Living & Working in Great Places

BJ's Comments

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At 11:35am on May 3, 2009, Bill Cooper said…: bj did you watch the buffalo bred in mid summer in hayden valley hope ur doing well i miss hearing form you take care and stay safe hope i can get a ride to the small town to attend church services and someone take me up to bozeman to fly home in august have a happy day

At 9:31pm on April 20, 2009, Erin said…: Yeah, we watched that too! Scary. I'm excited! :) Safe travels for you as well!

At 4:08pm on April 20, 2009, Bill Cooper said…: thanks for the replys hope all is well with you

At 4:42pm on April 19, 2009, Bill Cooper said…: what is up today are you still in laurel mt when do you leave? I want make it up till the 5th of june for a couple of months going to take a exercusion to glacier park first before reporting june 9th to ynp for xanterra let me know how estes park is

At 9:38pm on April 18, 2009, Bill Cooper said…: bj you are the best hope nothing but the best for you and hope you get safely to your next destination as well... I really appreciate all of your valuable information take care and stay safe Have a good trip.

At 8:34pm on April 17, 2009, Erin said…: Yep, we're going. Hope it works out. Looks like fun! We're also excited about the ghost tour. Have a good day!

At 4:25pm on April 17, 2009, Bill Cooper said…: bj thanks for the replies you are the best i hope rmnp in estes colorado is just as nice for you - i just hope i can get a good dorm room like in aspen or the other one you reccomend. I also hope to be able to attend church or mass when possible - just hope I Meet someone who can ride me to gardinar to attend services there. What are some of the better things that employees can do - can you canoe in lake yellowstone or go on a boat ride what are the costs or do employees ride for free? any answers would be greatly appreciated thanks Bill

At 9:32pm on April 14, 2009, Bill Cooper said…: thanks so much bj == my roommate will be my lovely wife and we will be reservations agents. can you tell me about some of the freebies for employees on the off days. did you go swim in some of the hot pools in the streams last summer i will not have a car - how often does the van make trips to bozeman and how much is the fee to use the van

At 10:32pm on April 13, 2009, Bill Cooper said…: bj i working aa a phone agent in mammoth how is it how are the dorms is the food any good i hope i get an older dorm please respond

At 9:30pm on April 7, 2009, Erin said…: I went to GW. 4 feet of snow! Oh boy. It was such a beautiful and fantastic spring day today. I would love for it to stop snowing already, but we're supposed to get another storm tonight. We close on Easter sunday, so we're leaving soon! Have fun in Deadwood!

At 9:12pm on April 6, 2009, Erin said…: Very cool. Estes is new territory for me too! I'm originally from Ohio, but I went to college in DC. :)

At 8:30pm on April 6, 2009, Erin said…: Sounds cool! My husband and I are considering The Stanley Hotel, just outside of the park in Estes. We're excited!

At 5:36pm on April 5, 2009, Erin said…: Hi! I see you're going to Estes for the summer from Montana? I'm currently in Big Sky and considering Estes for the summer. Do you mind my asking where you'll be working?

At 7:28pm on March 31, 2009, Suzanne Harp said…: Thank you for the info concerning the dorms. Will I have a choice or are they assigned randomly? Do we gray-haired oldies get any additional considerations? Ha! I've never done anything like this before, so it will truly be an adventure for me. All my friends think I have lost my mind!
S. Harp

At 6:22pm on December 28, 2008, Deb said…: Hi, looking thru the boards. See several of us have quandry, retire now and do what we have dreamed of doing...or wait. Now w/ economy this is a really tough decision. Are you working seasonally, what is the forecast for seasonal jobs? Are other older/bolder glad they took the plunge? Thanks

At 11:54am on December 11, 2008, Brenda said…: Well BJ how did it go at Mammoth Hot Springs? Lat time I heard from you was in April and the season should be over now. What did u think of it and the park> I hope you got a decent room mate and a relativly calm dorm. Take care and best wishes for next season.

At 8:28am on March 1, 2008, angel said…: cool bj i,m angel i,ll be there w/ you at mammoth but i have a last interview w/ cruise west you never know enjoy jelly stone .

At 8:47am on February 21, 2008, BJ said…: Hey CJ! I begin my federal govt retirement in 12 months, plus I may file for Social security benefits early as well. No, my work in the govt is totally outside of working seasonally! I've worked retail for the past 20 years or so, so lots of experience there.
I kept horses for many years, but it became too difficult in the Washington, D.C. area. I still love to ride! I'll be at Mammoth Hot Springs, but was assigned to housekeeping, not retail. Oh well! Whatever works! I had been following Coolworks for several years, where I got the idea to go for it. I have a good friend who went home to Laurel MT and I spent 3 weeks out there last fall, including YNP, where we stayed at Lake Lodge and Mammoth, so I was able to observe, talk with employees, and enjoy the visit. I applied on-line but also mailed a cover letter with my full resume; I applied for a long season (which I was offered - April thru October) and will be looking to stay out West over the winter if I can. I really don't have anything to come back to and will be leaving everything in storage until I get this all worked out. The cost of living here is thru the roof and my retirement income would be consumed just maintaining. Most of my friends have now retired and relocated away from here and keep telling me to leave. YNP will be an entirely new experience! But I'm up for it! Your doing what I did - lots of research and "brain picking" - why not work where you'd like to play?! Stay in touch!

At 10:32am on February 20, 2008, CJ said…: Hi BJ,

Thanks for your insight on how you made your decision to work seasonal rather than part time. i really have 6 years before really retiring and dipping into retirement funds, so I will be working seasonal year round. At least that's the plan right now. Making this change feels right for me and I usually adjust to change pretty easily. So this change will probably work for me. It is, however, such a major change. I don't want to miss the opportunity to do what I really want to do before I find my health starts to limit my travels. What will you be doing at Yellowstone and at which location? Did you work background in DC fit the work that you will do at Yellowstone or did you find a way to describe your work experience to fit the positions advertised? Thanks again for touching base with me. It really helps to hear about other people's plans for seasonal work.

CJ

At 10:10am on February 7, 2008, CJ said…: HI BJ,

I see that you are an "Older and "Bolder" about to take early retirement and work in the national parks. I am on the same track, but it will be the summer of 09 when I step out with an early retirement and head for the parks. I know this is what I want and plan to do, but at times I get a bit jittery thinking of this major change. If you wouldn't mind sharing, have you had to rassle a bit with making this decision for yourself?

thanks, CJ