Yellowstone, The Begining (April)

My job in Yellowstone will last for six months, while Mom's will last for a little over 4 months, so she has some free time in the beginning and the end while I will be working. My first week we stayed in Gardiner Montana at a local campground in town that had full hook ups for us RV'ers, and we drove into Yellowstone each day to Mammoth Hot Springs, to do our indoctrination and safety training. On our fist day Mom and I both got our ID cards and our employment paperwork done, even though she would be waiting a few weeks to start her training.

The entrance in Gardiner, near Mammoth, is the original, main entrance to the park and the only one open year round. Unfortunately we didn't get much free time to explore as I was in training when things were open, so that will be an area to explore another time.

If you can zoom in, those are Elk in the background to the left of the sign.

The Original Entrance, Roosevelt Arch.

While I was in training, Mom and the kids took a trip to see some friends that we had been stationed with while in Corpus Christi and in Jacksonville. They went to Buffalo Wyoming and stayed in the Occidental Hotel.


At the end of the week I took the RV and relocated to the Lake Employee RV Park (known as the LERV), and started working at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. The maintenance people here are responsible for the maintenance of the Hotel, the Cabins, the Lodge and it's Cabins, and the campgrounds in the area. It's a big job just to get everything running again after a long winter. Mom and the kids got settled in and started school back up while trying to get into a routine again.

Our site for the next 6 months. Couldn't wait for the snow to go away.