Summer in Stehekin: Day 2-5

Tuesday = Snoozeday

I slept for twelve hours. I know that sounds like a lot, but I needed it for sure. And I probably could've slept longer. When that alarm went off, I wasn't fully rested, but nevertheless I had to be at work. So off I went. Stehekin is awesome; retail work, not so much. But I knew that coming into the position. I will complain about this one thing. We have the most bizarre shifts. There's the opening shift: 8am-4pm and the closing shift: 11am-8pm. Now the opener gets a 30 minute break, but the closer gets an 90 minutes break. Why? You might ask. Well, because it's beneficial to have two people in the store during ferry times, which is 11am-2pm. While understandable, it doesn't make it any less annoying. So today, I'm working the closing shift.

Here's how a typical closing shift works:

11am: run around and help guests and ferry passengers

11:15am: answer questions (usually 'what time does the ferry leave? 12 pm. How far is Rainbow falls? 3.5 miles. Is this where we check in? yes it is. do you sell smoked salmon? No, but we have capers.)

11:30am: check in guests and ring up purchases (mostly trinkets that will probably get lost)

11:45am: answer more questions (when does the rainbow falls tour leave? You missed it. Where is the ranger station? Right up the road. Do you like living here? Absolutely!)

12pm: relax for a half hour, while the opener goes on break and we wait until 12:30 when the second ferry gets in

12:30pm: run around and help guests and ferry passengers

12:45pm: answer yet another round of questions (how much is a shuttle ticket? $7 one way. Can we make reservations to fly out instead? Yes, but they have limited availability. Is this the only store? Yes it is. Do you live here all year? No, just for the summer. 75 cents for a postcard? Yes.)

1pm: check in more guests and wonder if the last reservation is coming in on the 4pm plane

1:30pm: look at the clock and wonder why more people aren't heading towards the ferry

1:55pm: laugh, because you hear Mary over the walkie-talkie asking where the rainbow fall tour bus is, making sure it'll be back to make the ferry

2pm: sigh in relief and start refolding shirts

2:15pm: go on your 90-minute break! Where you will eat a quick lunch and take a nap that will turn out to be a mistake

3:45pm: return to work and help the opener with their deposit, aka sign off that the correct amount of money is there

4pm: prepare for the most boring night of your life…

4:30PM: ….

5pm: Help a stranded PCT hiker figure out a route around some bridge outages

5:30PM: Beer30! (where everyone comes to get their beer for the evening. Mostly co-workers buying 6packs and guests buying singles to drink on the deck)

6pm: …. Swept the floors… I think I stocked the fridge case…

7pm: Overheard Mary say there was WIFI on the deck! YES!

8pm: Closing time!

I know this makes me sound a little cynical, but truthful it is super boring and the questions are repetitive. But the people (save for a small few) are incredible! My co-workers are super friendly and inviting and the guests are genuinely thankful for your outstanding service. The PCT hiker I helped asked my boss directly how he can write a personal review of the hotel and me for my service. On my second day!

I'm sure that throughout the summer I will share horrible stories of really crappy guests. But I will try to balance it out with stories of amazing guests (which I will emphasize are closer to the norm). And of course I will throw in some silly stories too!

Wednesday = Another Day Another Dollar

Not much to say for Wednesday. Work. Spent too much time chatting with my husband and didn't have time to cook dinner so I ate a sandwich. Wish today was more interesting.

Thursday = Holy Thor's Day

Opening after you closed used to mean (in the BK world) leaving work at 1am and coming back at 6am. Here it's leaving at 8:30pm and being back at 7:45am. So definitely an improvement, but no less tiring. I occupied most of my day doing inventory, which is tedious to say the least. Mostly because there is stock stowed practically everywhere. But nevertheless it was an uneventful day. Until…

Taco Night! I bought a can of beans from the store and cooked up some quinoa and veggies, added some salsa and warmed up some tortillas. Bite number three, my permanent retainer comes loose. I push it down and keep eating. First mistake. Bite number four, my retainer is gone. Swallow. Oops.

Yes, you read that right. I swallowed a 1.5 inch piece of metal wire and I didn't even notice. So… Now what? I was eating with my roommate Diane who told me to see the NPS EMT. I decided to try the emergency lines for my dentist and orthodontist first. So I wandered back to the lodge to find my boss to tell her the situation. Well, her over anxious and severly sarcastic husband decided to ring the silent alarm for the town. Twenty minutes later, as Phil and I and two other employees are sitting on the deck, a light blue pickup comes barreling down the road and a sandy-haired woman comes racing up the steps.

"What's the emergency?" she says to Phil, who is reclining on the deck smoking a cigar.

Phil points to the small cut on his leg from several hours ago and says "I cut myself."

She laughs and I'm glad to see she's used to his twisted sense of humor. She takes me to the Medical Cache up at the park office and we sit down and begin a SAMPLE history (a medical recording acronym used to obtain pertinent information from the patient). Halfway through I began to anticipate the questions and that led her to ask if I was WFR. Well, yes, yes I am. (This will come back up in a second)

Apparently we have a direct line to the EMS and hospital in Chelan, so she called and asked about what I should do. Their answer? Drink lots of water and eat normally. People have swallowed worse. Made me feel a whole lot better to know that I wouldn't have to get airlifted out of Stehekin with an $8,000 helicopter bill. So if any issues arise, I'll take the ferry out and figure it out from there.

So the WFR thing. Sonja, the resident NPS EMT asked, since I was looking to volunteer with the park service this summer, if I was interested in being a volunteer EMT this summer. Hell yeah I'm interested! She has to contact her supervisor and I'll find out next week, but this could be a new door opening for me!

So there's exciting Thursday!

Friday = Funday

My first day off! What's a girl to do? Explore! I was originally going to go kayaking with Adam (head waiter) at 9am, but the wind was at it again. But it was clear and beautiful and warm and I knew I had to do something. So I threw my bike onto the 11:35am shuttle bus (which is free for employees) and travelled the hour to High Bridge camp. When I arrived, there were several people waiting for the bus. One, Joe, is a cook at the lodge with a rather colorful record (not going to say for what). The others? PCT HIKERS! My favorite! These three also did the AT in 2013! So we swapped trail names, some trail moments, and a bunch of smiles. Soon, the bus drove off, leaving me all alone 12 miles from town.

The PCT crosses directly through High Bridge (or close to directly through) and I decided to wander around a bit. So I left my bike against a bench and began to walk. Let me just say that it is… GORGEOUS! The Angus Creek cascades down through the gorge and the huckleberries are in bloom. I walked south of the PCT for about a mile then turned around, knowing that I could keep walking all the way to Mexico if I didn't stop. Someday…

So I started my bike back and boy is that not the funnest ride ever! And yes, funnest is a word. Right out of High Bridge the road takes a steep downhill for about a mile and its fast and fun. Perfect way to warm up my bike. The rest has some fun downs, some relaxing flats, and some quad-busting ups. All together: amazing ride! Here's some pictures:

High Bridge

Trailhead: Left for South of the PCT

Mount McGregor in all his glory!

Gorgeous little pink flowers on the PCT

This adventurer loves the view!

Take two steps, eat a huckleberry. Repeat 100x

Now entering...

Some of the best downhills to the best views!

I decided to stop at the bakery on my way back. Apparently the bakery is renowned for its delicious sweets. Unfortunately for me, I can only have like two things. But that wild rice salad and coconut iced Chai with three sourdough rolls was delicious! Second stop on the way back as to the Garden. Owned my local, Carl, the garden is an all organic farm which sells to the locals. I'm a local now, so I got some delicious butter lettuce and bok choy fresh off the stem and yummy cherries from Chelan. Both places do running tabs for locals. Now I just have to make sure not to run them up too high, lol!

Wild rice salad with sourdough rolls and a coconut milk Chai!

I made a quick stop at the lodge before going home and I'm glad I did. The night wait staff and cooks were panicking because we had 52 people in house and they didn't think they would have enough people to manage the dinner shift. So I volunteered to be their dishwasher. Well, they gladly accepted. I'm glad I did too. They got slammed and I'm not sure what they would've down without me. I got to play hostess, waitress, and dishwasher. And they tipped me too! Four hours of paid work and $20 in tips! I'll volunteer any day!

Best photo of the day! Rainbow Falls!

But now I'm exhausted and ready to crawl into bed. I was going to merge today (Saturday) in with this post, but I'll have to update that later. Wishing you were all here!