roof top A/C's work soooo well!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

*YRVP = Yellowstone RV Park

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Swarming..........

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6:55 am - Monday - 53º F, humidity 71%, wind 5 mph out of the east....partly cloudy.....forecast high for today is 84º F.

I have been getting numerous messages from friends and readers about the earthquake swarm here in YNP the last few weeks.  Officially there have been 878 earthquakes related to the super volcano that underlies all of Yellowstone National Park.  Typically there are from 1,000 t0 3,000 earthquakes recorded in YNP each year.  According to the USGS (United States Geological Survey) the majority of these are in the 1.0 magnitude range, but there was one 4.4 recorded, which is the largest recorded earthquake in YNP since March of 2014.  We are told there is just a 1 in 730,000 chance the super volcano will erupt in the next 12 months.  Neither TLE, nor I have felt any of the earthquakes.  Most of them have been centered up around West Yellowstone, which is about 60 miles southwest of our current location.  All that being said, if the super volcano were to erupt most of the northwest U.S. would disappear, and a large portion of the U.S. would be blanketed by volcanic ash.

Sunday morning was coolish, and I decided to take a 10 mile out and back (5 miles out and 5 miles back) bike ride north on US-89.  This area is a little disorienting to me because when I think of  riding 'north' I usually associate that with a gain in elevation, not a loss of elevation, but the Yellowstone here flows north, so as I ride north I am steadily losing elevation just as the river is.  The terrain all appears to be high desert with a lot of scrub brush, but it is beautiful nonetheless.  As I hit the 5 mile mark I came abreast of the La Duke Picnic area.......

.....a perfect turn around spot.......

......I made the turn and began the 5 mile ride back to YRVP*.......I stopped one more time to take a picture of the Yellowstone River, which is still running bank to bank.......

Looks like a scar from an old 'slide'

......in all it took me about 42 minutes to cover the 10+ miles at an average speed of 14 mph.  I burned just under 700 caloric units.   It's been a while since I rode my Cannondale Bad Boy on the pavement as most of my 'riding' the last couple of months has been on the bike trainer.....not the norm for me.

By the time we left for work at 1 pm the daytime temp was up into the 80's, and it was obvious it would be a hot day in the General Store.  I arrived at my station in the 'Fountain' at 1:30 to find things in full swing.  We were plowing through hot dogs, pretzels and ice cream at a remarkable pace, and that is the way it typically is for the first two hours of the 'CLOSE' shift each day.  Usually by 3:30 things begin to slow down to a moderate pace for the rest of the shift, and that is how Sunday went.

It was extremely humid Sunday afternoon, and without the benefit of A/C we felt it inside the store.  Apparently the local elk population was feeling it also as we saw 20-30 elk laying the shaded grass areas as we approached the General Store (I wish we had taken a picture).  By 9:30 pm I felt like the equivalent of a 'wet noodle', but there was a smile on my face, because I knew I had two days off the clock coming.

We will do some more exploring Monday and Tuesday......thanks for stopping by!

*YRVP = Yellowstone RV Park

P.S. - Here are the last three reviews of TVC on Tripadvisor submitted July 9th:

1 - "A single tent site for $50?!!! Pretty steep. Loud. Sites smashed in together. Not the experience we were looking for but, being the largest campground in the area we were able to find a site last minute."

2 - "So disappointed in Tahoe Valley Campground this year. We always stay a month or longer and always the same site, have for the past 7 to 8 years. They have always made sure not rent it out to someone else and keeping us first in mind for next year. We reserve it before we leave. We went to reserve it and they already had it taken by someone else. 

Talked to the new manager ( there has been 4 in the last two years ) he wasn't interested. Told us he couldn't take it away from someone else and give it to us. But they just did to friends who reserved a site last year and they gave it to someone else. Our friends ended up with a 30 amp site when they need a 50 amp. They said they won't be returning. 
This Campground needs a manager with people skills and Personnel skills. 
Someone able to supervise and oversee the workers. The facilities are not kept up as in the past. 
The family atmosphere that use to be here is gone. 
So sorry we won't be returning next year."

3 - "Campgrounds needs people out supervising sites. Too many people, cars and tents on some sites. If there was a fire, it would be a disaster to get out. There needs to be a limit per site. Ladies in the front office were wonderful and very helpful!"

All three reviews 3 star ratings.....interesting trend.

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Parking in the 'Park'

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6:37 am - Sunday (Friday!) - 53º F, humidity 75%, wind 4 mph our of the east northeast......partly cloudy with a forecast high (again) of 86º F.  This is our Friday, and we are looking forward to our off days!

TLE and I spent a large part of Saturday morning, before work, taking the written 'Platinum' test for our final 'Adventure Guide' designation.  The test is 'open book', but was still quite hard.  It took our two 68 year old brains operating at maximum capacity to find all the answers.......I am still not sure they are all correct.  The other written tests were easy by comparison.  Then it was time to begin getting ready for another work day.  

Initially the morning temps were cool enough that I finally turned on our 'fireplace' heater to take the chill out of the air, but by 10 am it began to warm up outside with a vengeance.  By the time we left for our 5 mile drive up the Gardiner River gorge it was in the high 80's.

We have a pretty large employee parking lot behind the General Store, but by the time the 'CLOSE' shift folks arrive there are very few spots left......sometimes we have to compete with the local wild life for parking spots........

.....I haven't taken many pictures of the wild life around Mammoth Hot Springs, and specifically all the elk that wander around grazing in the abundant grassy areas.  Most of the elk are 'cows', but occasionally we will see a young 'male' elk, calf, with short antlers.  I have yet to see a grown male elk, bull, in a densely populated area like Mammoth Hot Springs.  In the middle of the day parking becomes a major issue in Mammoth Hot Springs, and we get many, many tourists driving into the employee parking area looking for a place to park. There are orange cones in every single unoccupied site, plus numerous signs advising this area is strictly for employee use only, but they still try to park there anyway.  I totally understand their desperation.  Sometimes it can take us an extra 7-8 minutes to drive the last few hundred yards to work as there are so many folks looking for a parking spot.

When we arrived our 'CLOSE' shift things were pretty slow, and that is how the day, by and large, remained.  We had some spurts of activity, but generally it was very slow paced.  At one point a young woman (leader of a youth group) approached us at the 'Fountain' to announce she would be purchasing 17 single scoop ice creams for her kids.  Amazingly, we processed those 17 orders in less than 10 minutes......we are getting good!  That was the one big rush of the day......we had a few times when there were 7-8 folks in line, but it was nothing like last Saturday and Sunday (4th of July weekend).

Just as we were getting ready to close the 'Fountain' for the evening we got a rush of about 10 folks (two families)......as the clock struck 8:30 pm we simultaneously emptied 4 of our 8 tubs of ice cream......a perfect ending to our day!

TLE and I were on our way home by 9:40 pm, and home just before 10 pm.....one more day in our work week and then our exploration of YNP continues!  The full moon peeking over the local trees.......

.......by the way, did you know that 80% of the trees in YNP are of the lodgepole pine variety?

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Positive energy.....

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7:34 am - Saturday - 53º F, 71% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the east southeast......partly cloudy with a forecast high of 86º F.  It was breezy all last night, and is still breezy as I write this morning.

Life moves along pretty quickly, and here we find ourselves waking up July 8th in a completely different place than we thought we would be a couple of months ago.  Yellowstone was not even on our radar back then.......well, in hindsight, all I can say is Miss Serendipity smiled down upon us going back several years ago when we met our friend Art at Amazon.  When the chips were down Art was there to help us focus on what we wanted, and what was important.  Through his contacts at Delaware North we landed these wonderful seasonal jobs in Yellowstone, and TVC is now just a distant bad dream whose vortex we have been blessed to escape.

We have been hearing a lot of news out of TVC the last week, and it appears things continue to deteriorate.  Equity Lifestyles, Inc. encourages their customers to file reviews on Tripadvisor after their stay.  They strive to maintain a 4 star rating, and so far it is still there, but the negative reviews are beginning to accumulate over the past 14 days.  The biggest complaints are noise at night, filthy restrooms, and over flowing dumpsters.  The Yelp reviews lately are really devastating.  It makes us sad to see all the hard work we, and others put in the last three years being undone in one summer....really in just a few weeks.  By the end of the summer most if not all the long term seasonal employees will be gone never to return.....some will be gone within the next two weeks.  I haven't heard from any current employees who plan to return next summer, so it would appear that the new manager will have to start from scratch to recruit new seasonal workers for the 2018 summer season.

Okay, enough of the maudlin talk......we are in the midst of the warm season here in YNP, and Friday was another warm day.....high 80's interrupted by a couple of rain showers.  The time passes by quickly each day as we become more and more familiar with our jobs.  Friendships are developing, and the more time we spend with our co-workers the more we like them.

The customer smiles I see across the 'Fountain' counter, and unwavering positive attitudes, and senses of humor displayed by my co-workers make it easy to endure the 2+ hours of uncomfortable heat in the afternoon.  Thankfully, we did not get big crowds Friday, but business was steady and once again we achieved our sales target for the store.  We only went through about 12 tubs of ice cream Friday, but sold a lot of pretzels.  We are getting better at estimating how many pretzels to heat up, and ended up with just one unsalted pretzel at the end of the 'CLOSE' shift.

The moon has now reached its 'FULL' status as of last night, or at least it appears so from this picture.  We were off by 9:45 pm bidding our friends adieua, and on our way home down the Gardiner River gorge.  Looks like it's going to be another warm day today (Saturday)......we have been leaving our windows open 24/7, and it is almost always very pleasant inside by the time we get home at 10 pm.  We were in bed by 11:30......

Pictures of a couple of the large stuffed animals Delaware North has in the Mammoth Hot Springs General Store 

So, in conclusion, I will strive to spend each day thinking good thoughts and sending positive energy out to our friends still mired in the train wreck that has become TVC.

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