Thursday, June 9, 2016

First Impressions of Yellowstone National Park

We got to Yellowstone May 31st and our first official day of work was. June 1st. We got settled into our campsite for the next 3 months which is just up the hill from the store that we will be working in. The company that we are working for is quite a large company in the giant scheme of things. It is Delaware North, should you be interested in the future of doing this kind of work.

Like many major company's, they have an orientation day that you must sit through.  I don't know if it is to scare the crap out of you or what. There is the usual company video's talking about expectations that they have for you, Safety training and especially bear safety around here. How to treat customers and since we are cashiers, how to handle money. Several times Lisa and I looked at each other and ask ourselves, "What did we get ourselves into?"
This is our store early in the morning

After all of that, the next day we went to our store and checked in, ready for some hands on training. since there were 5 starting that day we shadowed someone while others got the till training. Then it was our turn. It looked very hard at first with all of the menu options on the computer, but it was actually quite easy to pick up. We were turned loose on our own registers in no time at all. Lisa has always had retail experience and I have had some too in the last couple of years.

The thing that we like about this job is that everybody is so happy. The employees are happy and especially the customers are happy. Why not, they are on vacation of all things. And that happiness is contagious. Our store is very busy to say the least. The days just fly by and you end up talking with so many different people. Many times they just want to know where the bears are.
This is Tower Fall, one of many waterfalls in the park

Our store is at a park attraction. Tower fall is 150 yds just past the store. Plus we have a snack counter so we get lots of people all day long stopping to look at the falls and take a break. Tower is also known for the bears in the area. There are bear sightings near the store every day causing major traffic delays. Nobody pulls off the road to look at them, they just stop in the middle of the road and they don't care how many people are behind them. (But that takes me to another topic for another day)
And this is how our store looks all day long.

So that is our first week. We had one day off so far and we did some exploring which will be another post depending on how slow our internet is because there will be a lot of photos to upload.

As we say here, "Have a bear-ry good day!" Smile.

12 comments:

  1. Love that park. We've been to that store a few times for ice cream.

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  2. So glad to hear you are enjoying your new jobs! Bill and I want to get to Yellowstone one day so we are paying close attention to what your experience is! Thanks!

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    1. It is very nice here. but this store is short staffed and we have only had one day off to enjoy the park. that part sucks a little.

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  3. Glad to hear it wasn't you who walked into the hot springs, or put a bison baby in the jeep, or... :)

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    1. The stupidity is never ending here. I really have to wonder what they are thinking. The other day a father and son stuck their hands into a thermal pool and where surprised that they got third degree burns on their arms.

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  4. Sounds like a good gig...hopefully they will get your staffing fixed so you have more time to enjoy!!

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    1. Thank you for your comment. Would you like a commerative, re-usable bag today for $2.99? Whoops, still in work mode. We do need a day off I guess.

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  5. The traffic looks horrible! Too bad they can't close it for a day so you two could just drive around and enjoy it to yourselves.

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    1. The traffic is always bad here. Yesterday there was a bear by the store so it was complete grid lock. It was fun watching from the store window.

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  6. i wonder how much busier it will be this year because of the 100 year anniversary.

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    1. We are getting record numbers already. It is crazy.

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