One year ago I was rapidly approaching Retirement. Bobbi and I were seriously discussing what our future would look like. Anyone who had ever heard me talk about Retirement knew my dream was to travel the country working in National Parks and marveling at this majestic country.
Yellowstone National Park had stolen my heart the first time I was there in 1960. On my bucket list was being able to work a full season in the Park. I didn't hold out much hope of getting Bobbi to stay for a winter season but spring, summer and fall sounded pretty good. We had taken a winter trip to Yellowstone several years ago and it was fantastic.
I figured there were 4 high probability companies to work for. Now I was not looking to make much money I only wanted an RV spot and a small income to cover gas as we toured the park. My options were to try to get on with the concessionaire contractors, Xanterra or Delaware North, the National Park Service as a volunteer or seasonal employee, or to work for the private non profit Yellowstone Forever which ran the bookstores in the Park. I started by trying Xanterra and Delaware North. I waded through Xanterra's online application and submitted it. All I ever heard from them was an auto reply that acknowledged that they had received it. I really didn't want to work retail so I didn't apply there. My big break came while I was shopping on the Yellowstone Forever website. There was a tab I found about jobs. Several were posted. I applied for Park Store Associate. Simple straightforward online application. Sent it off and left for a two week trip to King's Canyon, Sequoia, and Joshua Tree National Park.
Imagine my surprise when in Joshua Tree I got an email response that said my application interested them to please contact them and gave me a phone number. When I called the person I needed to talk to was on vacation. We had been home about one week when I got a call back.
After several phone interviews I finally got to speak to the person who would be my direct supervisor. I guess he was pretty desperate because after a couple of phone calls he offered me a position at the Canyon VEC (Visitor Education Center)Park store. It was not my first choice I thought it would be way to busy since it is a major stop for every tour bus that enters the park. I did decide to bite the bullet and take the job. Bobbi had decided that she did not want to work as it looked like she would need to make a couple of trips back home to tend to business we had already scheduled and required one of us to be here.
OMG we were out of time!! It was the last week in March when we knew that we were going to be able to complete an item on my bucket list. Bobbi doesn't have one since she is going to live forever. :) We needed to be in Yellowstone May 1. Immediately discussions began on whether or not our little travel trailer would be adequate for 5 months of daily living with 2 dogs. Bobbi became clear almost immediately that it would not work. So we began to look at motor homes and 5th wheels. Since I already had a truck the 5th wheel became the obvious choice. The big requirements for me in a 5th wheel was that it not be over 30 feet and not too heavy to be towed by my truck. Bobbi had a few more requirements that she wanted checked off. The second week of April we finally found a fifth wheel that Bobbi liked but that I would have to cave on my length restriction. Bobbi kindly pointed out that on the side of the trailer it stated that it was model number 30RLS meaning it was 30 feet long. Not true it is actually 34.5 feet from bumper to King Pin. We had our home for the next 5 plus months. Now we had to pack it and make the journey to Yellowstone. A 906 mile journey.
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