Day Hike

I went on a hike today, up the Cabin Creek trailhead. Gorgeous hike.

Tomorrow is my other day off. May go fishing, may just stick around.

I finished a great book today called "Through Painted Deserts". It's about a spiritual journey of Don Miller, and how he road tripped from Houston Texas to Portland Oregon in a POS van with his friend Paul. It's a fantastic book, very funny, very serious, and I highly suggest reading it when you get the chance.

Update with Xanterra. I sent them an e-mail telling them that I am working here at the Campfire Lodge through Labor day, and I have yet to hear from them. So cross your fingers if they decide to let me start on the 2nd or not. If not, I'll just be heading home after my time here at CL.

Update on that, I love it here. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful place to work, and fun people to work with. I'm going to miss it here when I leave. Who knows, if I like it enough, I may come back next season!

Check back in soon.

~JD

Campfire Lodge, first day

Well, this morning I moved into the “bunk house”, which is the small “cabin” for employees of the “Campfire Lodge”, 19 miles out of West Yellowstone.

Oh…did I mention I got a job!? Yes, I am now working, as previously stated, at the Campfire Lodge, below Hebgen Lake on the Madison River in the GORGEOUS state of Montana. www.campfirelodgewestyellowstone.com is the URL if you’d like to check that out. I’ll be doing whatever they need me to. This includes potentially getting behind a grill and learning to cook! Very exciting. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, 6:30 to 3:30 doing Dishes.

The CL is probably one of the most popular breakfast and lunch places in all of West Yellowstone. On a Sunday…it’s EXTREMELY difficult to find a place to park in front of the office/kitchen/eating area. I’ve never seen a place so busy.

Fishing Report: Yesterday SUCKED for fishing; I only got about 2 strikes (this term means a fish attempted to eat your fishing fly), while my dad, on the other hand, caught 2. Both, I believe, were Rainbow Trout. Today, however, was a much better day for both of us. We went down and fished the Gallatin, which is on the way to Bozeman, where my dad flew out of today. I got 3 fish, 2 Cuttbows (a hybrid between a Cutthroat and a Rainbow trout). One being in the range of 17 to 18 inches long, the other about nine. I also caught a whitefish! Weird fish to see in a stream…

I am waiting to hear on Xanterra if they’ll actually want me now or not. I let them know, that because of their schedule change with me, and us having made non-refundable reservations around Yellowstone, I came up to find a job. I found one, but I’m working through Labor Day. So I contacted Xanterra to see if they’d still want me on the 2^nd of September. If not, I’m taking my road trip early, and will be home around mid-September. So here’s hoping that Xanterra still wants me!

I’m going to now finish my glass of wine, and retire. I have to be up in 9 hours, (it’s now 10:45 MDT, and I must be up at 6 MDT, which, according to my California body clock, is 5 A.fter M.idnight).

Hope to be able to update again soon.

~JD

I got a job!

So, i was able to obtain a job through labor day. I will be working at the campfire lodge, twenty minutes out of west yellowstone. Its amazing. I'll be doing whatever they need me to do, but apparently, i'm exactly what jim (the owner) was looking for. But, its a grand a month, i get a bunk room to myself, and its fifteen feet from the madison river, where on my afternoons and days off, i'm REQUIRED to fish. Plus two meals a day. I can't complain. I'm so very excited. I start tuesday, the day after i take my dad to the airport. I'm extremely excited and blessed. Thanks for all your prayers. But as i side note. I don't have wifi or bell service. But, jim has a computer, which i may be able to access once a week maybe more. We'll see. But, i will update when i can. Check in soon. I'm actually updating this with my phone. So, i may get to update with my phone, but i can't update pictures. Again, check in soon!!! ~JD

~PS I am actually posting this on the 24th, because I was just now able to obtain internet access.

Pocatello, Idaho

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So this is where my dad and I currently are. It took us 14 hours in total to get here from home. It was a nice drive up. Long...but nice. Those tinted windows really came in handy while driving through the Nevada/Arizona/lower Utah drive where it was 100 degrees plus (I have a thermometer in my car), but we kept cool.

Our legs and buttocks are killing us...and we appreciate the finer things in life (such as...walking for a few hours a day as compared to sitting on your dupa for 13 hours).

But, here we are, safe and sound in the Red Lion Hotel in Pocatello, Idaho (home of Idaho State University, mind you), chilling our bottle of Shiraz that we bought at the gas station (the liquor store closed at 9PM!), ready to relax.

Tomorrow: Drive up to Yellowstone and Gardner and other such places...job hunting! Maybe a little fishing? We will see.

G'night everyone!

Bon Voyage!

I'm leaving in 14 hours for the beautiful northwestern-ish states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

I will update here within the next 5 days to let anyone know if I found a job anywhere around YNP until my start date with Xanterra.

Pray for our voyage.

~JD

Okay...new update

So, in my last post, I said that I wouldn't be leaving until mid-way through August. This, is a false statement. My Father and I are now leaving on the original date (July 17th) to go and look for work around Yellowstone until my start of term with Xanterra. However, if I do not find work until my start date, we're coming back home, and I will be leaving on the 11th or 12th of August.

That's my update, and I'm sticking to it.

Look for an update in 3 weeks.

Song of the day: Take You on a Cruise by Interpol