July!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Up here on the North Rim we are having a parade this afternoon. It will consist of decorated vehicles and lots of water, squirt guns to be exact. If you are on a decorated vehicle then you can, WILL be getting wet by squirting and getting squirted by by-standers that want to participate and have a bit of fun, if that is what you call it. Of course you can not get anyone in uniform wet and you can not squirt the mules or squirt in the dry zones, other wise than that, it's a free for all. Guests will also have squirt guns and water to use if they wish to. I'm a humbug so I will be staying away from the "wet fun" done in my dungeon.

Last night for supper was our 4th of July cook-out. To bad they did not leave some food for the rest of us that got done work at 6PM. Supper hours usually end at 7PM but not yesterday. I had 2 slices of cherry pie-what a great supper!!

Sunday Gary will start in his new position as supervisor of maintenance. Brian & Tanya leave on Sunday to go just down the road to Cliffdwellers. Hope they are happier there than they were here. So with this new position comes new hours. He now gets up at 5AM to be to work at 6AM
every day that he works. No more nights, unless someone really needs help. These hours are great, or would be really great, if I had those hours too. The weeks that I work 7AM-4PM are not bad but the weeks that I work 9:30AM-6:30PM are horrible for me. Once I'm awake, that's it I'm awake! Trying to go back to sleep just does not work. And this week is my late shift week, so I guess I'll just get dressed and go in to my office to use the computer to make more labels for our shelves. I can not seem to get my computer at home to do the same things as I can at work. And I never seem to be able to find the time in my actual work day to be able to get these things done so I might as well make use of this "awake time".

Oh yes and with Gary's new position comes new days off for us. Now we have Tue & Wed's off. Which work really great for me since I have no freight coming in on Sun. or Mon. so I can get some paperwork done while I'm there by myself. The quiet is good and I do get alot done most of the time.

First 2 weeks are over!

Whew...the first 2 weeks are finally behind us. We've already had some key players quit or get fired. I started out with 2 guys helping me in the warehouse and then 1 went to being a shuttle driver and wasn't replaced in the warehouse. Then Tony's wife had to quit housekeeping so Daisy finally agreed to let her come to the warehouse to work. What a HUGE difference 1 more person makes when they actually work. The Gift Shop is doing better than last year in sales, but then it is more eye appealing this year too.

I saw my 1st Condor last week too. #47 was being bad by hanging around the back dock of the Lodge for a couple of days until he was taken away for relocation.

It's also been raining, sleeting or hailing here everyday now for over a week also. Shake down dinner for the Cookout was last night and we all froze. Woody & Cleeta Jane had a whole new program that was all about the North Rim. Except for it being so cold and Gary not getting his coffee refills fast enough the night was a good night out.

There's a lot of pictures here but I thought you would like to see the whole Gift Shop. Also the picture of the ground in front of the truck is hail.

The North Rim Is Open!

I have been right out straight for the last month getting the retail warehouse in order and ready for opening day and NOW we have Opening Day behind us!!

My warehouse is a mess. Corporate people come up and set up the displays for both the Gift Shop and the General Store. They come down to my "dungeon", take what they need and then send half of it back, making a huge mess but I must say the Gift Shop has never looked better. It is absolutely gorgeous this year!

Yesterday was opening day and of course we filled up fast. Being down in my "dungeon" (we call it that becasuse it is pretty cold down there) I would get a glimps of how many people were arriving only when I went to lunch and home for the day. Tony, my helper, was out with the van all day it seems getting the rest of the unused items out of the stores and then taking supplies to the stores. The little things had to be done yesterday, bags, gift boxes, wrapping tissue, ect.

I managed to get my office in order with the help of the phone/computer guy Josh. Now both my phones and my internet work, Thursday they did not and that was a huge problem. Good thing my cell phone works down there or I would have not been able to communicate with the stores to find out exactly what they needed. Anyways, my office is how I want it, I got more pricing done yesterday and some things put away. Today, I will have Roger( my other helper) & Tony straightening out the rooms while I get my paperwork done. That was the worst part of opening this year because we were still getting product in Thursday night by UPS and still don't have all the price stickers for everything. I also have to take a trip to the General Store and talk with Kathleen. She must have a long list of things she needs by now too. I wonder how much stuff UPS left for me last night. Got to get that all squared away today too. Lots to do taday! But I have Sunday & Monday off!!!

Gary is working the night shift for the next 2 weeks. That's 2PM till 10PM and on call all night. He's teaching each of the new maintenance guys what to do. At 11:00PM last night, security came knocking looking for him-something broke and needed fixing-but he wasn't home yet. I have no idea what time he came home either. At least he has Sunday & Monday off with me so I can get 2 nights of sleep.

Home, Sweet Home

Well we went to town and got our fill of civilization!

Left Wed. afternoon and it took almost an hour to get the truck to start. (It's a diesel and then Gary tells me that the glow plugs (spark plugs) don't work so that is why it is always hard to start but not being started for 4 months made it even harder than usual.) Went to Kanab, UT for supper at Houston's. The poor waitress asked how we were and what brought us in so we told about our winter and everyone around us thought that was so adventurous and brave of us. Then we went on to Cedar City, UT. I don't recommend the Travelodge there. Thursday morning got the side mirror for the truck. While at Home Depot it took over a half hour to install the mirror in the parking lot. Went to St. George, UT and got a great room at The Country Inn and Suites. The room was great, so was the pool, hot tub and sauna. But next time we go we will stay on the top floor. Being right over the pool was a little noisy in the early evening but the kids jumping and running right above us was so annoying I had to call and ask the parents to have the kids stop it. But then at 10PM I think I was rather patient to wait till that time to call.

Of course we had to eat out all meals except breakfast, they had a complimentary breakfast. We went to different restaurants than we had been to before. The Gun Barrel was where we had Bison Prime Rib,mmmmmmmmmmmm and Elk Medallions,mmmmm. The hot wings were exceptional too.

The Made in Brazil Restaurant was entirely different from anything we had been to before. The salad bar was hot and cold and you could go back as many times as you wanted. But....the meat was the special part. They have 13 different types of cooked meats. They bring it to you on a giant shishkabob and slice off as much or as little as you want. And they just keep coming around with all the different types. There's a piece of wood on your table with red on one end and green on the other. You stand it up with the green side up to have the waiter come by with the meats and red if you want to just sit for awhile and enjoy what has been brought to you already. And lay it on the side to let the your waitress know your ready for the bill. Very good with lots of spices.

The Mongolian BBQ was really good too. It's a stir fry but you get to choose the ingredients that you want. They give you a bowl (3 sizes to choose from) and you go down the line stuffing your bowl with whatever you want. And stuff is just what I mean. At the end you add the sauces to your bowl of food and give it to the cook. They have a huge, round, flat top grill that they pour your bowl of food onto and move it all around while it cooks. It's fascinating just to watch the guys cook.

Of course we had to go to the Olive Garden too. We sat next to a couple while waiting. When a name was called for party of 4 the guy says "we could be them". (The place was packed and the wait was long.) And then we got our table and before our drinks arrived the same couple was seated next to us. Since both of us had tables for 4 we invited them to sit at our table and they did. We had a fun time and learnt more about St. George too.

We came home with so much more than I had really thought we would. I just kept putting fresh veggies and fruit into the cart! Good thing we have a big truck :)

It snowed on Saturday so much that from 6000' on up there was still 3-6" of the pretty white stuff. We were told that we should have no trouble getting our dully up the one lane plowed road to the apartment. Well, for the most part I had no trouble at all. But where the snow banks were as high or higher than the truck I did scrape the sides with the fenders. Now the left side will match the right side that Gary broke last year. Oh well, duck tape time.

Trying to get caught up with the wash, putting things away and everyday stuff today. Tomorrow I will be driving one of the work trucks to Page and driving an other truck back also. And going to Walmart for the things I forgot to get. Time to get going on getting this place put away properly.

Have a great day!

I've got to get to town!

Cabin fever has set in. I'm counting the days till the road will be all plowed and I can get out of here for awhile.

In the mean time I'm baking and cooking way to much. I made wheat bread on Thursday and will need to make more by this Wed or Thur. I also made chocolate chip cookies on Thursday. Today I made a blueberry pie, to use them up. I ended up with one 9" pie and two 4" pies and of course I had to make cinnamon rolls too with the left over dough. I've kept the 9" pie and some cinnomon rolls but gave the rest away. The other people here need to be gaining weight too. (See I'm trying to use up as much as I can of my winter stock since I won't be cooking this summer and I don't really have any place to store much.) I'm just going to have to start walking to take care of all these extra calories! Ya right.........

Yesterday I made home baked beans and still have lots of them left over. Today I thought of making macaroni & cheese with a pork tenderlion for supper.

The guy that was working in the retail warehouse last year was coming back to be my assistant, but Friday I got an email saying he's not coming back. Now I will have to train 2 people instead of one to help me. Come April 1st. I'm going to the warehouse and start doing things-paid or not, I need to get away from food! And there is alot of stuff to do down there so I might as well get started and get myself acquainted before I try to train someone else where things will go. Besides I want to be able to make a shopping list for the warehouse so in 8 days when the road is all plowed (hopefully) I can get some supplies to get me started.

The winds is really blowing hard tonight. Gary says he saw snowflakes too.

Well not much has changed since my last post.

It has snowed a couple of times, as it is today also. But the snow has melted away just as quick as it came. Looks very pretty while it's snowing but......I've had enough. Either it needs to snow a couple of feet or just stop all together! Five more days until the state is to start plowing Rt. 67 so we can drive out of here. I can't wait-I need a fresh salad and some ice cream!!

I've started going through the freezer to see what is left...to much. But that is good so I can do better next winter on figuring what we need. Today I'm making wheat bread again and garlic butter. Think I will make some cookies too while I have the oven on.

I've used the pressure cooker and I love it. Finally we can have baked beans that are almost as good as Moms. I cooked some beef stew meat the other day too for stroganoff. The meat was so tender. I would love to make some beef stew today in the pressure cooker but I've run out of potatoes so I'm still debating with myself to make it using noodles. The more I think about it the more I think I'm going to make it.

I surprised Gary on Tuesday. It was 52nd birthday and I made Red Velvet Cake for him like I always do. It came out almost perfect! (I'm getting this high altitude down pat now!) It calls for buttermilk and he knew I didn't have any so he was not expecting his favorite cake, but ...I have powdered buttermilk! We had supper next door and all 6 of us enjoyed a nice evening together.

Well that's it for now, back to the kitchen.

:(

Sad, sad day :(

We just found out that we can not make our trip to Salt Lake City on Thursday. There just is not enough snow left for a safe ride out and back. To many of the Park Service employees have already ruined their snowmobiles this last week for us to chance ruining 2 of ours. But Kristal will be going with her family and I'm sure Chris will take lots of pictures for us.

Only 3 more weeks and the road will be plowed then we will be able to go to town. Maybe we will take a trip up to Salt Lake City then, who knows.

Monday, Monday!

Another Monday and another exceptionally sunny, beautiful day! And alot more bare ground showing.


Notice the coyote just in front of the tree? He comes around every day.

Our 6 working snowmobiles. It seems like alot of snow doesn't it?

But.....

I'm getting more excited about Thursday getting here. It will be our first trip off the Rim this winter! With so little snow I'm not so sure about going by snowmobiles, but we have no choice. We don't use the snowmobiles to go to work every day any more but the road out (48 miles) has not been plowed so we will have to go by snowmobiles. We've been told we will have some farly large areas that we will have to cross with no snow so to keep an eye on the temperature of the machines and take plenty of rest stops for the machines to cool off. And.... go as fast as possible on the bare ground!

So what am I going to do today??? I'm not going to work again for lack of things for me to do..but that's OK cause I have plenty to do here at home. Got to clean the apartment real good and start looking at what and how I'm going to pack for Thursday. We have a large shopping list that includes clothing so I've been thinking we really won't have to take much with us. With the positions that we have for the summer season I don't know when we will have another chance to go out and get our uniforms and such, so we might as well get all that stuff this trip out. We can leave most of it in the truck until the road gets plowed and we have a chance to go get our RV.

Saturday I made bread from scratch and it came out GREAT. I should have been doing it all winter instead of using the bread machine. Well at least I know for next winter that I can make it all winter long. The wheat bread actually came out better than the white!

Well time to get to work on packing!

Have a great week :D

It finally snowed again today but.......it was not much and it all melted on the bare pavement. Did make everything pretty white again for awhile :)

I made bread from scratch the other day and it came out really good. Doughnuts came out really good this morning too. I think I'm getting this high altitude baking down.

I haven't worked much this last 2 weeks. Mike is having a hard time finding enough work for both Tanya and I so I volunteered to stay home so she could get her hours to keep her insurance. This next week I might be able to work making some shelves to go in the Retail Warehouse that I will be managing this summer. I don't mind staying home but it is a bit boring. At least I will be able to get to know Trish better.

I got some good photos of the coyote that comes to see us every day. We haven't seen the foxes later though.

:)

It was just like Christmas today for us! Somebody from Park Service was nice enough to bring all packages in from Jacob Lake today. We had 4 boxes delivered to us this afternoon. Got our pressure cooker so now we can cook our beans and make baked beans in no time instead of it taking 24 hours to soften those beans.

Our upstairs neighbors got a surround sound DVD/CD player system. They have been trying it out all afternoon. Man that thing can make some noise!

Thank you Penny and Kristal for sending our "presents" to us :D

UGH!

Know what I saw yesterday?? Bare ground again!!! Beginning of last week we had a real nice snow storm and got about 2 1/2 feet total. Now once again the warmth of the desert is prevailing to steal the snow away. Today it is 50*, beautiful, sunny day.

More Snow

Just how much snow did we get ....so far...cause it is still snowing!




Go back and look at yesterdays pictures and compare. This is the snowmobile I ride. Yesterday it wasn't bared quite this much.

Gary is having a ball being in the snow!

Is this the abominable snowman???

Finally-we have snow!

This morning around 7-8 AM. About 8-10 inches over night.


This afternoon around 3PM. 4 more inches!

This morning looking out from my back steps.

Around 3PM. Snowing really hard!!!

We have our snowmobile road again! That's the snowmobile I drive.

It's now 7:30PM and still snowing hard. Lets hope it snows all night and gives us a couple of feet!!

Still need some more snow

Every day I come home to less and less snow to drive on!

We need snow

See what I mean-we really need more snow. For 2 weeks now we have had close to 50* every day which has done a lot of snow melting. Friday and Saturday it rained which did not help any thing either. Today it hailed off and on but did not accumulate anything. At least we had 32* and below all day to help stop the melting.

HISTORY WAS MADE TODAY!

History was made today! Barack Obama was sworn into office of the President of the United States of America, the first black american. I had the chance to listen to everything on the radio while painting another cabin up here on the North Rim. Then when I got home I watched it all over again on the TV. I really liked his speach and can only hope that we as a people of the United States will take his words to heart and pick ourselves up and get on with living and working to make the best of everyone. I'm not a big politician at all but today was special indeed. Only time will tell if he can accomplish things he has said he would.

Can you believe January is half over? Up here at 8100 feet it feels like winter is most over too, of course it is not but from the warm weather you would think so. Notice all the bare ground. Lets see if I can do some comparison photos.

Gary's work truck Dec. 26, 2008

This is the same truck on Dec. 17, 2008 and there is even less snow today Jan. 18, 2009.

Wouldn't you know I can't find any other photos for camparison. So let me show the snowman we tried to make! Keep in mind the snow is powder and then it has crystalized on the top from all the wind and melting. Definately not snowman making snow. Sorry Kristal but we did try :)

Here's a great picture of the Lodge with the snow sliding off the roof.

And these are the same snow slide but from the backside of it.

So cool looking!

Another beautiful, sunny day! Going to go snowshoeing today and will post whatever pictures we take later.

We've had very nice, warm weather up here this week. Yesterday and today both were in the 50's. The snow is melting in quite a few places too.

Mike & Trish got back from their mini vacation for New Years. They brought with them the parts Gary needs for the snowmobile he uses. It needed a new piston and rings. (The top of the piston should be smooth not pitted and broken.) Gary repaired the snowmobile, only took a few hours and now it runs extremely well! Best of all--we don't have to have Gary shuttle us all to and from work. Being the driver is much better than being the passenger.

Gary made Chicken Marcella last night for supper and it was wonderful! With all the chicken I have I'm thinking he should be cooking this every week. Of course that means we will have to go shopping for more Marcella wine. Might as well go next week for my birthday and enjoy a few days back in civilization.