Thursday, May 27, 2010

beginnings.

Well, we made it safe and sound to the lovely little town of Medora, ND. But not without a few stops along the way. Abby drove out to ND from Idaho with her mom on Wednesday and Thursday, and then picked Emily up from the airport in Bismarck on Friday afternoon. On the way back to Abby’s grandma’s, we stopped in to see Salem Sue, the world’s largest Holstein cow:

She’s a beauty.

Our weekend was full of movies, 21 jumpstreet, good food and sleeping. On Sunday afternoon we took a little trip down the Enchanted Highway, and let me tell you, those 32 miles were full of enchantment. And sunshine and pictures and wide open plains. Visit our other blog, www.ndinstituteofcontemporaryart.blogspot.com
Here's a teaser to get you excited:


We checked into Medora around 3 in the afternoon, filled out some paperwork, took a van tour of the town in the pouring rain, and got our room assignment. During check in, some of the returners were talking about a kid from last who was described as follows: “you remember him, he worked in the stable and it was thing to wear his pants inside his boots even though everyone told him not to.” Uhhh… you’re not supposed to wear your pants inside your boots? I think we might not be in Chicago anymore.
Our room is a quaint little cinderblock rectangle right across the hall from the bathroom. It has bunk beds, closets with doors, 2 end tables, a desk and a chair and a sink with a mirror and medicine cabinet. It’s a pretty cute little room.:


Tuesday we both started working.

(emily) I started in the Rough Rider Gift Shop/Corner Corral at 9 in the morning. We sell fancy food things and dishes and garden stuff and western statues and clocks and expensive clothes and jewelry. And a lot of papyrus. There is so much bad typography in that place. It’s a pretty big store, one that requires a map to know where all the lights are that need to be turned on and off. It was a slow day. It was cold and rainy and windy and it’s not quite the start of the Medora season yet, so not many tourists are around. It should pick up in the next week or so.

(abby) I had training all day and it was one of the more overwhelming experiences in my life. It looks like we have to learn 3 separate booking and ticketing systems for working in the call center and hotel front desk. Basically for my job I need to know everything about Medora, no pressure. It seems like it could be fun, aside from the headset and basement cubicle. Fortunately, everyone I'm working with is really nice and I really like the events I will be promoting!

It is finally warming up and the sun is coming out, so we should be able to check out the National Park soon. It’s a beautiful place.

3 comments:

  1. i am so jealous! i want to be in medora right now!
    remember last summer when we saw that huge herd of buffalo grazing in a valley and it looked like the serengeti? that was amazing.
    but i WILL be in medora in 2 1/2 weeks!

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  2. This might seem strange. I am 75 years old. I am hoping to follow your blog thru the summer in Medora. Why, you ask. Well I managed the campground from 1981 to 1994. I love Medora. My husband was the "Old Timer", Badlands Bob, in the Musical.
    Your picture are great. My last time there was two years ago to scatter Bob's ashes behind the Musical stage. Medora has so much the same and so much new. Have a good summer... Sandy Bergman

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  3. I will follow as well. I am Robyn Hart, Chuckwagon Charlie in the musical 1991-1995, 1999 and the Musical writer 2000-05 (?)all runs together. I live in Texas now, and this will be the first summer I have missed Medora in almost 20 years.
    How did you find out about Medora? That part always fascinates me. Medora is such an important part of my life & I love when folks get hookd on ND.

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