Sort of Lost in the Mountains, Part I

So I'm back. Internet access is a little spotty in the middle of
nowhere, CO, including yesterday, when I had originally intended to
write. That and I was pretty tired, for soon-to-be-obvious reasons.

To begin, the ranch I"m working at is in SSW Colorado, technically
located in South Fork, although it's closer to Creede, which has a
summertime population of about 10,000, although it drops to around 800
in the winter. The nearest city (?) is Alamosa, about an hour ESE.
I'm not sure about the population, but it's got a Walmart, a bus
station, and NPR, and if you want to do any serious shopping or travel
or have anything repaired that you can't do yourself, that's pretty
much where you have to go to or through, so you can ignore the
question mark.

The ranch itself is awesome. It's located in a valley running east to
west, with a streams running from the east down into the upper Rio
Grande, which, along with the road following it, forms the western
boundary. I'm not really sure where the other boundaries are, but I
think it would take at least a days hike or so to reach them. Even if
they're closer than that, it doesn't really matter, there's not much
else to run in to and if I accidentally crossed onto someone else's
property I doubt they'd care, if they noticed at all.

Officially this is a private guest ranch, which means that everyone
who's here is either a member or an accompanied guest of a member. The
people here tend to be couples of middle- to late middle-age,
sometimes with children, especially this week, the women are
disproportionately blonde and thin, and the men can get away with
names like Chip, Dale, and Buck. And Howlson. I kid you not. Some
of the more interesting children's names: Cortland, Tanner, and
Griffin. And no, they're not all in the same family.

Suffice it to say, just about every one who comes here is loaded. The
other day I helped unload bags for an incoming family (5 people with
what must have been at least thirty pounds of stuff apiece, not
counting beer) and received a $20 tip. I've heard tell of one family
who's bill for a week came to around $14,000.

Actually, a lot of the families here right now seem to have a history
together and are having a sort of reunion. Today Emily Sheffield,
who's also from Bowdoin, came out a day ahead of me, and will be
working through asked Bill, the guy who tipped me, if they were
college friends. Turns out they're not. They used to live near each
other in Bermuda.

However, I must temper this by saying that everyone I've met so far
has been quite friendly and pleasant. For the most part we try to
stay in the background like good little elves, but what interactions
we do have are not at all objectionable. The amount of food that gets
thrown away, both in preparation and on the plates is, but I'm kind of
used to that from the Bowdoin reunions. This isn't really all that
different, except that there are fewer people and we're in Colorado.

So far I've primarily done waitstaff work, which includes a lot of
dishwashing, along with occasionally helping out with other stuff
(tonight I get trained on turndowns, i.e. making beds pretty for the
guests while they're at dinner, which we'll do in 35 minutes). For
the most part though, I'm not qualified for anything else
(fly-fishing, horses, cooking for 25), which is good, because I've got
plenty to do with helping get everything set up and served, etc. It's
all right work, and nice to have something to actually do.

But I was very glad when it got to my day off, yesterday and all
Tuesdays through the end of the season, unless something changes.
Speaking of which, if anyone wants to come visit and also has some way
to, please do. It's a good group of people, but small, and it'd be
awesome to see whoever you, hypothetical visitor, are. I think I
heard that the rules for guests are one person for two days or two
people for one day, and it would probably be good if you could let me
know ahead of time. But the address is La Garita Ranch, 14850 Hwy
149, South Fork CO 81154 if you want to come by. I'll be here through
my half birthday, the 25th of September. After that...

Anyway, it's about time for me to go do turndowns. I'll write more
about my day off, the altitude, dry hands, the lack of recycling
facilities nearby, other staff here, and whatever else comes into my
head soon, with luck later tonight.