I've made mention of how much Gina the Frugal and I are working here in Yellowstone so I won't beat a dead horse, but since I finally got a full crew and gave them all two days in a row off, I finally got mine.
Let's call character #1 The New Guy and say that he's worked in fast food but not in a real cooking kitchen. He normally works afternoon to evening and does a solid job at everything he's been assigned. So, I brought him in yesterday to learn how to do breakfast, and breakfast is the easiest meal of the day, so I walked him through grits, 
oatmeal, eggs to order, meats, and so on and so forth. Short story: On my first day off, he killed it and made everyone happy... because that's our job. It was nice to walk in wearing "Civilian Clothes" and not the jacket and pants and find everything exactly as I hoped it would be. A good start to a day off.
It's worth noting here that my biggest downfall is that I can't let go of my kitchen, no matter where or when that instance is. My name is attached to good meals and happy campers so I do everything within my power to keep my name in good standing. The New Guy helped me do that in fine fashion.
After a solid breakfast that I actually didn't cook myself (and not to take away from The Old Jarhead who is my main breakfast cook, trusted advisor, and severely high strung), we headed out through the construction zones of Yellowstone to make our way to Fairie Falls after we viewed Grand Prismatic. Our crew consisted of an assistant manager, her husband, and an older gal who works for Gina the Frugal in Fountain.
We first hiked up to the viewing area for Grand Prismatic and it did not disappoint. We were told by our companions that taking the boardwalk was lackluster at best since the colors of the "Thermophiles" couldn't be seen from the actual level, and it was so true. Between the angle of the sun, the slightly cloudy day, and the steam from the thermal vent, it wasn't as brilliant as we have seen in photos but awe inspiring and incredible none the less.
After a short period of maneuvering for photo ops and dealing with more people than I'm comfortable with, we made our way down the hillside and headed off to Fairie Falls. A hike of two miles from the viewing place to there may not seem like much, but for two old farts who haven't seriously hiked in a long time, it was something. However, upon arrival, we were greeted with an amazing waterfall in what can only be described as an unreal landscape.
I brought a small tarp to sit on and we had a lunch of leftover club sandwich from the employee dining room a day or so ago, and it was enjoyed in the shade of a Lodgepole Pine with the company of several chipmunks who were used to being hand fed. Although I did expect that they would be used to bread crust and the like, I never figured that chipmunks would be into Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Lara Bars...but they are. As a matter of fact, they'll run right up your leg to get it. Adorable little beggars, they are.
Although I could regale you with the tales of people from the trail, and there were more than a few that looked as if they made a huge mistake, I'll say that I/we haven't hiked six miles in a long freaking time and we're feeling it now. On the way out, we met a dad and two daughters and asked if they had bug spray, which they did not, so we offered ours since the wet, damp, and puddle ridden nature of where they were about to go would mean significant blood loss. We did this with a lot of people because we knew what happened if one didn't... because we didn't.
We did stop back in to our respective locations of employment and, in my area, New Chick #2 (there was a New Chick #1, but she was fired loudly and abruptly after acting like a scorned child, even though she was in her 70's) was staring off into the distance as if she were lost in some form of deep transcendence when I walked in. That might sound bad but she had an orange cake in the oven and the pork loin that I prepped was just waiting to be reheated. She is one of three team members that I have to thank for finally getting some time off and getting me out of the kitchen. On that subject, I was so out of it and tired that I forgot to count a whole day of time on my time card. I thought I got myself down to 46 hours and it's actually in the high 50's. Oh well, the check will rock again.
In closing, we finally found something of Yellowstone that we had to work for, and it was worth the toil and work to get there. Good friends, amazing landscapes, and an awesome adventure were the result of today's day off and we couldn't be happier.
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As always, have a great day and remember to do something that does not suck.