Sunday, August 16, 2020

A Month of Housekeeping in a Gold Rush Town

     


     I started my day out like any day during Corona times - bored. I could make myself busy but intermittently would slip back into daydreaming. Later into the morning, I got a notification. That notification changed my future and sent me forward into the land of housekeeping. 

     Hailey and I set out on an adventure 6 hrs away in a western themed town called Winthrop. We cleaned rooms, scrubbed toilets, and made beds, but most importantly, we had fun. When we left, we told one of the employees there that we had fun and she wrinkled her nose and said we were weird. But seriously, how can you not have fun with a good friend and music? After work, we'd invariably head for any body of water we could find. In the dry hills around us, many lakes lent their waters to our tired bodies - wow not sure if that's too poetic a line for this narrative....but let's continue. 





     One hot day after work, we decided to go to Patterson lake. There was a trail head near the lake so we parked our car and started up the path. We realized a mile or more in that the trail was very long and steep, the sun was very hot, and there was no shade anywhere. The fact there was no people either told us we were being dumb. The main reason we started down though was that Hailey couldn't find her phone. Back at the car, her phone was found but then I went crazy. Somewhere down that barren mountainside, my phone had slipped out of my short's pocket. I panted back up that murderous incline, praying as I went. (I'd never lost my phone before so you can imagine my shock.) Finally I found it lying in the middle of the path. We then proceeded to swim in seaweed to cool off. Our phones were found. 

10 miles, 7000 ft maple heather pass


     The owners of the inn made the work fun by coming up with competitions and scavenger hunts against our roommates, Claire and Bekah. The first time, the goal was finish 2 rooms as fast as possible then it turned into a full out scavenger hunt complete with hauling 10 pound rocks up from the river to the lobby. Claire and I each had a rock and were literally shoving each other aside in the doorway. Another time, we had to take the river inter-tubes into the pool and paddle as fast as we could to the other side. This is all during the time we were supposed to clean rooms. Now do you see why we had fun? Oh yes and there were prizes at the end. Free coffee for the winners and even some money once. It was also the self satisfaction of knowing Hailey and I could clean 3 rooms in 36 minutes, 12 minutes a room. Usually our average was about 20 minutes per room. We cut 8 minutes off just by putting up with adrenaline. It happened on one of our competitions that Hailey spilled a full can of beer all over the place taking out the trash. Luckily it was on the tile not the carpet but it still reeked and got all over her shoes and my shorts. We smelled lovely that day - not. 



     If anyone's interested in going there and working, please get in contact with me and I can give you information. They really need people right now as housekeepers and it's an awesome opportunity (plus you make really good money). You do have to stay there for a minimum of 3 weeks though. Their season ends in October so you could do online school and live and work there.....caught your interest yet? Um there's also a bonus if you stay longer. Anyway, we had a blast and I'm sure you would too!

Reindeer heaven

Stock that cart Hailey!

And now for the best moments of our photo shoot:






Hailey is a good photographer. She matched my bag with the chair. 


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