In fact, I haven't seen ANY night at all since I arrived a month ago and guess I won't while I'm here. It sure makes getting off work at 10:30 or 11:00 at night easier when it is still daylight. It initially made it really hard to sleep, but I've learned. We have black-out draperies, which help a lot. I still get a little punch-drunk at work late at night but my body is slowly, slowly adjusting to a schedule of working mid-afternoon to late night. Fortunately, my newest schedule doesn't require me to get up for 6:15AM shifts anymore. I'm hopeful those days of getting off late at night to be back at it less than 8 hours later are over...that was killer for me and I really didn't know if I could deal with it. So, I'm hopeful that this is our final schedule (it's been changed every week so far). We are mostly old ladies working the gift shop, who like early bed, so no one is fighting me for my schedule. Also, most of the gals are intimidated by the close out process and it doesn't bother me. The only downside for me is that I don't use even half of the time alloted to close out and end up shorting myself by nearly an hour a day, which affects my measly paycheck.
I spent my last two days off in the park. On Thursday, Nancy and I went for a three mile hike from the postoffice in the park to the area of hotels called "glitter gulch". It was a beautiful sunny day and the wildflowers were in bloom in a profusion of colors and forms. After being trapped in my room with my bum foot from nearly the first day here, it was wonderful being in the "great outdoors" surrounded by all that beauty. I just kept exclaiming over the beauty of the day and the place and apologized to Nancy for being so vocal with my excitement. We treated ourselves to a night out that evening with dinner at the Grande Lodge, which is situated VERY high up a mountain with an unbelievable view. The lodge has seen better days but the restaurant is wonderful and the view can't be beat. We had fish and chips...HALIBUT fish and chips! Oh, my god, it was wonderul, fresh and flaky.
On Friday, I got up early to get the shuttle to the park entrance where I took a park shuttle to Eilson Visitor's Center, 55 miles into the park. Denali is 6 million acres, yet has only one small ribbon of unpaved road going about 90 miles into the park to Wonder Lake. That particular ride is over 13 hours long, so I opted to go a bit more than half way in 8 hours round trip. The day was overcast and I enjoyed the muted beauty of the weather. We saw enough animals to keep the tourists happy...and, yes, I enjoyed them, too. But I seem to enjoy the flora and vista more than the fauna, wherever I am. And this place is so beautiful it can break your heart! Even ziplining paled in comparison to the abject fear I felt going over Polychrome Pass, though. I was in the very back of the converted school bus as it rounded the hairpin curves, thousands of feet up, around the mountain. I tried to enjoy the unobstructed scenery but found I had to close my eyes just to keep my breakfast down. Now THAT'S a ride!!! Maybe if I were driving and in control it wouldn't be so frightening but, for the first time, I understood my friend's fear driving on a winding road without guardrails in the snow. OK, Gloria, I get it! Anyway, it was a great ride and I was able to appreciate the park so much more.
I am looking forward to doing as little as possible my next days off...let my foot rest up a little. It was pretty good for a couple days but by last evening, I knew I had overdone it...yet again. I've learned to tolerate a certain level of pain as long as I know I'm doing no further harm. Then...I seem to pass over that level and it's time to back off a bit. It's a learning process and I'm learning.
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