Ranger Training Continued

Yesterday we had our training within our division: Interpretation. Ron had Ryan come in and teach us about fee collections: for the campsites, the boats, passes, etc. since we will most likely get a ton of questions about this, especially when working the Visitor Center desk. It was a lot of information to take in! As I said in a previous post, it is really interesting to be on the other side of the desk and to have this experience!


In the afternoon we took a four hour drive with Ron to see different parts of the park. We stopped at Bromide Pavilion, drove through Rock Creek Campground, out to the Point, and then to Buckhorn. The park has more than 10,000 acres of land and the last two stops mentioned are on the lake at different points which requires driving back through the historic part of the park (the springs) to get to the different parts of the lake (since we weren't going on the water).


I should mention that in between stops Ron pulled into a Sonic. I hadn't been to a Sonic before and that it was so nice of Ron to treat us to sodas. I only ordered a Diet Coke but evidently missed the boat because in talking with my brother last night he eagerly asked what combination of drink I got and I think was sad to hear that I didn't take advantage of something better. I told him we would explore and I will update the blog more on that later.


While out at the Point's Outdoor Amphitheater, Ron showed us how to work the equipment, turn on lights, etc. He went to the box in the back and said, "Oh a scorpion!" I tried to get there quickly to take a photo but it was dead before I could get there.

Ron said we have to be very careful at that part of the park (and the amphitheater in particular) because there are a lot of scorpions and brown recluses. The scorpion was a lot smaller than I expected but it was neat to see one that had been alive just moments before I got to it.

Training has been a lot of fun---to learn about the Park Service behind the scenes and to learn about the operations of this agency.