2009 National Park Western Tour.

As a tool for those of you following along. I have included a travel map with some of our "planned" stops in the next two weeks. I use the word planned very loosely as the trip is freely open to spontaneity and indecision. In essence, who knows what will happen! I will do my best to update the map as we go as well as the blog so everyone can keep up with us! Enjoy! I know Angie and I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Thanks.

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Stranded in Purgatory.

Stopped before the adventure could even begin thanks to the fine folks at www.backcountry.com . Do not for a second get me wrong I have no ill feelings towards the wonderful people at Backcountry they have amazing gear and unbelievable prices they just did not get the gear to us as quickly as anticipated. Now the old military mantra beckons in my head "hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait".
We could certainly be stranded in worse places than Marshall, MN especially on a day like today. The sun sits highest in the sky surrounded by an endless ocean of blue with just the faintest brushing of white almost seeming like caps upon waves. High of 80 and beautiful a great rest day before the trip begins.
This down day has given me an opportunity to repack the car in a way that makes sense; we may actually be able to access our gear along this 2,700 mile road trip. Access it and actually have some space to expand into as this always happens on an extended trip. the back seat becomes an endless void of snack wrappers, fast food bags and dirty clothes. However, when you are starting out with essentially no back seat, where do you have to expand to? Good Question. We will see how this trip transpires!
With our gear drop today we should be off tomorrow morning! En-route to Pipestone National Monument and the Badlands!

The journey begins.......tomorrow.

Work in New Zealand this winter! (re-post from CW)

This winter I will be attempting to do something that I am sure a lot of you here on CoolWorks have either thought about doing yourself; or have already done but wished you would have had some help.
Some people here thought it would be a great idea to share with you some of the information that I have gathered to try and make it easier for the rest of you. What a fantastic idea!

As my plan goes now I am planning to be there from Mid-Oct/ April. I do not have firm dates but this should not deter you. This is a plan in progress much like any seasonal plan, it changes and flexes as it needs to.

The important things to know. Being a U.S. citizen you are not required to have a visa to travel to the country. However, if you are planning on working in NZ you are required to have a working visa. This is very easy to attain without paying some organization to help you do so. All of the information you will need is located at the NZ Immigration website. It has a lot of helpful information. For those of you who are between the ages of 18-30 you can apply for a working holiday scheme. The Working Holiday Scheme has the following criteria for U.S. Residents:

You must:
* have a passport from the United States of America that‘s valid for at least three months after your planned departure from New Zealand
* be at least 18 and not more than 30 years old
* not bring children with you
* hold a return ticket, or sufficient funds to purchase such a ticket*
* have a minimum of NZ$4,200 available funds to meet your living costs while you’re here
* meet our health and character requirements
* hold medical and comprehensive hospitalisation insurance for the length of your stay
* be coming to New Zealand to holiday, with work being a secondary intention for your visit
* not have been approved a visa or permit under a Working Holiday Scheme before.

Breakdown:
1.)As of today the exchange rate for U.S. to NZ was 1.68. Therefore $4200NZ= $2487 U.S. dollars
2.)Health and Character requirements- When applying for your working scheme they will ask you a series of health related questions injuries, hospitalizations, illnesses etc. your answers will determine if you are required to send any additional documentation to them in order to approve your visa. There were maybe twenty questions of which no additional documentation was needed by me. Character requirements are only necessary if you plan on staying in the country beyond one year. If so you will be required to send them a police report if they ask for it.
3.) They did not ask me about health insurance. But they say it is a requirement. Perhaps a short term health plan could be purchased. See the Health Insurance chat transcript for help.

It took approx. a week from the time I applied for my visa to the time I received an acceptance and confirmation in my email.

Now it states that your primary objective is that of a tourist and that you should not take up permanent work. Which I know is fine with all of us! The encourage you to take up work in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, viticulture and I have seen many hospitality jobs.

When you arrive or find a job in NZ. You will need to things a NZ bank account and IRD number. The IRD is the equivalent to our SSN. To apply for your IRD simply go to the Inland Revenue website and fill out the application form it should only take a few days. After you have received your IRD number you can now get a NZ bank account at any one of NZ 19 Registered Banks.

As for jobs in NZ. Being that there is no CW in NZ(although I will try and change that while I am there :) ). There are some resources that you can use to help you find a job. Once again The accommodating people of New Zealand have done a great deal of work for you and that have a lot of it broken down on their immigration website that I have tabbed out for you.

For those of you over the age of Thirty I have attached a pdf file that gives all the criteria and information necessary that you will need in order to apply for a 1016.pdfworking visa.


For those of you looking here is some great news from Kari, NZ Seasonal worker shortage!

I hope this helps you all in your future endeavors!!

Kevin

Cross Country national Park Tour (re-post from CW)

I am starting out at Rio Blanco Ranch on June 1 +/- 2 days. So my girl friend and I, or rather me really decided that it was necessary to take a little bit of time to reach our destination. In an attempt to please me, distract me or simply just not have to do it herself she leaves me with the sole responsibility of planning the trip. Really? Does she have any idea what she is getting herself into? Quickly I pull out my National Park Passport book. There are a lot of stamps I need between here and there!

At this point I have a general mapping of some places I would like to go of which I figure I will have to figure out the path as we add or subtract locations. I am supremely excited as I have never undertaken such a loose trip before, which being the organized person I am; may drive me particularly crazy at first but for certain it will drive my girl up the wall. Which excites me more. However, I could use some help/suggestions about some possible stops. Especially when it comes to food! I am a huge proponent of local diners and dives, if they look like they haven't been throughly cleaned in a decade and I am getting my food served to me by some one toothed waitress names Flo, just call me Peter because I am in heaven. Once again the g/f not so much. I feel this becoming a torture trip for her not taking part in the planning process.

So below is a list of my scheduled stops and the states if you have anything to add feel free!

South Dakota:
Minuteman Missile Silo
Badlands NP
Mount Rushmore
Wind Cave

Wyoming:
Devils Tower
Signal Mtn Lodge- Have to see my boy Garland!

Utah:
Arches/ Canyonland NP
Moab

Colorado:
Mesa Verde NP
Westcliffe- To see my Uncle

Then off to Meeker!

Moving to fast

I can't believe that Monday we will be down to nine weeks. Nine weeks left of families, nine weeks left of full staff, nine weeks left of summer fun. I am reminded of grade school and the anticipation of the final nine week quarter before summer vacation. The last quarter only nine weeks, I can make it I know I can. Yet here I feel the opposite occurring. How can there only be nine weeks left? It seems as if the staff has just arrived and in a short time most of them will all be gone again, leaving me once again to silent solitude that Mountain Sky offers during the off season. The first family week passed by so quickly with the second ending with the days setting sun. It is amazing how a consistent schedule can make the time pass so rapidly. Time is not measured by days here, but rather by activities. It is dinner ride tonight so therefore it must be Wednesday, or the talent show is tonight therefore it is Friday and another week is about to come to a close. I would be lying if I didn't say that I did find this system to be supremely enjoyable. Even though I do find myself working more here than I ever have before, the work at this point is not tedious and overbearing. At no point have I complained about having to work tonight or having to do this or that. In fact I find quite the opposite happening. As our staff grows more and more into a family rather than purely co-workers, I find my want and need to help the other staff members increasing because I know how difficult this job can be. I don't mind hopping behind the bar on my night off or clearing glasses from the lodge to make the overall appearance better for the guests and staff alike. Although Angie says I do too much it is that attention to detail that helps make the lodge run like a finely tuned machine that it is.

It's almost comfortable to know that things are always changing here but they are always staying the same. You can always count on breakfast and lunch rides, Dr. Splashball and Gourmet nights, the only thing that changes is each week you have eighty new guests to experience it all over again with. Each week I have eighty new names to memorize in twenty four hours even as the old ones still linger in my mind. The experiences get crazier and more intense as each staffer gets more comfortable with their positions. But I know that mid summer lull will hit us all soon. I have seen it before, people will get burned out and bored and to be honest, that is truly when the fun begins. Tensions rise and the staff will find interesting ways to entertain themselves and thats when my practical joking fun can really begin.

Until then I enjoy the company, the endless string of mostly well-to-do down-to-earth guests who want nothing more than to enjoy their vacation in the mountains and make sure that both you and them are hammered for at least the evenings of their stay. I will certainly enjoy the staff and the new friendships I have made. I certainly never thought that I would ever know so many people from Minnesota and certainly I did not think I would like so many of them. But we do for the most part have an absolutely amazing staff here at Mountain Sky granted we have some bad apples as one could imagine there would be where ever you go. Even in a highly seclusive place like this somebody has to fill into that role, I just thank my lucky stars that that person was not me.

With all that said as I sit here and reflect I can truly say with as little hesitation as I have ever been able to muster that I am happy and it has been a long time since I have been able to say that and actually mean it.

Rockin' Donahue

Mountain Sky sits as nothing more than an opening in an over forested gully cutting its way through the Gallatin Mountains. At least this is the image it portrays at first glance. Especially when perched high above on a rock outcropping peering a thousand feet down. This is the image that emblazons me as I look out from Donahue Rock. The ranch sits in a small opening off to my right far below. While straight down below me the sound of Big Creek rushing by still manages to make itself heard even on the mountain top. The bridge that spans Cliff Creek seems like little more than a high school physics project constructed of toothpicks.

The hike to get here has been well worth the burning sensation that now encompasses my entire body. My legs ache and flame up through my thighs and quads. My chest heaves as I struggle for air in the thin altitude. My breath comes in gasps as I struggle to take in a full breath. Which continually is harder to accomplish as every turn of my head I can do nothing but utter "my god" at the beautiful spectacle that lies before me. I attempt to take it all in but my line of sight is just to narrow to fully appreciate such an awestriking expanse as the one that lies before me. I stand high above the Big Creek Drainage system as it meanders its way to the Yellowstone River off in the distance. The hike itself was borderline crazy, just as the name of the trail would suggest. Crazy Horse as it has been dubbed, not my the likes of the National Forest Service but rather through the numerous hikers that have wandered through the doors of Mountain Sky.




The trail ascends up a drainage gully that shows its true use as a horse trail than as a path for hikers, partly because no person in their right mind would hike such a steep grade for a mid-afternoon jaunt. Thankfully I have never been in my right mind. I prefer the left. There is no break in the grade the entire way up the gully or when you make the first right hand switchback that brings you to a small mountain meadow dotted with wildflowers and surrounded on three sides with happy trees as if they were painted from the hand of Bob Ross himself. At this point the trail levels out for a short time until you reach the forested edge where it continues its upward climb to Donahue Rock. The trail continues as steep as the mountain will allow, stopping only to switch back as to work it's way around the mass amount of fallen Ponderosa pines that clutter the forest floor, each one lying criss-crossed over the next adding texture to the huge pines that still tower above them. I consider myself to be in pretty amicable shape, however, this trail is no laughing matter. Three-quarters of the way up I was forced to stop and sit, my breathing labored intensely and my vision began to blur and and go white along the outside as my body struggled for the necessary oxygen to continue it's trek. I caught my breath and continued on all the while seeing my destination in front of me as I meandered back and forth through the forest.

I climbed out sat on the edge and felt blessed for the opportunity to take in the spectacle that lay before me. How many others have felt the same? How many have climbed to this spot and felt the exhilaration of the mountain peaks and the cool wind? Blackfeet and Crow, Stampeder and Prospector, Hiker and tourist all have stepped through this point and the appreciation for this place will continue on for generations to come as it has for the generations that have passed.

A month passes by...

It has been a month since I arrived here at Mountain Sky, milestone markers such as time past always forces me to peer retrospectively at the time that I have spent, especially in a new place. Like most new seasonal positions the move is marked with mixed excitement and apprehension. Never knowing what to expect out of the staff and guests often churns my head with thoughts of worry and wonderment. The only thing I never seem to be worried about before I go is the place itself. One can gain an appreciation of beauty through pictures of the area but the fear of the people that you will encounter is always something that keeps me grounded throughout my travels.

Living in such a tightly knit and closed area such as a secluded mountain ranch harks back memories of grade school and college cheerleading. The gossip pool here is always in full movement and it seems to be powered by a never ending supply of estrogen induced fuel. Everyone naturally knows what is going on with whom and whom they are doing it with, at least the assume they do. Which is why the gossip pool here is more of a rumor mill. Thankfully, I am used to this terrible cycle of human rumoury thanks to my friends in my former home and I can gladly sit back and watch the chaos unfold without too much to worry my mind. How could I?

Currently as I wander through my thoughts I am continually distracted by the light rain shower that falls from a sun-filled sky as I peer into Paradise Valley opening up below me. I hear the sounds of what seems like a tractor struggling to starting in the distance the hollow sound popping as the starter struggles to turn the engine over. I am quickly reminded, however, that there are no tractors on the ranch. Instead the sound that beckons from the trees is that of a Blue Grouse, continually searching for a mate during this time of rebirth. The sun is shining, the snow has stopped, the grass is green and the wildflowers are in bloom. It is springtime at Mountain Sky and there are few things in this world that could make my experience here any sweeter.

Thankfully my time here at the ranch has put me at ease for my possible lifestyle. It is hard to explain your thoughts to your friends and family about your need and want to be a transient being. The fact that I just gave up my last permanent address, for what seems like in my mind, could potentially be a very extensive stint; scares me and excites simultaneously. I have tried to explain my need for searching, searching for a place where you feel as if you belong, are accepted or just a place that feels more like home; because where you were born just does not suffice. Unfortunately, those people that surround you everyday just do not understand, but these people here, they get it. We are following the same jaded path of self sacrifice and acceptance. Sacrificing a life of commonality and conformity and simultaneously foregoing our acceptance in this over bearing world.

I am continually asked, "Why do you do this?" "What are you running from?" The more I am asked these same questions, the deeper I am forced to think about my answer in order to respond in a different manner than I did previously. Why do I do this? Well, I suppose it is because I am great at what I do. I anticipate I do not react, I am cordial and talkative. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories and sharing mine. I love having a twelve month working vacation. That is why I do this. What am I running from? Well whether this life was chosen for me or whether I chose it. I suppose we are all running from something. Whether it is done physically or emotionally we are all trying to shut something out. I would guess that it is in our nature as human beings, our instinct of self preservation. In essence for me I am running from life. When you can accept that your not cut for the traditional lifestyle of a typical American you begin to wonder what place you have. When life no longer made me happy I had to think about what did. It was no longer the empty relationships of people who claim to be your friends and significant others when in reality the truth of these relationships would not stand the test of time. It was no longer the hustle and bustle of a busy city life filled with materialistic needs and nights fulfilled with alcohol abuse. My old life did not want me anymore or I did not want it. Either way I do not view my life as running away but more as running toward a life of enjoyment and simplicity.

It is a thanks to the great guests that I have had here in the last month to help me through this transition in my life as a self proclaimed seasonal warrior, a transient being with no permanent house or address, searching through life's back country trying to find that place that I can call home.

Someday...