Thursday, June 26, 2008

Gary's pictures

Finally I downloaded the pictures from Gary's camera. Now you can see what he's been looking at.

Last week he went for a hike and found some "living dirt" which is a micro-organizum of very delicate moss like dirt. If you step on it, it could take 100 yrs for it to recooperate, if it does. When you pour water on it, it instantly turns green, really cool to watch.



He found a bunch of wild flowers (flax) and some really nice meadows.




Saturday he was up on the roof of the lodge repairing a leaky spot.

He really likes being up on the roof because he has a view no one else gets.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

It's Summer here in the Canyon!

It's officially summer up here at the Grand Canyon North Rim. Every day we have from 2 to 6 bus loads of people from all over the globe. Last week we had a bunch of different boy scout troops and this week seems like it's Oriental Week.


At 5AM on the dot I woke up this morning, wide awake. So I thought, why not go check my emails and other things. As I was walking up the street to the EDR building I was accompanied by about 15 mule deer grazing on the lawns surrounding the employee housing. They were about 10 feet from me and really didn't care that I was there. By 6AM I was going back to the camper and tried to go to sleep on the couch. Of course just as I finally got to sleep Gary got up. At 7, Mike-Gary's boss, came by to let him know he could go to forklift class if he wanted at 8 and get paid for it but Gary decided he wanted his day off so we went for a ride.


We wanted to go to the Kaibab Lodge for breakfast but once we got there all they had was a continental breakfast so we just got back into the Blazer and started exploring. We spent 4 hours on dirt roads to get these pictures.


















That's Gary out there on the ledge.














Friday, June 13, 2008

They're dropping like flies!

We have or should have, about 300 people working here at any given time. But it seems that alot of people just can't take it up here. Every day we have someone quitting or getting fired for one reason or another. And everyday it seems we have new ones coming in.

This is a very unorganized place this year. It's a new company running things and I believe they bit off a bit more than they anticipated. This company has many resorts already but non as large as The Grand Canyon North Rim. The last cook to quit the Lodge, yesterday, said he had 181 hours in 2 weeks! No wonder he quit. Anyways Gary really loves his job and I only like mine. I'm the Tee-shirt lady and I don't get the shirts I need and it seems noone can order the right ones, ect......Mostly I count the shirts and ask for more, but don't get more, and try to keep as many on the floor as possible for the customers. Of course we don't even have the shirt that everyone wants-Rim to Rim, or North Rim. Most just say Grand Canyon.

It's very frustrating and I really would rather be driving the shuttle van to St. George or Page. I've had alot of people come up to me and ask when I'm going to drive again because the other drivers scare them! Imagine that, my driving doesn't scare anyone around here! Well I am older and do take it easier now too. :)

Friday, June 6, 2008

Zion Pictures

When you go to Zion National Park you drive for about an hour at 30 mph if coming from Kanab,UT. This picture was taken while driving from the south side to the north side of Zion. Zion Park is about rock formations and canyons formed by water and wind erosion.
Driving from Zion Park to Kanab, UT. There are these windows in the tunnel that goes through the mountain. Hard to get good pictures when you can not actually stop while driving.
My hands are out because I'm catching the water that is dripping from the rock cliff I'm in. Above me is all rock and and looks like someone cut part of the mountain away but actually it is natural and they call this The Weeping Rock. Water seeps through the Limestone but once it reaches the slate in the mountain it can't seep through anymore and drips out causeing a delicate garden of hanging plants to grow above my head. And this picture of Gary is the same place. (Sorry I can't figure out how to rotate the picture)


This is called the checker board.
I've got more pictures but they aren't that good so you will have to wait until we go again.




Thursday, June 5, 2008

Driving, driving, driving......

June 5
Good morning at all who read this. I've be driving or riding alot for the past 2 days. Tuesday is our Saturday and we took a shuttle ride to Zion National Park. It took almost 3 hours to get there and we got to stay 3 hours and then do the 3 hour ride back to the RV. It saved us gas money and wear and tear on my blazer but it sure worked on our nerves alot! The driver of the shuttle drove 60 miles in 2nd gear at 70 mph average and did not realize what gear she was in. Of course Gary and I did just from the sound of the engine!
The short time we had at Zion we really enjoyed. I have pictures I will post next time I write. We definately will return using our own vehicle and most likely spend the night there too.

Yesterday, Gary had fire safety training so I volunteered to be the shuttle driver to St. George, UT for a shopping trip. (I got paid too!) It takes 3 hours to get there and all was fine on the ride there. I had 9 passengers of which 5 were from Singapore, 1 from Italy and 3 from different states here in the states. First we went to the shoe store so I could take care of my over charge problem I had with them and ended up just getting a new pair of sneaks. Now I can get rid of my old ones that hurt to walk in. Then I took us to eat at a Chinese buffet and you'll never guess what happend...the waitress was from a town 1/2 hour away from where the Singapore kids came from! So they all had conversations with each other for an hour and the kids thanked me for bringing them to this great resturant that was so much like home. Then we went shopping at Walmart.

When I came out after an hour the wind was starting to blow and it was lightening. We had to wait another 1/2 hour for the last kid to get his shopping done and by then the weather was getting quite bad so I decided no mall and just get going home. The wind and rain stayed with us for most of the 3 hour drive back to the Grand Canyon until we got to Jacob Lake then it turned to snow. So for another hour I drive in rain, sleet & snow depending on the alttitude. By the time we got home the temp was down to 38 and it was snowing really good. I of course was dressed for a nice sunny, hot day in St. George! Shorts and a short sleeve shirt and the girls all had on either shorts or a sun dress, we were definately cold by the time we arrived home. By the time I went to bed it was like a winter wonderland here once again. Most of the guests were not happy at all, expecially those that had been in the bottom of the canyon at Phantom Ranch where it was close to 100* most of the day.

So I have some other good news! Last week when I drove to St. George to pick up new employees Gary recieved a dinner gift certificate for 2 to the Lodge here. He was told it was for the wood splitting he had done in the last week. (All the guests were fasinated watching him and took lots of pictures.) He was so excited and couldn't wait to tell me. Then I go to work that night and tell my boss about it and she says "I sure am glad you told me that because every department has a gift certificate to be given out to the most deserving in each department and I chose you. But since Gary already has one would you mind if I gave it to someone else?" I said "Sure give it to someone else, we don't want to be hogs about it and just knowing that you thought enough of me to give it to me is great." "Well you have just taken over things here and do everything that is asked of you and so much more so you are the one that truely derserves it" she says. That was so nice hearing her say that. I have since been promoted to being the Tee-shirt lady. I'm in charge of the inventory and making sure we have enough shirts, jackets, sweats, ect. in the back of the store to accomadate the guests. That means going to the warehouse and taking inventory there too and pulling what I need at the store. It gives me alot more freedom in the store than just walking around and making sure things are where they are suppose to be and of course more respect from everyone and thus treated better than I was before. I love it and of course I am good at it too!