Time for a new post, already?

Hey everyone, we've been busy doing things, working basically.  However, we stopped working on the 20th of October and now I have a little time to catch up with a few things, this blog being one of them.

After the 2nd month at Medora, things there became routine but not boring by any means.  My job was a pretty sweet gig, and I enjoyed it a bunch.  I mean driving a riding lawn mower 98% of the time has got to be good, right?  Yeah, there were times that I wasn't mowing, like when I had to help with the tee service, or when there was spraying of noxious weeds to be done.  But for the most part, I was riding a lawn mower, often times, lost in my own thoughts, or thinking of a song while I was doing it.  While mowing isn't that big of a deal and most anyone could do it, the job had to be done to a certain standard and I'm thinking that I did a fairly good job of it.

I got to know several other workers there in the golf course maintenance department, good folks all of them.

Here are Juan on the left and Emma on the right.  Emma interned for the summer after graduating from North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND, and was in charge of remodeling the foliage at the hole markers this summer.

Above are from the left, Kyle, Raul, and Jake.  Kyle is a student at trade school so he left early in September to attend it, as did many other young adults in college or university.  From what I was told by Raul, he was planning on leaving shortly after we did, and I'm thinking that Jake stayed until they shut down the golf course in October heading for either Alaska or California.  Raul and Juan, as well as Vicente and Luis who I wasn't able to get pictures of, left family in Mexico to come work at Medora for the summer months.  We was surprised to learn that there were so many folks in Medora who come there on work Visas.

  

This is Kyle, the golf course superintendent, who supervised the maintenance of the golf course.  He did a great job of this, and it wasn't uncommon for us groundskeepers to receive compliments on the condition of the course.  The picture doesn't do him justice.  Sorry.

Kyle, his assistant AJ, and equipment manager Dan, work year round, with the brunt of their work being in the summer, obviously.  Wasn't able to get pictures of AJ and Dan as they moved pretty fast and my camera couldn't focus on them.  Regardless, they were conscientious of the importance of their job and did it well.

Meanwhile, Katie was cashiering at the Medora Chuckwagon Buffet.  She became well known by most of the folks who worked for Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation (TRMF) as they'd come there for lunch, if not dinner also, often times breakfast as well.  If I needed to know something pertaining to TRMF, I'd ask her and if she didn't now the answer, would find out the answer in a day or so by asking the people she knew, which was A LOT! 

This is Vivian from Taiwan on the left, Katie is on the right.  Vivian worked with Katie for several weeks before being transferred from the Chuckwagon to the Pizza Parlor across the street.  She, along with 10 other young folks from Taiwan, came to work in Medora for the summer. This picture was taken in the Pizza Parlor with Vivian and Katie wearing their work uniforms.  Maybe you figured that out by the name badges they were wearing.  Maybe...

These are the folks that ran the Chuckwagon with Anthony, the chef on the left, from the Union of South Africa, and Michelle from Ireland on the right, who was in charge of the cashiers and clean up crew.  Michelle was Katie's supervisor.  Good people, and great to get to know them.

There were a few interesting things going on in Medora besides work.  One was a daily show of a Teddy Roosevelt impersonators Joe Wiegand and Larry Marble.  Joe would do the TR shows at the Old Town Hall six days a week, and Larry and his wife, Julia, would take over on Joe's day off.  Larry and Julia would also tour around the town on weekends greeting folks as TR would do, and Julia would host an afternoon tea at the von Hoffman house on Saturdays telling about TR from the perspective of TR's second wife, Edith.  All three of the impersonators did their parts well, and it was always a very interesting show.  If you're going to be anywhere near Medora during the summer, this is one of the things that you should be seeing.  

Larry and Julia Marble as Teddy and Edith Roosevelt at the Old Town Hall in Medora.  This is a show not to be missed.

Another item that was interesting to me was the wildlife.  Deer were abundant all over the place, and it wasn't uncommon to see them in or along side the road in the morning.  One of our neighbors in the campground planted a garden and was very disappointed to see that the veggies she was growing were being eaten by deer as she could tell by the hoof prints in the dirt next to the veggies.  I didn't realize they were fast also, as one of them decided to race the van taking us workers to the golf course in the morning, keeping up with it up to 35 mph.  Not sure why it didn't just turn left away from the road though.  I'm thinking they just aren't the brightest animals after this summer, whadya think?  

Every now and then, I'd see a coyote on the golf course in the early morning, and they could be heard in the evening as well.  Owls could be seen rarely also.

Bison were in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, adjacent to Medora.  Here one is seen at Cottonwood Campground.  During the summer months, it was hard to find them during the day due to the heat, so it was better to look for them early in the morning or in the evening just before sunset.  They roam freely in the park, not caring if they're on or off the road.  If you're driving on the same road they're in front of you on, it'd be best if you care though.

Another popular animal there are jack rabbits.  For the most part, they were like most wild animals that shy away from humans, or other animals larger than them.  However, on the tee for the 15th hole were jack rabbits that were more than just a little bit tamer as evidenced by this picture of Juan getting up close to take a picture of a jack rabbit eating breakfast.  He was about a foot away when the jack rabbit decided that he'd had enough of Juan and left for the safer surroundings of the grasses around the tee.   Emma was another bunny enthusiast, and had the nickname of "The Bunny Whisperer" as she would always try to touch one every time she  was on the 15th hole, calling to them as if they understood what she was saying.  I guess the bunnies did understand her, because it seemed to work to a certain extent!  I wasn't really wild about the idea of touching them because jack rabbits are wild animals who don't take baths in an effort to keep themselves clean.  And free from parasites and dirt.  ...Get my drift?

 

There were chipmunks at Bully Pulpit Golf course, as I'm sure they were elsewhere, but they seemed to be more prolific there.  They'd usually make themselves known by running out on the paved golf cart path in front of me as I'd drive a cart along it.  Not really sure why they'd want to do this, I mean they could've turned into the grass at any point to get out of my way, but usually went many feet rather than just a couple feet to seek safety.  From what I was able to find out about them, this the Least Chipmunk species.

Working in the early mornings meant that I usually started work before the sun came up, so I'd be there for the sunrise, which was often quite nice.  

This is one of those spectacular sunrises taken from the third hole.

There is a river going through the area called the Scenic Little Missouri River.  I'm not sure why it's not just the Little Missouri River, from what I could tell, it wasn't all that scenic.  But apparently the folks in charge of the signs telling everyone what it is decided that it was scenic.  

Taking that into account, this is a picture of the Scenic Little Missouri River on a cold morning when the temperature of the water was warmer than the air temperature.  This was taken from the third hole as well, looking north towards Medora.  And I'm glad that I'm warmer now.

That's about it for now.  Hope this posting finds everyone well.