February 18-24
Hi!
The most notable event of this week — I gave my first two tours of Faraway Ranch! They went really well. I gave my first one on Thursday and my second one on Friday. It is advertised as a 40 minute tour and mine clocked in at around 25 minutes…but the guests didn’t seem to mind. In my first group I had six folks, and the second group I had five. I was incredibly nervous…not about the public speaking, but about remembering all the facts straight! I told the visitors I would be carrying some notes to ensure I didn’t leave any of the important details of the story out! They were all very understanding. Someone even tried to give me a $10 tip, which I’m not allowed to accept and went to the park donations, but it made me so happy they enjoyed my (first!) tour that much! For right now, it’s looking like I will be doing the tours on Thursday mornings (Andy doing Thursday afternoons). Cool stuff.
This week was incredibly busy. I offered to work Presidents Day, which I originally had off, but I wanted to make up for any time off that I had requested. Suzanne said it would be great if I could come in, and it certainly was great, because it was just her, me, and Victoria. Karen was out for the week, and Victoria is the other Western National Parks Association employee that runs the bookstore on weekends. To my family that has visited: she is the one you probably met at the desk. That day was total nonstop and it was stressful just having three of us there. I’m glad I came in so it wasn’t all on them!
It was busy all week so I didn’t get much project time done. I want to work on my Women’s History Month display, but I suppose I’ll do that next week.
I had a lovely weekend. I decided I would go to White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. It has been on my list for a while, but would require an overnight if it were to be a meaningful stay. I decided I would test out my brand new camping tent (thanks Dad!) and my brand new sleeping bag (thanks Gramma!) and got a KOA site in Alamogordo. It was very pleasant all the way around. I talked to the NPS workers there and it was fun. I explored White Sands, which was just as cool as I had remembered it from my trip in 2009. I became a Junior Ranger there and then drove back to Chir. I wish I had rented a sled…
(I took all the safety precautions)
Rock On! Interning in Southeast Arizona 