Trying to go back through the memories of our last few days at Tower Fall In YNP will be a bit challenging and I hope I do not forget any important memories. If so, I will amend the blog entry with notation.
A lot of our group left on September 8th. I must say it was a sad day for most of us. When you work closely and literally live with a group of people for 3 months, you become a small family. As adults, we all knew each other pretty good within a short amount of time. We knew the highs and lows of each personality - and they knew us. We had a great group to work with. The Manager over all of Tower Fall and the Floor Managers all remarked that they had never worked with a more cooperative group of people. There was so much respect and appreciation for each individual that it was difficult to not have a good time. The time flew for us. Before we knew it 4 months had passed and we were saying goodbye and packing our car. There were tears shed and promises made to keep in touch. So many pictures were made. My desire is to make a separate entry for just our new friends.
To catch up on our EDR - it got a little better. Bud still had a difficult time with some of the menu. He lost about 15 pounds over the summer. (We've been home about a week and he is slowly gaining it back. - Home cooking). We continued to enjoy our dorm room - it was very roomy and comfortable, even though our last night there we had no heat. A little cold but not too bad.
The weather began to take a turn toward Winter and we had a blizzard, literally about 10 miles from us on the mountain and on south into the Canyon area. Some of the roads were closed on Wednesday before we left the next day. Canyon received about 3-4 inches. We took some pictures of the mountain area as we left. It was pretty.
Our last day to work was September 19. We all got there early so we could get some things started and be ready for when the Retail Clean-up crew came in. I guess between all of us employees (10-12) and the crew (another 10-12) we were able to do inventory before lunch. The crew remained to pack some things to take to other stores that were not closing until a later date.
Our car took a beating while we were there. Bud had washed, compounded and put two coats of wax on it before we left. We did not wash it once while we were there. Washing was useless because of the road construction and all the dust that was ever present. It was a mess - more on the outside than on the inside. The road to our dorm was full of potholes that only got worse while we were there. Our first stop when we left YNP was in Rexburg, ID to have the car serviced at the Toyota dealership. Front and rear ends were both out of alignment, tires needed rotating, oil change and lube and all filters needed to be changed. We then headed on to Idaho Falls for a part that was needed.
We spent two days with Bud's niece Judy, outside of Logan, Utah. We had a great time. Rest, relaxation, family fellowship, good food and some fun time fishing. We actually caught some with help from Butch (Judy's husband). He took us to a private sportsman club and we had so much fun fishing, enjoying the views and weather and our picnic lunch.
It is early to say if we will go back next year. We are a little tired and home feels really good. We loved Tower Fall and can't think of working anywhere else, but we'll need to pray about it and see how our health is in 4 or 5 months before we recommit.
All in all it was a good summer. We hated that Jill had to have her gallbladder removed while we were there and hated that Bud's sister was ill most of the time we were there. Even though the communications were not very good, we managed to keep informed.
Posting a few pictures of the last few days we were there and also our travels.
