Ready for Holiday

We are almost to the Fourth of July weekend. This will be the first time in several years that we have had the day (4th of July) off and are able to go to the parade in town. It is also the first three day weekend of our new schedule of working four days a week. If the weather cooperates, it will be a great weekend.

Our other couple at work has, coincidently, requested a five day work week after having a schedule of working four, ten hour days. They have been hinting that the long days are a drain on them, so now they get our old schedule. Even though our income will take a hit by eliminating one work day per week, we feel it is time in our working life to begin easing off and enjoying the area more than we have.

With the parade on Tuesday and the party on Tuesday night, it promises to be a terrific Fourth celebration this year - and we are certainly ready...

New Schedule

It finally happened. The staffing at work has reached the level where our manager can finally place us on a four day work week schedule. Beginning next week, we will have Mon-Tue-Wed off each week until further notice. That gives us the flexibility to travel to places we have wanted to go within WY that we couldn't schedule previously because of the short weekends. The new schedule begins with the Fourth of July Holiday, so we will remain close to home for this next week. With three months remaining in our season, we will have plenty of time.

Speaking of staffing, the new girl - Karen - is going to be a perfect fit for our staff. We worked with her all day yesterday and she has picked up the procedures quickly. It is like she has been working there for months already. She is a young girl - college student - who is very bright and has a great work ethic.

We will close again tonight and tomorrow before having our two days of opening. Sure looking forward to the shorter schedule...

Insurance Issues

The afternoon appointment with the doctor to discuss my Lipoma was bittersweet. We made arrangements to have it removed this morning before going to work at 11 AM. That is, before we heard back from the insurance representative that the procedure would not be covered by my insurance. Oh, well, I guess we will wait until we return to AZ before having it done. We are "out of Network" here for the surgery, so it is not covered. It isn't so bothersome that I can't wait another 4 or 5 months to have the minor surgery performed.

Meanwhile, we are caught in another "soupy" weather pattern. It rained yesterday afternoon and is continuing to rain this morning. This shot was taken out our window yesterday afternoon:

Not very pretty.

Our new work week begins today and we are told that the new employee that started on Monday is working out beautifully - so far. We really hope she works out as we are anxious to get our 4 day work week implemented...

Scare

For the last several months, I have been experiencing what has felt like a pulled muscle on my right side. The problem was that it wasn't getting better at all. In fact, if anything, it was paining even more and there was a lump forming. I decided to have it checked yesterday so Josie and I went to the emergency room at the St John's Hospital here in Jackson.

The doctor asked lots of questions and felt around the swollen area and stated that I had a Lipoma. What a relief. It is a harmless, hereditary growth that can be removed if bothersome. I have scheduled another appointment today with the recommended surgeon to have another opinion and to discuss removal of the growth. Right now it isn't very large but can grow substantially, so I will have it removed in a simple operation with just local anesthetic.

I also removed our bikes from the rear of our RV yesterday to clean them and get them ready for use. Below is a shot of our site yesterday with the bikes sitting under the front of our RV:

So now, we have bike riding as an added option for us on our days off.

As mentioned, I have another doctor appointment today - at 2:30 - so our second day off is planned for us. It is just a blessing that the two days off have resulted in positive news about a worrisome health issue...

Goin to Hang Out

The weather is beautiful today and we had planned to schedule a hike but will, instead, just hang out for the day. There are a few things that need attention in the RV and we have other small projects that we want to complete. This is a shot of the mountains after we got off work yesterday at 4:15:

That was one of the rare occasions when there were no clouds in the sky. We like all of those.

We hope to do our hike tomorrow and will figure out which trail to attack later today. There are so many good ones, it is always tough to decide. As long as we don't try to extend ourselves, it should be a moderate hike with not so much elevation change. Hopefully, there will be more flowers and beautiful scenery to show...

Closing Out theWeek

Today is our final day of this work week. Amen. This week went pretty fast as we look back on it. Even though there are staffing problems, we were able to make the best of the situation and get another "good" week under our belt. It appears that, for the first time in several years, we will get a chance to go to the Fourth of July parade. The schedule, at least for now, has us off on that day next week.

There is a "neighborhood" party scheduled for the 4th of July. We were invited to the gig which will be in the afternoon and will be held close to our mini campground here in the Elk Refuge. We will have a barbeque followed by watching the fireworks which will be conducted not too far from us. It should be a fun day and we are hoping that the weather cooperates for that occasion.

In the meantime, we are planning another hike for one of our two days off this week. There are a couple options we are looking at and will decide sometime today. There are many good choices, so no matter what, it should be good exercise with some pretty scenery...

Short Night

This is the one day a week that we don't especially care for. We open at the Visitor Center this morning at 7:45 after closing last night. The good news is that we are finished today at 4:15.

Crowds are beginning to grow each day now and we are getting busier. The dominant event is still the Eclipse that is occurring on August 21 of this year. Nobody knows the real impact it will have on the town except that everybody is expecting a record crowd of people in town and surrounding areas. All of the planning is actually a guess and a shot in the dark about how to respond to this event. There has been no precedent for this activity in Jackson. All we know is that the town is expected to have gridlock, and all employees are required to work. The Eclipse will take place on our normal day off in August, so it will be interesting to see how the planning goes.

So far - and it is only June - we are somewhat disappointed in the way things are going here. The jury is still out on our new RV space and our fellow workers are different from last year and, so far, not as much fun. We have a long way to go though, so we are looking forward to some good times and positive changes...

Squeezing in Other Duties

It has become difficult to get our normal chores done while working the five day schedule. We want to do all the fun stuff on our days off and, consequently, we are forced to do regular chores during the work week. Josie is doing some laundry this morning between 7 AM and 10 AM. Our work day begins at 11 AM. Today is our dreaded day where we close the Visitor Center at night, and reopen the next morning at 7:45. As said before, we are really looking forward to the four day work week promised to us.

As a result of our closing last night, we missed a GTA (Grand Teton Association) party that started at 6 PM. As we went to a similar party last year after closing the Visitor Center (after 7:30 PM) the food was almost gone by the time we arrived, so we passed on it this year. Unfortunately, nobody considers the late workers when scheduling these affairs. I'm sure there will be others that we will be able to attend later in the year...

Back to Work Letdown

Any time we have a couple nice days off, we are sorry that we have to return to work. Yesterday was a letdown from the two previous days when we had nice weather and fun stuff to do. Oh, the weather was nice enough yesterday, but working, compared to playing, is not a fair comparison.

We spent a good portion of the day yesterday dealing with issues that have been created by our new person. She is, basically, a lazy person that really doesn't want to perform the required duties. Our manager is trying to get her on board with the program, but she is not picking up on some major details. She has never worked in a retail environment before, has very little customer service skills, and we feel that her "culture" from being raised as (Hindu) Indian has a lot to do with her performance. Her mother is a lawyer, her boyfriend an Architect, and maybe she feels like she shouldn't even have to work. Any way, she is detracting from our joy of working there this year - so far. Maybe things will turn around with her and the other "new" person who is starting work on Monday will make a positive difference. There is a long way to go in the summer program and there is lots of time left to improve. We are really looking forward to going to a four day work week this season - soon...

Great Hike to Phelps Lake

The morning was clear and warming up rapidly so we left early - 8 AM - for our hike to Phelps Lake. This is a hike that we take each year and is not very strenuous and very pretty. The trail to the lake follows Lake Creek which is, essentially, runoff from the lake. This time of the year it is raging and flowing viciously trying to keep up with the runoff from the winter snows:

We took lots of pictures and we selected the ones below to show how beautiful the area is at this time of the year.

This first shot is taken along the trail:

And the Lake was beautiful:

The wildflowers were everywhere. These are some of the photos of these colorful flowers:

The total distance that we hiked was about 4 miles. Next time, we hope to hike completely around the lake which would add about 4 more miles. It is a good thing that we didn't do the full hike around the lake as a thunderstorm moved in just as we were driving away from the area.

We stopped in town to grab some lunch and headed home for the rest of the day.

Our new work week begins today at 11 AM and we wish we had that extra day off that we are eventually going to get when the staff is complete. We never get tired of seeing these fantastic areas in this part of Wyoming...

Perfect Day for Trip to Idaho Falls

It was just a few minutes after 8 AM yesterday when we left for our first trip of the season to Idaho Falls. Perfect weather and all day to enjoy it on our first of two days off. There was still some snow at the top of the Teton Pass going from WY into ID:

but, of course, the roads were clear.

The drive through the farming areas in Idaho was nice as the Canola fields were visible in all their "yellow" glory:

It reminded us of the tulip fields in Skagit Valley, WA, in April each year.

We went directly to Sam's Club in Idaho Falls where we picked up some much needed supplies that are better acquired at the warehouse club than any other store.

The next stop was at Walmart where I got a much needed haircut at SmartStyle while Josie shopped for items we didn't get at Sam's Club.

We didn't waste a lot time in Idaho Falls as we had to stop at our post office in Moose, WY, on the way home to pick up our mail. This shot was taken of the "Poppies" that were blooming in Victor, ID on the way home:

We made it to the post office before 3 PM. There was a problem with the envelope that we received from our Florida Mail Forwarding Service. The envelope was addressed to the wrong PO Box (52 instead of 82) but the postal clerk made the proper correction. The real problem was that all of the contents of the envelope were for another individual and not for us. I will take care of that issue and have it returned sometime today.

Our plan for the second day of our weekend today is to schedule a hike to take advantage of the gorgeous weather...

Long Final Work Day of the Week

With a slow business day yesterday, coupled with Josie not feeling well, it was an extra long day. Fortunately, it was our final day of the work week and we have our weekend ahead beginning today. There was an unusual bird - crane, I think - that was hanging out in the water behind our building:

It is the first time we have seen such a bird in Jackson.

It appears that summer is also arriving - at the right time for our days off. Compared to the cold, wet weekend we had last week, it is a blessing. It is expected to hit 80 today in Jackson, and 85 in Idaho Falls where we are headed today for our first trip there of the season. We are also, tentatively, planning a hike for tomorrow, so we are looking forward to some rewarding time outside over the next couple days...

Wrapping Up the Week

We were caught up with all the inventory chores and stocking chores yesterday, so it was the kind of day where we tried to find things to do. The traffic in the store was slower than it has been recently and the day seemed longer. Our final day of the week is today and we will probably have another one like yesterday. Josie is suffering from a cold so she is looking forward to seeing the week end.

Our plan is to drive to Idaho Falls tomorrow to take care of some things and to check out the town for the first time this season. Also in our plans is a hike on Tuesday assuming the weather cooperates and Josie feels up to it. These two days off coming up are expected to be much nicer than the last. Temperatures are expected to reach the low 80's and be sunny. We'll take all of those we can get...

Off and Running

Today is the toughest day of the week for us. We worked until 7:30 last night and we have to be in to open at 7:45 this morning. When we get home from work on Friday nights, we just have time to watch the news that we taped earlier in the evening, watch an episode of one of the westerns we taped earlier and then go to bed. It will not be as bad when we finally get assigned to a four day work week. That way, we have an extra day to recover.

No update on a new safe at work yet. The managers are evaluating options, so we have to just hope that the key method of opening the safe works a bit longer.

More rain and cool weather yesterday and cloudy this morning. It only reached about 63 yesterday and it might be a little warmer today. Just so it all clears out and warms up by Monday...

Problems With Safe

The new and major issue at work is now the safe we use in the office. We have been having problems opening the safe by using the combination keypad and a couple days ago it stopped opening at all without using the key option to unlock the safe. A tech came to check out the problem and stated that the safe keypad is not repairable. We need to find a solution pronto before the key option also fails and we lose access to the safe altogether. Of course, that cannot be allowed to happen, so we are vigorously shopping for a replacement. As I close three nights a week and open another two days, I am required to access the safe on those occasions. We'll see what happens with that problem.

We had a clear day yesterday but I see that clouds have rolled in again today. Our high is forecast for 63 today, so we still aren't feeling the nice, summer warmth yet. The forecast also includes winds today, and we are feeling them already this morning. Josie is doing laundry before we go into work at 11 AM, and I am taking the car to the car wash this morning along with getting a propane cylinder filled, so we will be busy right up to the time we have to leave for work...

Clearing

It seems that the lousy weather has run its course. There was sunshine yesterday and a move toward warmer temperatures. This shot, taken from our window in the RV shows that more snow has fallen in the mountains:

That also means that more runoff issues will be forthcoming. The rivers and streams are already running high and fast so it is hard to imagine what impact it will have. Of course, this is only a couple days of snow whereas the runoff to date has resulted from months of snowfall.

There was another person hired at work while we were off. She will begin on June 26, and our manager has already stated that our schedule will be changed to 4 days a week beginning in early July. That will be a welcome change. There are places we want to visit within the state that we will be able to do once the new schedule kicks in...

Near Wasted Day

It is like winter has returned to this area. We had more rain and snow in the higher elevations and the temperature never reached 50 for the day. It was about as close to a wasted day off as we can get. It was the kind of day where we didn't feel like doing anything except trying to stay warm. We did take a drive to see if there was any wildlife movement and to see the mountains (ha) in this terrible weather. Here is a shot of the mountains as we drove north along the main road out of town:

Beautiful mountains on a beautiful day!

It was one of the rare days when none of the mountains were visible.

We are headed back to work today at 11 AM. The reports we are seeing on the weather is that we will begin to see some clearing today and the temperatures will warm up beginning today.

Let's hope for a nice week and some productive days at work...

BarJ Altercation

The weather is lousy for both of our days off. There is snow in the higher elevations and the temperatures are struggling to stay above 50 during the day. It will be more of the same today, so we decided to hold off on our Idaho Falls trip for now.

We drove to Moose to get our mail from our PO Box and took a couple shots of the flooding of the Gros Ventre River over the bike trail along the main road:

It will take quite awhile for all the mud and water to clear out enough for continued use of the trail.

The snowfall in the higher elevations can be seen in this shot:

This new snow will be added to the runoff once it warms up again.

Our scheduled night at the Bar-J Chuckwagon took a sour turn shortly after we arrived. Rachel went to the Bar-J at 1 PM yesterday afternoon to wait for the 5:30 PM opening of the gate for business. The tables are assigned on a first come, first served basis and Donna and Rachel wanted to make sure we got the first row seating. We picked up Donna at 5 PM and arrived at around 5:15 PM to join Rachel who, of course, was at the front of the line. Donna had complimentary tickets for us and the night didn't cost us anything.

The shot below shows the location where our seating was to be for the dinner and show:

We placed our jackets down on the seats - to save our spot as most folks do - while we walked through the small shops on the grounds prior to the start of the evening. When we returned to our seats, there was another couple sitting in Donna's location. There was a heated verbal exchange and the man who shoved Donna's jacket aside to occupy the seat was adamant that he would not move. To make the story short - Donna was so upset that she and Rachel left right after the dinner portion of the evening before the start of the show. We felt terrible about the situation as Josie and I stayed, alone, for the show. We plan to obtain two comp tickets for Donna and Rachel and try again before the end of the month of June when all comp tickets must be used.

This is a shot of the familiar Bar-J Wranglers during their show:

It was a bittersweet evening for us.

Today will be another stay-close-to-home day as the weather has pretty much decided our plans for the day...

End of Work Week

Yesterday saw a little bit of tension, or concern, over the performance of our new employee. So far, she has not shown any real customer service skills and it is beginning to appear like a poor choice was made in hiring her. She doesn't communicate well with customers, takes no initiative in restocking or checking-in new inventory and she sits on a stool at the registers almost all day while there are breaks in customer traffic. Today, our manager will get a briefing from the other senior couple that we work with about her performance. We are thankful that we are off today and tomorrow.

Our trip to Idaho Falls for the first time this season will be tomorrow. Tonight, we have plans to go to the Bar-J Wranglers Chuckwagon with our friends from the Virginian, Donna and Rachel. The rest of today will be taken with laundry and shopping for groceries. The weather may or may not cooperate as we had thunderstorms overnight and this morning the skies are threatening to drop more rain. It is 44 outside this morning and I heard that the high for today will only be 66. Hmm. The warmer weather just doesn't want to stick around yet...

Snow in the High Country

If we didn't already have enough runoff from the winter snow, we are getting more in the high country. The last two days have seen some cooler temperatures and precipitation. It is rain where we are located at 6400 feet, but the snow level is around 8,000 feet. Right now it is 41 outside.

Our final work day of the week is today. The forecast is for rain for the next two days. Our days off will be probably now be spent doing local stuff which will keep us inside for most of the two days. There is a possibility that we will do the Bar-J Wranglers for the first time this year on Monday night with Donna and Rachel. If it is sour weather, it would be a good time for that.

We are hoping that our manager will hire one of the three individuals that she interviewed on Friday. If she does, our 4 day work week will not be far behind. She keeps promising to make that happen. The sooner the better as we have many places lined up to go where we couldn't go before without the extra day...

More Road Closures

We had a particularly busy day at work yesterday - the busiest so far this season. The new season is now in full swing, and the snow runoff has created some serious problems for the area. The additional crowds will have more of a problem negotiating the roads in the area. Another road closed yesterday after the Gros Ventre Road had already closed on Tuesday.

Another section of the road:

Yesterday, the Spring Gulch Road closed as a result of the bridge being damaged:

The unusually warm weather so early in the season along with the record snowfall in the winter has resulted in the problems.

Hopefully, things will not get any worse for traveling the local roads, especially with the increase in visitor traffic. Fortunately for us, we chose this year to live in the Elk Refuge instead of the Gros Ventre Campground. Those folks have to travel a long way - out of the way - to get to town. We are located exactly 5 miles - round trip - from the Visitor Center this year. We are thankful for that lucky move...

Not Much Yesterday

We had a busy day yesterday at the Visitor Center but not much to talk about. We did get a shot of the huge geese family that hangs out around the Visitor Center:

This family has 16 babies - one of the largest families we have ever seen. Actually, there are geese families of all sizes around the Center and, at times, it is like walking through a mine field to avoid all the poop that they leave behind. It comes with the territory, I guess.

Nothing much happened during the day as we are about half way through our week. We are ready to make plans for our weekend beginning on Monday, which may include our first trip to Idaho Falls to get some things done. Plans should be finalized by Sunday AM...

New Face at Work

One of the vacant staff positions was filled yesterday with a local girl. As it is a problem to fill these openings with workampers - no housing or RV spaces available - it becomes a problem. The new girl seems to be competent and we will do whatever we need to do to help her succeed. Our manager indicated that she needed to fill only one more position before rescheduling us to 4 days per week. It is with mixed feelings that we look forward to that day. We want the extra day off, but would miss the extra pay for the fifth work day. Time will tell.

We are watching the Gros Ventre (grow vont) River with a close eye. The snow runoff has created a higher and faster river flow which is eroding the road close to where we camped last year. All of the folks staying in that campground this season have to travel an extra 5 miles or so to get to work in town to avoid that area. The extra snowfall this year has created flooding problems just about everywhere. The Snake River is also running faster and higher, but that is somewhat controlled by the Jackson Lake Dam water release. The temperatures are higher than normal this time of the year and that isn't helping the situation. We will keep an eye on the news and try to get some photos when we can...

Walk Around Town

One thing we hadn't done yet was to walk around town to see any changes since last season. That was the schedule for yesterday. Most of the stores and merchandise were similar to what we remembered from last season, but, as always, there are slight changes. You may recognize some of the photos we took yesterday, but they never get old.

Beginning with the arches at the Town Center which were constructed in 1960 from antlers recovered from the Elk Refuge by the Boy Scouts. One is pictured below:

Another popular event in town is the stagecoach ride around town. The stagecoach was on its full schedule yesterday:

As we finished our walk around town, we remembered we had to make a stop at the grocery store, so that was the next stop. We also decided to take a drive out the road from our RV sites to check out the other end of the huge Elk Refuge. There is another campground located along this road which is a small - about 12 spaces - campground with no hookups. It is used primarily by tent campers but is located in a remote area which is attractive to some campers.

We ran into a couple wildlife encounters while driving along this road. Below is a shot of a couple Antelope:

and then this shot of a Falcon that was enjoying some road kill on the top of a sign post:

The drive was about 5 miles and we had this view of the Elk Refuge from the top of the hill as thunderstorms moved in:

All in all, we had a terrific two days off this week. We begin the new week today at 11 AM and already we are looking forward to our next days off...

Terrific Hike Around String Lake

We were blessed with a perfect day to take on our first hike of the season. The high temperature for the day was in the mid 70's and the sun was shining brightly. We started out from the RV at 9 AM, and were on the trailhead by 10 AM. This is the hike where we ran into the remains of the avalanche a couple years ago and we were not sure what we would run into this year. It was still early in the season and there visible signs of snow just about everywhere.

We took many photos of our hike and it was difficult to select the ones for this post. But, below are some of the best.

Starting out with our first view of the String Lake from the start:

We immediately saw a couple starting out in their kayak on the lake:

The snow runoff had already created areas along the way where it was flooded over some of the trail. This shot shows one area where the water level forced us off the main path:

We took some nice pictures of the lake as we hiked over a bridge around the south end and onto the west side of the Lake:

The description of the hike in the hiking book we had described it as an easy hike with an elevation change of only 40 feet. They missed the mark on both descriptions. It must have been at least a 150 foot change in elevation and we would describe it as "moderate" as some areas were fairly steep:

Josie stopped on several occasions to take some shots of these early wildflowers along the way:

It is probably another week or two away from seeing the full effects of the wildflowers.

Here are shots of some of the snow that we ran into along the way:

The area where we ran into the avalanche a couple years ago was, for the most part, clear this year. Thank goodness for that. There was lots of water from the runoff all along the western side of the lake. This is one photo of some of the runoff that created small streams all along the way:

This shot shows the heavy flow of water between String Lake and the adjoining lake - Leigh Lake:

As we reached the east side of the lake again to complete our hike, we took more shots of different views of the Tetons:

Our hike concluded at around 1 PM and it was a terrific way to start our hiking season. We plan to take another one next week, at a different location.

Josie snapped this shot of the scenery as we drove back to our RV:

It was a wonderful way to spend a day off in this beautiful area...