Christmas in the Park

On Aug 25th we celebrated "Christmas." Apparently, back in the early 1900's some guests were stranded in Yellowstone by an early snowstorm, so, the resort workers decided to have a Christmas party to keep the folks entertained and the practice of "Christmas in the Park "continues toady at all the National Parks. Ours started off on the 23rd when our dining hall was decked out with red and green streamers, balloons and a Christmas Tree with an invitation posted on the bulletin board to gather for the making of paper snowflakes that evening which later completed the decorations (the genuine snowflakes had already fallen producing a dusting of snow on the nearby lower mountain range which we have hiked in the past.)

Dec 24th was the "cookie decorating" gathering...... neither event were we able to participate in due to our work schedules, however, we did get to enjoy the turkey dinner with all the trimmings on the 25th. ..... So, that brought us to "Boxing Day" 26th, our regular scheduled day off, we took a 7 mile hike to "walk off" the calories from the previous day's over indulgence. It was a raw cold day, the kind where you can see your breath and one needed scarf, gloves and several insulating layers, however, over a period of several hours while hiking through the wooded trails, the rain eventually stopped making for a very pleasant day. After a short nap! we had a night out at the Princess Hotel (our competition ) for a dinner/show musical evening, before calling it a day.

We are still hoping to see "The Northern Lights" before we leave, though they are more commonly seen during the winter months, ~ it is all a matter of having perfect conditions, that being ~ a clear night .......lately it has been socked in heavy rain cloud, however, we really can't complain as overall the temp has been unseasonably warm these past 3 months. Each day now there are more and more employees leaving with a noticeable decrease in the noise level in the dining room ~ we will be off ourselves on the noon train for Anchorage on Sept 17th, it really feels strange now realizing we only have three more weeks left. Has the summer gone quickly? ....No I don't think so..... but it has definitely been a fun adventure, where we feel very lucky to have immersed ourselves in such majestic beauty and awesome wildlife.