Ancora Imparo- I'm still learning

So....as I wrote in my last blog, titled "Peru!" I am awful at punctuation and grammar and don't really care to make it too correct because this blog is like a version of my diary... meaning it's mine and I can do what I want with it:) I also decided to start a new blog because my last blog, as I mentioned, was titled something way different then I would have liked to write in for my Yellowstone experience and all future traveling experiences (I hope there will be many!). I titled this blog one of my favorite sayings (I've considered getting a tattoo of this saying for many years), which is I'm still learning, or ancora imparo in Italian. I didn't want to title it the Italian name because I thought if I told others the blog title it wouldn't be easy to remember. The name means a lot to me because I believe in it. I am learning everyday no matter what I am doing. I love learning through adventuring (ex: coming to Yellowstone!). Every experience allows me a chance to learn and grow as a person.

Okay... enough of that boring introduction stuff. Today is my third day in Yellowstone and my second day having orientation to become a Retail Sales Associate in the Old Faithful Inn gift shop. I already have too many stories to tell and I know I won't remember all of them! I feel as I've been here a week... in a good way though:)

I'll start with Money, May 7th, 2012. I left my Grandpa and Grandma Williams' house in Idaho Falls at about 10 in the morning (after a wonderful breakfast they treated me to at Smitty's) because I called the Forest Service and an automated recording said snow tires were required on the roads I needed to drive on to get to Gardiner, MT to check in. Well, my Grandma is awesome and said I should check in with the forest ranger at the West entrance to Yellowstone and ask what's up. So I did! and he said the roads I needed were clear, but if I got in an accident or was stopped and didn't have snow tires I'd get a ticket. I decided to risk it and am SO glad I did! From West Yellowstone to Madison Junction I saw bison and elk! My first animal experiences of the summer:) I was so close to the bison (just driving by it... humans are not allowed to be within 75ft of bison and elk because they can be dangerous... we saw a video of a bison attacking people in the park... and there is a $120 fine if a ranger sees you). Plus, the scenery is BEAUTIFUL! Holy cow (bison) I can't even describe it and the pictures I take do not even do it justice. After, I saw the first bison... you can say I was addicted haha. I had a place to go, but decided to adventure! I stopped at many road side stops. Saw a waterfall. Decided to drive to canyon (not at all in the direction I was supposed to go), watched the canyon falls and immediately wanted to hike all the trails near it (decided I should wait another time), drove back and saw a coyote, drove around more amazing scenery, bison, and elk until I finally arrived at my hotel in Gardiner, MT. I spent the night being rather boring and studying facts about Yellowstone and ironing pants for orientation. But the day’s events had me so happy I didn't care.

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

STARTING DAY! I woke up early to get checked in to start my work:) A bus load of employees was coming around nine so I was advised to get there before that, but it was still busy. I received a packet of stuff I needed to read and complete. I decided to ask a girl that was by herself at a table if I could sit by her. She said yes and seemed to be nice so I continued the conversation to ask her name and where she was from... her name is Taylor and she is from WENATCHEE!!!!!!! What the heck????? I was shocked. The world is so darn small! I was delighted though and we were talking about who she knew and I knew. She actually knows my little sister, Candice, (today she said I acted just like her... I corrected her and said I'm older so Candice acts like me;) jk sis). It was a great start to the day. After I got checked in I had about 3 hours until I needed to be at the next location... Mammoth Hot Springs, which is 5 miles away. So I took my sweet time and stopped at nearly every roadside place there was to stop. I saw two longhorn and the 45th parallel (the exact halfway line from the equator to the North Pole!), more amazing natural sights, did some official things like get my car registered, checked into employee dorms (my roommate is from China!), and observed the copious amounts of bison and elk around every corner (we were warned to open a door to the outside cautiously because you never know if one could be right outside... I experienced this later, but luckily there was a barrier between us and the bison). I had orientation from 1 until about 5 I think. It was alright, but it was neat meeting people I'm going to work with. I met Jon from Singapore, Stephanie from China (she will be at Lake so I won't see her much after this), Barbara (we call her Barb from Georgia?), Francis (somewhere in the U.S. haha), Phil (U.S.), and had already met Taylor. Everyone is really nice. Barb (who could be my mom), Francis(who could be my grandma), and I walked to the Mammoth Hot Springs after training. WOW... had never seen anything like them... or smelled anything like them. The rotten egg smell coming from the hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots, or geysers is hydrogen sulfide gas... and smells gross. Barb, Francis, and I spent most of the evening together and I couldn't have asked for better company. We laughed and had fun, but also covered some serious topics. They are good women though and we were all appreciating each other’s friendships (we had all had the scary thought that we might not meet anyone here... silly us;). Later, we decided to go on a walk... which turned out to be quite comical. It was almost impossible to avoid being by an elk or a bison. We were trying to remain a safe distance away, but instead of being trapped between a rock and a hard place... we were trapped between a bison and an elk hahah. Multiple times we changed our route only to be confronted with more wild beasties! It was funny though. On our walk we saw a bison scratching himself by forcing his massive body on a tree. It was interesting to watch, but since we were trying to not get attacked we maneuvered around him. We then went to the employee pub. I believe each location has them. Mammoth's had some pool tables, foosball, darts, other games, beer, and food. I'm trying to save money this summer though (just took out my first student loan... ouch) so am being frugal. I noticed the longer I hung out with Barb and Francis though the more certain words of mine took on a Southern accent hahaha

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

Today, was mostly orientation until about 3. I do have to say though... I cannot complain about the food. Lunch was fried eggplant with marinara sauce, onion rings, and many other delicious foods! I'm a vegetarian and each meal has a vegetarian option which is GREAT! With the employee food plan it comes out of my paycheck, but I can eat as much as I want:)... I'm not sure if this is good or bad yet haha. After, our training though we all (except for Phil) decided we wanted to go on a hike. We hiked to Beaver Ponds (took two and a half hours and was probably around 3 miles?? we didn't follow the right trail at first because we were confused haha). We didn't see the wildlife we were seeing back in town, but saw an elk that was stubborn and wouldn't get out of our way. He was growing his antlers again and they were brown and fuzzy. In order to scare away bears (there have been many recent sightings) we were making lots of noise as we walked around parts of the trail when we couldn't see what was up ahead. We were told to do this by rangers and the staff here. The hike was beautiful (this word is quickly getting overused...ooops;). After, we were famished and dinner ends at 6:30 here so headed straight for the lunch room. I filled up on salad... and because I had salad I assured myself I could also have a piece of carrot cake, a piece of chocolate pie, and two glasses of chocolate milk (thanks Hanna for getting me into the milk!). mmmmmm yummmmyyyy. Once dinner was over I asked Jon if he would like to throw the Frisbee around. Stephanie joined us later (it was her first time) and they both improved significantly over the time we did it! I met Jenny, Glen, Joe, and Pete throwing the Frisbee around and I was out there for probably two hours. We disbursed, but I was soon distracted by the basketball court they have here and started shooting. The rec center guy (Chris) saw me and informed me that there will be 3 on 3 basketball tournaments and leagues here! SO looking forward to that. When I was sufficiently sweaty and tired I headed to my car to get my laptop to start this blog... that's when I realized my battery in the car was dead. I think I must have bumped my head against the light that was on earlier in the day. I saw Francis, asked if she had any jumper cables, which she sadly didn't. But the gentleman she was talking to did! and luck was on my side because he was parked exactly to the left of me! We got me all hooked up and started again. Man, I lucked out really. Especially, because I am leaving for Old Faithful tomorrow morning after training. Anyways, I am exhausted, but wanted to get the first few days on here:) I am meeting people from all over and thoroughly enjoying my time here. We'll see how work goes when I start:)