Thursday Training

So today's training was to ride into and around town with my fellow office workers, Syliva & Barbara, so that we can properly handle questions from guests and guide them to the activities of their pleasure.


This is the local meditation center. They have Catholic Service, Christian Assembly and two Mormon services. I don't know a whole lot about Mormon-ism, except of course, the recent news about the some of the more fundamental ones. So far I'm gathering that being Mormon in the west is sort of like being Baptist in the south- by which I mean there are a lot of them. And the fundamental ones that believe in several wives are disapproved of by the mainstay of the Mormon Church.







A closer view of the stained glass windows.







A tepee at the local spa. You can get a massage in the tepee. Hmm... who in Stanely, ID could you give a gift certificate to for a massage for their birthday in July? did I mention that it was the Meadow Creek Inn & Spa in Stanley? subtle, I know.






More gorgeous mountains with a gorgeous field of flowers in front of it









Stanley Lake with McGown Peak in the background. Stanley was named for James Stanley- the first prospector to come for mining-there was gold in them hills! McGown was named for some brothers with oxen.



A view of the small town of Stanley. There is Stanley and Lower Stanley. Combined, I'd say they are about the size of Hot Springs, NC...maybe a little smaller.






There is a lodge, merchandise grocery store, gas station and several other buildings in Stanley that are all owned by the Harrahs. Yes, as in the Harrahs of Las Vegas that also own the casino in Western North Carolina. Due to death in the family and not wanting to hold onto the property in Stanley, the combined real estate is for sale. I believe the asking price is around $20 million, but I'd guess it's about a fourth of the whole business of town. And real estate prices here makes Asheville real estate look puny, so I'd say it's a bargain!

The coolest part of the trip today, though, was the fish hatchery. I knew squat about fish. Salmon float, not swim, 900 miles downstream to the ocean and then make it all the way back (using their sense of smell!). Then they mate one time and die (no messy emotional break-ups). Of course, now that there are damns along the way to the ocean, not so many fish make it back. In fact, last year, only one sockeye salmon made it back to the fish hatchery. The purpose of the fish hatchery to hatch as many salmon (chinook & sockeye) and steelhead trout(a form of rainbow trout) as possible, grow them big and strong, send them off into the river along to the ocean...and hope that they come back. Apparently, almost all salmon that we eat is farm bred- which can be in a inland body of water or the ocean, but the fish don't have to swim as far and they are fed the same thing every day by humans. Which means, according to some, that they are not as healthy for us, but in exchange we get the electricity off the damns. More room for debates.