Xanterra

I woke up for the bus this morning at 6 am which was not too hard after having to wake up earlier in recent consecutive days. Got downstairs and had a little breakfast while talking to some kindly American travelers and gazing in illicit horror at the roaring stuffed polar bear and multiple moose and deer cut off at the neck - I sure know I am out West now. 

I went out to catch the bus at 7.15 am, which took a frantic rush of leg power to get across a busy five lane road to the bus station on the other side. Lest not forget with a 70 pound + suitcase in tow brimmed with diverse seasonal clothing, three cameras, a giant zip-loc bag of films in various speeds and sizes, a clunky widescreen laptop (I swear a home P.C with two units would probably have been easier to carry around), and any other personal belongings you could possibly need in a year’s time of your life.

Unfortunately, I had to wait two hours for the bus to arrive and had not prepared for the cold morning air in my Levi's cut-offs. Although, the opportunity for a second exploration around Bozeman was not snuffed at. 

When it finally arrived the only person on the bright yellow striped mini-bus was myself and the 69 year old friendly driver named Len, he informed me that I should take a picture because most employees do as a remembrance of the beginning of their adventure.

I had not realised the extent of the journey to my destination at the 'Grand Canyon of Yellowstone' until literally half way to it. It felt like an epic feat on arrival, after making our way through the great diversity of landscapes and weather systems of Yellowstone and being dropped off and picked up by multiple Xanterra staff in different locations for registration. Len also acted as my personal tour guide, filling me with knowledge on the abundant sightseeing spots we passed through and occasionally waving out to a family member he spotted on the road. There were so many different things to be amazed by (too many to list), particularly the acres and acres of burned trees from the forest fire of '88, they lay spindly and flat on the hillsides like thousands of little matchsticks spread across a carpeted floor. 

I guess the personal tour guide was one advantage of being the only new employee, although it meant that there was no orientation of sorts but pieces of paper to read instead, the advice on 'What to do when meeting a bear' will hopefully not be useful, but the techniques are rather fascinating and might come in handy. Firstly, when going around a bend during hiking you must make loud noises such as clapping or shouting something such as 'Yoohoo! Please don't hurt us Mr. Bear!' this is to warn them of your presence which is supposed to make them move away. When you do meet a bear face to face, it is quite different. You can slowly back away if it doesn't see you, however, Grizzly bears often charge at people, as soon as this happens you stand completely still, look away and hope that Mr. Bear loses interest and doesn't run you down- it doesn't seem like a very intelligent defence mechanism. If Mr. Bear continues charging full speed ahead then you fall to the ground and lay flat on your stomach while spreading your legs apart so Mr. Bear can't tip you over to have a feast on your organs. While doing this you cover your neck with your hands (like being arrested by a cop) in order to stop them goring your neck. Apparently they often start on you by fitting your head inside their mouths and dragging you around, which Len informed me, could 'only tear off some of your skull cap', 'Only!!!' I thought. So now if the bear continues attacking, you are supposed to speak softly to it, whispering things such as 'Please would you kindly remove my skull from your oh so beautiful sharp set of teeth'. And if nothing works then finally you curl up into the fetal position and maybe pray a little...

When I finally got to Canyon Lodge, I signed in and was dropped in a room full of someone else's belongings, it felt like I was secretly squatting in someone's home while they remained unaware. After that there were no starter activities since I was the only new employee, so I explored a little, met my roommate and had some light conversation with some randomers at dinner.

Hopefully I will meet some more people over the coming days when I start working in Housekeeping. 

First Day

I arrived in Montana today, the first day of my years adventure. One car journey, two different planes, an expensive taxi ride and tomorrow a long bus ride into Yellowstone Xanterra Canyon Lodge - not including the journey from England (My home country). It was all worth it for seeing those crisp mountain tops, peaking through the plane window and haze, stitching into the seemingly hallucinatory swirls of the fields spilling into one another below.

I already had my first adventurous trip of the year in Bozeman. After getting to the hotel I discovered a disused railway track running around the edge of town which I followed around through an industrial zone with a great view of the hills, then to the underbelly of a car bridge with the streamlined sounds of 'whoooosssssshhhh' every so often where lied many misplaced paint spray cans. I followed it through to some flourishing green Wetlands (probably trespassing but oh well) holding my camera to my chest at every step and ending up on the edge of the highway.

For sure I can say that Bozeman is a very intriguing place, surreal at that with its classic large American town appearance with busy traffic and suburban homes, juxtaposed against vast empty green mountains, gathered hillside forests and the endlessly open environment leading wherever you could wish to go.