Let me start off by saying .... Wow, what a fun summer that was! Now I feel not only "Older and Bolder" but also a bit wiser regarding seasonal employment in general, and Yellowstone in particular. I hope in this blog I can express at least some of that wisdom for the benefit of the reader.
Let's take it from the top ... trip preparation ...
* Definitely plan to bring a car. Yellowstone is just too big a place to attempt to hitchhike everywhere ya want to go. Also, other folks usually aren't g…
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Added by aggie71 on September 22, 2009 at 4:26pm —
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I just had the most amazing Saturday of my life. Here's the story. It started off early Saturday morning as my hiking partner and I set off from Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park. We drove an hour and a half to reach our trail head at the Yellowstone Picnic grounds (on the NE entrance road just over the bridge from Roosevelt Junction). After a tough up hill climb we reached the top of the canyon wall and continued along the trail towards Specimen Ridge. This is an amazing hike. You hav…
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Added by aggie71 on August 30, 2009 at 5:43am —
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Only a few days left and my employment agreement will be fulfilled....I will have done my part and DNC theirs. What remains is all the memories of great times, high adventures, new friends, strange people and ideas, humorous moments, and all the many wonders that is Yellowstone. I will do a wrap up blog later, but for now I am just swimming in all the emotions that boil up at the end of a season in a place like this. I am ready to go home and see my wife, children, and grandchildren .... I have…
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Added by aggie71 on August 24, 2009 at 9:49am —
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Have you ever visited a place that just doesn't seem real it is so scenic? There is a place like this in Yellowstone that is visited by thousands every month. I am referring to Artist Point overlooking the Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Lower Falls. I mean come on folks ... this view just can't be real. The canyon walls are all different shades of tan and pink due to the thermal activity there over the last few thousand years. The Lower Falls are just magnificent as tons of water pour over th…
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Added by aggie71 on July 30, 2009 at 6:00am —
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This past Saturday I finally got a chance to leave Yellowstone for a day and go see my favorite mountain range....the Grand Tetons. The way these mountains shoot straight to the sky above Jackson Hole is just stunning. I must have snapped 20-30 pictures during my brief tour....but I just couldn't help myself. Every time I looked at those mountains I noticed something new that I just had to capture with my camera. I took the scenic route through the park....the road that goes over Jackson Lake Da…
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Added by aggie71 on July 19, 2009 at 6:00pm —
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I have been at Yellowstone now for a few weeks and that one question has been bugging me. Why do so many folks keep coming back here to work during the summer? I look around me at work and realize that the vast majority of people that I have met are "returnees"...some have worked here for over 10 years and expect to keep coming back. Now I know the $7.25/hour can't be the big draw. And the work itself is just like working in a store in a big city (i.e. nothing special). The food has been great,…
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Added by aggie71 on June 19, 2009 at 6:38am —
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Today...for the very first time in my 59 year existance...I entered the State of Montana. The first few miles looked very much like northern Wyoming (fancy that) but then things began to change. The vistas became even bigger, and the mountains on the horizon slowly grew until they pierced the clouds and dominated the view. What a spectacle for someone who's home is on a coastal plain that is flatter than a pancake. As we drove up the valley along side the Yellowstone River every bend produced an…
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Added by aggie71 on May 22, 2009 at 8:00pm —
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After another outstanding day of non-stop, mind bending driving I am settling my weary bones in Cheyenne. I can't believe I am actually in Wyoming! One clue might be the 45 deg temperature outside right now (yep, this Texas boy is freezing his tootoo off ALREADY and the temperature is dropping). When I get to Yellowstone I might just park myself on a stove for a while and thaw out. The upside is the two cases of beer in the back of the truck are getting nicely chilled :-) One of the real joys of…
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Added by aggie71 on May 21, 2009 at 7:15pm —
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Let me start off by apologizing to all of you out there that just love Kansas. I am sure there has got to be a lot here to love....I just haven't found anything yet. I'm only planning on being here until mid-day tomorrow so maybe I'll stumble across something in this state that interests me....or not. I have decided that nearly every major road in Wichita is torn up. Its amazing that every exit I needed today was closed due to construction with no detour indicated (I guess out-of-towners just go…
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Added by aggie71 on May 20, 2009 at 8:39pm —
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I too am about to step through the looking glass into the world of seasonal summer employment 2009...like so many before me. My visions of great summer adventures are tempered by a realization that I am going there to do a job, which at times may be difficult, and that when I do play there are animals in those woods that could trample me, or worse, eat me. I have tried my best to cover all the bases. If things go well then I have packed nearly every piece of gear or gadget I could possibly need…
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Added by aggie71 on May 19, 2009 at 6:11am —
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After seeing all the winter scenes from Wyoming and Montana this past week, I figured it was time to post some warm, high temperature Texas pics! Maybe when I head to Yellowstone on May 20 I can bring some Spring weather with me and thaw things out a bit up there. So checkout my latest photos and see what 92 deg F looks like. Hope these warm y'alls hearts.
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Added by aggie71 on May 9, 2009 at 3:04pm —
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I have been reading a number of blog posts around CW lately and am fascinated by the poetry and raw idealism so many of our young members express in their writings here. I think young people that opt for seasonal jobs probably have a tendency to look at life and nature a little differently than the "average" person. They are people who see something special in a sunrise or sunset, a cool breeze, or a flower in bloom. I guess I had this same attitude and perceptions when I first left high school,…
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Added by aggie71 on April 30, 2009 at 9:03am —
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I just can't believe how well things have worked out for me since being laid off on Feb 2, 2009! I had been doing the same job for nearly 30 years and suddenly it was over. My wife and I happen to have visited Yellowstone in September, 2008 and I had met some folks my same age working at the Lake Lodge there. One of them gave me a card regarding seasonal jobs - which I happened to stumble across just after my layoff. This led me to Coolworks.com and the rest, as they say, is history. I have gott…
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Added by aggie71 on March 29, 2009 at 4:40am —
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