Guests Arrive

Friday was our first day with guests! All that training paid off- the first day went off without a hitch!

On Fridays I work as a P.M. Host, which means that I serve wine to the guests, help seat them for dinner and generally make sure they are happy. I admit I had a flashback part way through the evening, I was carrying a bottle of wine with two glasses on a tray, and I flashed back to being about 4 or 5 years old and pretending to be a waitress to my stuffed animals- I guess the games you play as a child do lead you to jobs! I've never been any sort of server in my life, but I gotta say, serving wine to people sure makes them happy- how great is that!! I also discovered how nice it is to be from Asheville. Our name tags announce our hometowns on them, and apparently everybody has either been or heard great things about Asheville (of course). It is a great conversation starter.

There was a small accident after the serving was over, a 1-yr old girl went back to her cabin with her parents and pulled the screen in front of the cabin's fireplace down on her forehead. All was well, but the ambulance came to take her to the nearest hospital to check her out- the nearest hospital is an hour a way.

Saturday and Sunday are my earliest days to work- 7:30 a.m. till 4:00 p.m. On these days I'm the Office Manager, while Barbara has her two days off. Basically, I do all the accounting (read bookkeeping) for the day and make sure the Office Assistant doesn't need help checking people in or out. I believe that I sufficiently impressed my boss with my Excel Spreadsheet skills. The only hard part is assisting people on choosing hikes, since I've only been a few of them so far.

Last night, Sunday, I attempted to start my own wine night here. Natalie and I sat outside, it's finally warm and lovely here, and had a couple glasses of wine. Then the other folks from out house joined us too. It was lovely.

I think the part I love best about being here is feeling completely disconnected from the world. (Not that I don't miss people!) We are surrounded by two strings of mountains and I feel like they keep out all the news and speed of the world. I have just finished the book, "The Short, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." It was such a good read and very much spoke to me. It is a fictional story, but tells a lot of the history of the Dominican Republic, of which I knew nothing. And I gotta say, really made me appreciate living here (as in our country, not the west).

I went on another hike Saturday evening, near Red Fish Lake. I'm sorry to say I forgot my camera, but it was beautiful. It was much more in the trees and meadow than my first hike. It looked very similar to hiking at home. Spring is just beginning to spring here, so all the trees leaves are baby green. Although the creeks are running full speed.

Random items I've learned over the last couple of days:
-Mexican cows look like long horn cows, but their horns are stronger and they are better for roping. (from the wrangler)
-Steel bridges are painted with a primer that weighs 17lbs/gallon. (Dawin, the cook)
-Custer County (the one I'm in) is the only county in the state that does NOT have a stoplight. (the man who picked up the recycling)