GoodBye to Yellowstone

On our last day off we travelled about 30 miles northeast to the Museum of the Park Ranger and the Norris Geyser Basin. The museum is a converted army barracks where soldiers stayed from 1886 to 1916 when they were in charge of the security of the park. In 1916 the National Park Service began, and the first park rangers took over the administration of the park.

Inside were rooms showing how the army men lived, and army and ranger uniforms were on display. In addition to a film, the ranger on duty was very informative.

The Norris Basin, named for the park's second superintendent, had boardwalks all around so we could walk and see the various geysers and pools. One geyser erupted continuously while we were there.

There were also many colorful pools.

 

 

Some of the rock around was a very bright green color which somes from the minerals and bacteria. The rainbow of colors that we saw were impressive.

LIFE AT YELLOWSTONE

We finished our last shift last night and feel kind of sad to leave all the friendly coworkers, supervisors, and other employees. The retirees with whom we worked ranged in age from the 50's to the 70's and came from a variety of jobs during their careers. There were couples and single men and women. The young folks from other countries, mainly Taiwan, were energetic and fun to be around. One evening one of the couples in the campground hosted a campfire where we made smores and mountain pies. It was the first time many of the Taiwan kids tasted them.

This past week we celebrated Christmas on August 25 following a tradition that started long ago in the park. On Christmas eve we had a program where some of the employees performed skits and sang and danced. This is part of the group of internationals who sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

After the program we went to the edr (employee dining room) to feast on homemade Christmas cookies, egg nog and other treats.

The next day we had a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings including homemade rolls and pumpkin pie. What a feast! Later in the evening we joined some friends at the Old Faithful Inn where Santa visited with the guests and they served hot apple cider and cookies. It was a beautiful setting and an enjoyable evening. Here's a picture from the second floor balcony. The chimney behind us goes up to the third floor and had fires blazing in all four fireplaces around it on the ground floor.

Here's a picture of part of the inside of the General Store where we worked.

Business has dropped off tremendously. About twenty of us are leaving now and another thirty or so follow next week. That leaves a skeleton crew to close the store down on October 15. So it's time to hook up the car and hit the road. We will treasure the memories that we made here at Yellowstone. We are leaving in the morning and making our way through Idaho to the Oregon coast. We hear how beautiful it is and want to see for ourselves.