First of all, it was a nice Father's Day yesterday as I got to watch the start of the final round to the US Open golf tournament before going to work at 3 PM. It was another major golf tournament where Tiger Woods was not a factor. He may be the number one ranked player in the world but I still have a problem with the way he conducts himself on and off the course. The stark contrast is Phil Mickelson - a contender in the tournament yesterday - who interacts with the crowd and lives his public life as a good role model for anyone. It's too bad that he fell a little short in the tournament and lost to Justin Rose from England on the last couple holes. He will always be a fan favorite in my mind.
Our schedule this year is all afternoons which makes it difficult to schedule some of the activities we need to complete before the end of June. We only have two nights - Thursday and Friday - to use our complimentary tickets for things like restaurants, the Bar J western show and dinner, and the rodeo. There is no problem with the rafting trips or the horseback trips, but our flexibility is limited for the nighttime events. It's a nice problem to have.
I had forgotten how much the temperature swings on a daily basis in Jackson. We had a low near freezing yesterday morning and the high was 83. It makes for perfect sleeping weather and wonderful days that you can enjoy outside with no jackets or sweaters. We still turn on our electric heater in the mornings, but by the time we go to work in the afternoon, we have our door open and can sit outside to enjoy the warm rays from the sun.
We walked to the Verizon store yesterday morning to discover that it was closed on Sunday. It was a nice walk, but we will have to return again this morning to discuss our cell phone plan. We used the time to walk some more around the residential area in this part of town. It is still mind boggling to see the prices that these homes sell for in Jackson. Any chance to live here is certain to be in the form of a rental until the situation changes, if ever...
Monday, June 17, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
New Partner at Work
Before going to work at 3 PM yesterday, we drove to the Teton Mountain Bike Tours and Rental shop to pick up the final piece of our bike transaction and to settle the deal. The temporary bar for Josie's bike makes it possible for her "step-thru" bike to sit level on the bike rack and it works perfectly. Even though we spent a little more money for the bikes and accessories, we feel we got the best deal for comfort bikes along with the accessories and good advice we needed. We're set to go.
We had an opportunity yesterday at work to spend the first shift with a new partner at the front desk - Nicole - who is the oldest daughter of our front desk manager, Judy. She was a delight to work with and we will share our Saturday shift with her on alternate weekends with Senna, the young lady that operates a winter snowmobiling business with her husband at Yellowstone. That completes all the experiences with other front desk personnel and we are happy that all of the partners are pleasant and fun to work with. We are still waiting to sell out the lodge for the first time this season even though we have come close.
Our second work day for the week starts this afternoon and we have nothing planned for this Father's Day morning, except for some short trips to the store and a visit to the local Verizon store to find out about some strange messages we have been getting regarding data usage on our account. More about that later as we discover why our usage approaches the monthly limits each month with what we consider to be light use of that feature.
In the meantime, happy Father's Day to all the dads out there...
We had an opportunity yesterday at work to spend the first shift with a new partner at the front desk - Nicole - who is the oldest daughter of our front desk manager, Judy. She was a delight to work with and we will share our Saturday shift with her on alternate weekends with Senna, the young lady that operates a winter snowmobiling business with her husband at Yellowstone. That completes all the experiences with other front desk personnel and we are happy that all of the partners are pleasant and fun to work with. We are still waiting to sell out the lodge for the first time this season even though we have come close.
Our second work day for the week starts this afternoon and we have nothing planned for this Father's Day morning, except for some short trips to the store and a visit to the local Verizon store to find out about some strange messages we have been getting regarding data usage on our account. More about that later as we discover why our usage approaches the monthly limits each month with what we consider to be light use of that feature.
In the meantime, happy Father's Day to all the dads out there...
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Work at Home Day
It was not cloudy or raining yesterday, but it was cool and breezy. In fact, the high was only 61 and we had steady winds most of the day. It was a good day to get things done around the home. In fact, we were waiting on a call from our bike shop saying the part was in to complete our transaction with them. Once we get the support bar for Josie's bike, we will be able to put both bikes on the rack for transporting with the truck and the fifth wheel. The weather has made it difficult to ride anywhere, so Josie did laundry and I worked on organizing photos on the computer. I also squeezed in some time to watch the US Open golf tournament.
Our part is expected to arrive this morning, so we will stay home again until around 11 AM when we will go to the bike shop, pick up the part, and pay the owner for the bikes and accessories.
It's back to work today at 3 PM, so we need to get ready for another week behind the desk. So far, it has been great and we are really happy with our schedule this year. The people we work with are terrific and the hours are perfect. The only thing we wish we had was more days off. If we do this next year, we may ask for a 4 day work schedule similar to that of the couple that didn't return this year that have come back for over 10 years.
The temperature went down to 30 degrees last night and we brought in our plants from outside. For the middle of June, it seems like we should be past the frost danger. You never know in this area...
Our part is expected to arrive this morning, so we will stay home again until around 11 AM when we will go to the bike shop, pick up the part, and pay the owner for the bikes and accessories.
It's back to work today at 3 PM, so we need to get ready for another week behind the desk. So far, it has been great and we are really happy with our schedule this year. The people we work with are terrific and the hours are perfect. The only thing we wish we had was more days off. If we do this next year, we may ask for a 4 day work schedule similar to that of the couple that didn't return this year that have come back for over 10 years.
The temperature went down to 30 degrees last night and we brought in our plants from outside. For the middle of June, it seems like we should be past the frost danger. You never know in this area...
Friday, June 14, 2013
Picking Up Our Bikes
We had to wait until the afternoon to pick up our bikes so we mowed the grass and washed the truck in the morning yesterday. It was a nice day until late in the afternoon.
The plan was to go to the bike shop at 3 PM and consummate the deal on the bikes. We arrived right at 3 PM and Dave Hunger, the owner, was ready for us. Here are a couple photos of the shop:
The bikes were brought out and Dave explained all the features of the bike and how to get the best ride. Josie and I rode the 8 miles round trip to the Fish Hatchery on the bike trail on the side of the main road out of town:
Dave was to attach the bike rack to the truck while we were taking our first ride. He ran into a problem with the rack. It seems that the rack is built for a class I or II hitch, and we have class IV hitches on both the truck and the fifth wheel. He had to remove the "tongue" from a different track that he had in order to get the proper fit:
We still couldn't place both bikes on the rack since Josie's bike is a "step-thru" which requires an additional, portable bar, to be placed on her bike so that it will sit on the rack like mine. That part was ordered and will be in the shop today for us to pick up. We took all of our goodies - the bikes, the pump, our helmets and the rack - and plan to return today to complete the process. We will also pay Dave when we finally get everything done, at his suggestion. He has been tremendous in making sure that everything is just right for us and we are grateful that we discovered such a sincere and hard working individual to guide us through this process.
Josie walked around the area while we were retrofitting the rack and captured these geese in the park:
The young geese are getting larger and are now almost the size of their parents. It appears that there are more than a couple families in this group.
The weather turned sour once again in the late afternoon and we had a thundershower with more high winds late in the evening. It has all cleared out this morning, so we are hoping for a nice day on our second day off this week...
The plan was to go to the bike shop at 3 PM and consummate the deal on the bikes. We arrived right at 3 PM and Dave Hunger, the owner, was ready for us. Here are a couple photos of the shop:
The bikes were brought out and Dave explained all the features of the bike and how to get the best ride. Josie and I rode the 8 miles round trip to the Fish Hatchery on the bike trail on the side of the main road out of town:
Dave was to attach the bike rack to the truck while we were taking our first ride. He ran into a problem with the rack. It seems that the rack is built for a class I or II hitch, and we have class IV hitches on both the truck and the fifth wheel. He had to remove the "tongue" from a different track that he had in order to get the proper fit:
We still couldn't place both bikes on the rack since Josie's bike is a "step-thru" which requires an additional, portable bar, to be placed on her bike so that it will sit on the rack like mine. That part was ordered and will be in the shop today for us to pick up. We took all of our goodies - the bikes, the pump, our helmets and the rack - and plan to return today to complete the process. We will also pay Dave when we finally get everything done, at his suggestion. He has been tremendous in making sure that everything is just right for us and we are grateful that we discovered such a sincere and hard working individual to guide us through this process.
Josie walked around the area while we were retrofitting the rack and captured these geese in the park:
The young geese are getting larger and are now almost the size of their parents. It appears that there are more than a couple families in this group.
The weather turned sour once again in the late afternoon and we had a thundershower with more high winds late in the evening. It has all cleared out this morning, so we are hoping for a nice day on our second day off this week...
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Storm Scare
It rained off and on all morning yesterday. We cancelled our visit to the bike shop since we didn't want to start off testing out the new bikes in the bad weather. So, we got some things done around the fifth wheel and went into work at 3 PM. It cleared a little in the afternoon until about 5 PM when we heard about a severe weather alert for Jackson that was broadcast on the TV. There was a storm coming that had hail and high winds - up to 60 mph - that was expected to arrive between 4:30 and 5 PM. I left work to rush back to the fifth wheel to prepare it for the storm. I pulled in the slides, lowered the satellite dish, brought in our chairs and plants, moved the grill out harms way and started back to the lodge when the hail started. The hail was about the size of huge gumballs that you get out of the quarter bubblegum machines. The hail was bouncing off my head and was painful until I reached the overhang along the rooms at the lodge. The winds picked up although not close to 60 mph. I suspect that the main part of the storm missed us as it ended almost as fast as it started. I returned to the rig at around 6 PM and put everything back to normal.
We were slammed at work last night and ran out of rooms with all the walk-in traffic. There were also 3 tour buses which was the most we can remember having in one night. Needless to say, we were happy to see 11 PM arrive last night and start our weekend.
We have things to do this morning - like mow the grass and do laundry - before going to the bike shop to pick up our bikes and settle with the shop owner. The weather is still questionable, but we are hoping for some nice weather this afternoon so we can ride our bikes for the first time...
We were slammed at work last night and ran out of rooms with all the walk-in traffic. There were also 3 tour buses which was the most we can remember having in one night. Needless to say, we were happy to see 11 PM arrive last night and start our weekend.
We have things to do this morning - like mow the grass and do laundry - before going to the bike shop to pick up our bikes and settle with the shop owner. The weather is still questionable, but we are hoping for some nice weather this afternoon so we can ride our bikes for the first time...
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Bikes, Tours and Changing Weather
There wasn't much to report from yesterday before starting work at 3 PM except we went to the bike shop to see our new bikes that we will be riding for the first time this morning. They were all assembled and almost ready for pickup except for some work that needed to be done on our bike rack that will be completed today. Our plan is to go to the shop at 11 AM this morning and take a test ride on them to make sure everything is OK and no adjustments need to be made before picking up everything tomorrow, our first day off this week. They look great, although Josie was a bit shocked at the color of hers - she was expecting to see teal, but the actual color is sage which was not what she expected. It still looks good though, and we are anxious to get them.
Work was about the busiest we have been so far. There were two buses that came in and one of them was from a Chinese tour that caused some brief problems for us. Usually, the Tour Director from these buses will come to the front desk, pick up the keys, and go back to the bus to hand them out to the guests as the bus pulls out to park at the designated area in the back of the lodge. The Tour Director for this Chinese tour came into the lobby, along with all the passengers from the bus, and proceeded to hand out all the keys to the guests in the lobby and blocking access to the front desk for all the other guests that were trying to check in. Then, all of the guests walked to their rooms from the lobby, leaving the bus to block the check-in area in front of the lodge, until everybody got settled in his room. There will have to be some changes made in the methods used by this tour company in order to show consideration for other guests.
It figures that since our bikes are about ready that it would begin to rain. This morning is cloudy and raining - lightly - with isolated thunderstorms in the forecast. The same is expected the next couple days so we will just try to make it work. We haven't had much rain since we arrived, so it is welcome anyway. We can use the time at home to schedule activities that need to be completed before the end of June. Our comp tickets for certain activities - horseback riding, rafting, Bar-J western show and complimentary entrees at the best restaurant in town all expire at that time. Since we only have two nights per week to schedule some of those activities, we need to get those scheduled now. We expect to be very busy over the next couple weeks...
Work was about the busiest we have been so far. There were two buses that came in and one of them was from a Chinese tour that caused some brief problems for us. Usually, the Tour Director from these buses will come to the front desk, pick up the keys, and go back to the bus to hand them out to the guests as the bus pulls out to park at the designated area in the back of the lodge. The Tour Director for this Chinese tour came into the lobby, along with all the passengers from the bus, and proceeded to hand out all the keys to the guests in the lobby and blocking access to the front desk for all the other guests that were trying to check in. Then, all of the guests walked to their rooms from the lobby, leaving the bus to block the check-in area in front of the lodge, until everybody got settled in his room. There will have to be some changes made in the methods used by this tour company in order to show consideration for other guests.
It figures that since our bikes are about ready that it would begin to rain. This morning is cloudy and raining - lightly - with isolated thunderstorms in the forecast. The same is expected the next couple days so we will just try to make it work. We haven't had much rain since we arrived, so it is welcome anyway. We can use the time at home to schedule activities that need to be completed before the end of June. Our comp tickets for certain activities - horseback riding, rafting, Bar-J western show and complimentary entrees at the best restaurant in town all expire at that time. Since we only have two nights per week to schedule some of those activities, we need to get those scheduled now. We expect to be very busy over the next couple weeks...
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Grey's River Road
We were anxious to go to the small town of Alpine, 20 miles south of Jackson, to travel the road that Donna described to us the day before. She was right about the road - Grey's River Road - that follows the river and was a pretty drive:
We only drove about 8 miles on the road because we had to get back in time for work at 3 PM and we needed to have our dinner before work. We took many pictures of wildflowers along the way, some of which were new to us:
Starting with Chokecherry:
and then Wild Blue Flax:
Yellow Salsify or Goatsbeard:
Low Hawksbeard:
Scarlet Gilia:
Longleaf Phlox:
and finally, lots of Helianthella:
Josie decided to cut some of these Helianthella and make an arrangement in a vase when we got home:
We are getting enough photos of all these wildflowers to make our own book of wildflowers in the Tetons. It is a haven for these flowers and they sure add to the beauty of the area.
There was a birthday party for Virginia (her 89th) - the nice lady that owns the Lodge - during our shift in the afternoon. It was a surprise party and we got another chance to chat with her and wish her well. She has many homes around the country, including 3 in Hawaii, and she is staying at her beautiful home near the Jackson Golf and Tennis Club close to the airport. She also owns a ranch house south of Jackson in the Wyoming hills. Her main residence is in San Diego. We have concluded that the Virginian Lodge is not her primary source for income and the value of her estate probably runs in the hundreds of millions.
We received notice that our bikes are in and being assembled at the shop in Jackson where we purchased them. Because of our schedules, we will not be able to pick them up before tomorrow and we are looking forward to doing some pleasant bike riding this summer in our free time...
We only drove about 8 miles on the road because we had to get back in time for work at 3 PM and we needed to have our dinner before work. We took many pictures of wildflowers along the way, some of which were new to us:
Starting with Chokecherry:
and then Wild Blue Flax:
Yellow Salsify or Goatsbeard:
Low Hawksbeard:
Scarlet Gilia:
Longleaf Phlox:
and finally, lots of Helianthella:
Josie decided to cut some of these Helianthella and make an arrangement in a vase when we got home:
We are getting enough photos of all these wildflowers to make our own book of wildflowers in the Tetons. It is a haven for these flowers and they sure add to the beauty of the area.
There was a birthday party for Virginia (her 89th) - the nice lady that owns the Lodge - during our shift in the afternoon. It was a surprise party and we got another chance to chat with her and wish her well. She has many homes around the country, including 3 in Hawaii, and she is staying at her beautiful home near the Jackson Golf and Tennis Club close to the airport. She also owns a ranch house south of Jackson in the Wyoming hills. Her main residence is in San Diego. We have concluded that the Virginian Lodge is not her primary source for income and the value of her estate probably runs in the hundreds of millions.
We received notice that our bikes are in and being assembled at the shop in Jackson where we purchased them. Because of our schedules, we will not be able to pick them up before tomorrow and we are looking forward to doing some pleasant bike riding this summer in our free time...
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