5/25/2016 9:35 am

I am typing this hoping that the wifi will start working again soon. It has been out since we got back from Seattle. My past few days have been good though! Especially because 2 of my last 3 days I was off work.

On Sunday, I read a lot in the morning while I was waiting for Trevor and Sam to get off of work. Once they did, we took the shuttle down the mountain to a place called Longmire, where there are a lot of trailheads. There is also typically much better weather at Longmire than there is up here at Paradise. We went on a trail that is next to a waterfall at times. So whenever we were close to it, we would climb down and get right next to it, the higher up we got, the better the view. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the top because we had to head back down to catch the shuttle.

We went to Seattle on Monday! That was fun. We left here around 8:45 and went to Walmart first. We picked up some things that we realized we needed/wanted before heading to the city. My friend Kellie drove Sam, Kayla, and myself. Kellie had recently been to Seattle with her mom, so she knew to park in Georgetown because it was free parking, and take the bus to downtown. It worked out well, we got off the bus a few blocks away from Pike’s Market. We walked around there for a bit, then found a place to eat lunch that overlooked the water. After lunch, we walked around a little more, then decided to go find the first Starbucks ever. The line was ridiculous. It was out the door and down the street, so we decided to take a picture and find another coffee place. Fueled with coffee, we started shopping. We shopped until we realized we needed to leave pretty soon, given that we had a ~2-2.5 hour drive ahead of us. We made our way back to the bus station, which is underground so that’s cool. Upon arriving back in Georgetown we looked for a place to eat (the finding a place wasn’t difficult, but deciding was. There were so many cute little restaurants.) We finally decided on an Italian place and it was a very good decision. Everything was delicious, we all got something different and passed around plates so we could try everyone’s food. We made our way back to Kellie’s car, and headed back up to Mount Rainier. We didn’t get back until 11:30-11:45, but it was worth it.

Yesterday, I woke up and read a little bit. Oh yeah, I finished that other book I’m reading and I borrowed “The Shining” from Sam so I’m currently reading that. After a couple chapters, I got ready and Sam and I headed to the cafe to visit Trevor and Natalie. We ate lunch, then walked along the road behind the Inn so we could try to see marmots. We saw three! They are about the size of a raccoon, but kind of look like a giant squirrel. They’re pretty cute. I came back to my room and took a nap. The nap was not a decision, it just kind of happened. I woke up and went to work. When I walked in the office to put up my jacket, the head chef, Jack, (aka my boss) was sitting at the computer. He said hello then continued with “oh yeah I wanted to talk to you about something, how do you like dishwashing?” I responded with sugarcoated honesty, expressing my dislike but not excessively so. He then said “would you want to do something else? You seem sharp, and you’re a good hard worker. I don’t want to say it’s a waste…but it’s kind of a waste having you in dishwashing.” Obviously I was thrilled with this conversation. I asked what else I could do and he gave me my options: food prep, expo, or pantry. I chose pantry, the responsibilities of pantry are to make salads and desserts. There are pictures of how they should look, but there is some creative freedom. OH, the best part is that it comes with a pay raise. He wanted me to start pantry then and there. One small thing that made me a little nervous, was that I was the only one working pantry for Tuesday night. Jack assured me that it would be slow and I could do it. The person working pantry for lunch was still there, so he showed me how to set up and the basics and whatnot, then he clocked out. Because Israel helped me set up, I needed to wait for dinner to start. I helped with food prep until I had to go report to pantry. I think it went well, especially because it was my first time working pantry and I was alone. During dinner time, Jack came over and asked if I could make the fruit platter for breakfast, he showed me the picture of this elaborate and beautifully laid out fruit platter and I said I would certainly try. He brought over all the fruit I needed because I was busy with making salads. I followed the picture, and chopped up some cantaloupe and pineapple and honeydew and strawberries. When I was done, Jack and some other kitchen workers gave the approval and some nice comments. Dinner was over so I cleaned everything up, then had to head over to finish all the dishes. I didn’t clock out until 11:10, but I did get to bring home a to go box of steak and mashed potatoes. I work at 3 again today, and I’ll let Jack know that I definitely want to continue with pantry.

Sad thing also happened…the silly band I have had on my wrist since sophomore year of high school is gone. I realized it once I was home last night. I’m guessing it came off when I was taking off some gloves. My wrist feels naked.