All Quiet on the Western Front

Hello All!

Well the subject should really say it all. Unfortunately, there has not been too much happening here at good ole Yellowstone. We have a had a couple of exciting events in my district over the past couple weeks. However, I haven't been responding to many of those. Construction continues on the road leading into the park, so we will be kicked out of our gate again tomorrow. Which means working outside on the road down in Silver Gate, MT which is a lot of fun when it is not raining. So things will be different once again starting this week. But we are getting into the busy season. August is not only one of the busiest months of the year, but it is also mating season, so the animals will be out in force, being aggressive, and trying to show off for the ladies. So we will have plenty of things to deal with here. Visitation for the park was up in June; our gate alone had a 61% increase over last year in visitation, and it hasn't even gotten busy yet. Have continued to meet very interesting people at the gate. Today I had the whole gamut of people from really nice and appreciative South Carolinians to very dense and difficult Canadians. See, now Colin is upset but that is okay; let me tell you about these fine Canadians. They come storming over to the window demanding a senior pass and saying that they didn't even want to be in the park. They thought that we should pay them for the road they just drove through, and they were cussing up a storm. Now these are senior citizens. For those of you that are not familiar with the Park Service's Senior Pass, you must be 62 years or older and a United States Citizen in order to even buy the pass. So I asked the wife for proof of citizenship (drivers license works just fine) and she hands me an Ontario driver's license. So I tell her that she has to be a US Citizen. She is very upset by this and goes stomping back to her car to get her husband. Supposedly he is a citizen, so he comes over and shows me, again, an Ontario driver's license! Now I'm finding this funny because I think they just don't understand. So I asked one more time, this is where the fun ended and the cussing started. Now I don't really mind what people do in their own lives because I am no saint for sure but when you come to my gate and expect me to help you, you better not be cussing at me because I don't put up with that. The wife is now really upset and I am the anti-Christ all of a sudden and I have insulted the husband because he served in the army. He said "I served the US Army! I don't know what you have done with your life, but I don't deserve to be treated this way." Now remember all I had done was ask the same question I ask every person trying to buy a Senior Pass - proof of US citizenship - but this couple was too important to be asked that! Finally, the women pulled out the husband's Michigan birth certificate from like the 1930s and I gave them their pass. They shared a few more choice words with me, and with a big Southern smile on my face I said "Y'all have a wonderful evening, welcome to Yellowstone!" Sometimes you just have to laugh it off and not let it bother you, and that is what I did. That's my one people story for this week; not the best but I get a chuckle when I read it.
For those of you at Fort Sumter I also met two people from Rice University who actually know Russ!! It was pretty crazy, you know. Ususally when you meet people that went to the same school as someone you know, they have no idea who you are talking about because Universities are so big, but these actually lived in the same dorm as Russ, so I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, sorry this one isn't filled with much action but I still have 2 months left, so I'm sure there will be plenty more to come. Hope all is well in your lives and you are basking in that warm southern sun!! Actually hit 92 in Cody the other day while I was there, loved every second of it!! Roommate was dying... (not literally!) I've enter all of the gates into the park now, and I can honestly say I would not be as happy this summer if I were not working at the Northeast. If you ever come to Yellowstone and you want the real experience, the Northeast Gate has to be your entry point.

Until next time, with lots of love,
-- Brent Everitt
Visitor Use Assistant
Northeast Entrance Station
Yellowstone National Park
PS: It looks like Clifford as seen his last drive. The frame was bent, it turns out, and I will be trying to get GEICO to total the truck because I don't want a truck with a bent frame.