My first day at work and hike the Oxbow Trail.

What a first day a\t work! I awoke to find there was no water, went to breakfast, no coffee or breakfast.  At 8:00 I found out the power had gone out the night before at 10:00 and went it came back up only two of the three phases came up, that burned out the submerged well pump about 60’ down in a 10” well casing. As we unscrewed the first 20’ section of pipe, water sprayed on my pants which looked like I had peed my pants. LOL! We painstakingly pulled up then lowered the pipe back down pipe 6’ at a time with a chain hoist.

Gusts were bused to The Chalet 8 ml’s away, port-a-johns were brought in along with water trucks. We got the pump working again about 1:00 PM with a used motor on hand which may be changed out again with a new one in a couple of weeks. 

 

All that pulling and pushing aggravated the misalignment in my back I had gotten from crawling under a mobile home the day before I left to replace an A/C duct. The stabbing pain inside my shoulder blade was excruciating. Tamiko came to my rescue, when I told her how my back was killing me she called her friend Tommy, a young guy who is a paramedic to crack it. In less than 15 min. my back was in place and feeling much better apart from the sore muscles. 

The rest of the day was spent with Dragomir from Bolivia like most of the foreign Nationals who make up about 25 percent of the work force. The routine for the most part is taking care of guest. During which I had the chance to take a ladder up to the roof of the lodge to check some vent fans and got the pictures of the deck next to the Nenana River. 

 The mountain to the left.

The mountain to the right.

I haven’t had time yet to get into the park and see some of the majestic mountains and glaciers. Tamiko, my friend from SideTrackers who introduced me to this opportunity and without her encouragement I wouldn’t have given it serious consideration went for a hike on the Oxbow Trail just across the river. 

The blue berries and cranberries are ripe. Blue berries are especially plentiful. 

For all who are living vicariously through my experience I’ll try to post as much as I can as often as I can. I’ve met so many really nice people. Aramark has won many commendation’s for being a good employer, the supervisor’s and my co-workers are fantastic. Some have come back to work the summers for many years. Till next time.     

This is the McKinely Village Lodge on the bank of the Nenana River. It's actually on this bank the well pump is located we changed out Sunday, 8/4/13.

Tamiko just took this tip, one I hope to take soon. They put in at the lodge.