Working in Yellowstone National Park, at Canyon General Store
I have put off writing this post for a few weeks because I did not know what I wanted to say. However, I promised I would do a review of my time working for Delaware North, at Yellowstone General Stores, more specifically the Canyon General Store.
I think I have decided to just write. To put it all out there and let you take it how you will.
I want to start this by saying, please remember I worked for this company during the coronavirus pandemic. That in itself changes so much from what a normal year would be like, but I think how a company handles the pandemic can show a lot about what kind of a company they are.
Let’s take it back to the beginning.
I found out about this position in a workamping Facebook group. I was told to check coolworks.com for possible positions available. The application process was fairly simple, and I heard back from the company within a couple of weeks. I went through a simple phone interview process, just discussing my work history, what questions I had, and what lodging accommodations they would have available for me.
I was offered the position almost immediately, but they weren’t sure if they would have a RV space for me. It was a little back and forth in that, but a RV space was nonnegotiable. I had a husband, child, and dog that would be traveling with me, there was no way I would be able to stay in a dorm room. If you are by yourself or traveling with a partner who is going to be working there as well, then staying in a dorm room may expedite this part of the process for you.
I should have taken this start as foreshadowing for the rest of my time with this company, but I was excited to begin fulltime traveling and to get to spend so much time living inside of Yellowstone National Park.
After officially accepting the position and receiving my start date, the waiting began. I had to wait to complete necessary paperwork and background checks to closer to my start date, but my start date changed.
And then it changed again.
And again.
And then the fourth time they wanted to change it was less than a week before we were supposed to arrive, needless to say I was a little upset to be traveling with a toddler and all of a sudden have a change in date AGAIN.
They understood my frustrations and graciously allowed us to arrive on May 18th, which was the previously agreed upon date, and I just wouldn’t start orientation until the following week.
So, remember this part because it will come up again. I arrived at the park on May 18th, I checked in with HR, I was assigned a RV spot, and I checked in with the general manager of the store I was to be working at. I verified I would not be attending orientation until May 25th.
We decided now was the perfect time to do some touristy stuff. Only a few of the park entrances was open at this time because Montana refused to allow their entrances to open yet, so we were limited on where we could go into the park. However, it was wonderful to see the park with snow still covering the ground and only a few visitors inside of the park.
On May 25th I attended my orientation, which was just lets check your temperature, have you sign in, wear a mask, and sit in a room 6 ft away from others while you wait on us to call your name. Remember, this was in the midst of the pandemic. They called my name, took my vehicle information for my employee park pass, checked my vehicle insurance, issued my uniforms, and took my picture for my employee ID. I was then told that they never completed my employee paperwork. They were working on it, I should report the next day to the store, but just let them know about the incomplete employee packet.
So, after orientation I check in with the assistant general manager of the store. He was my neighbor in the RV park so that part was pretty simple. He tells me to arrive later than what HR had said, tells me what uniform items to wear, and says he will see me the next day.
I show up for my first real day at work, after being in the park for an entire week. I sit through the speeches of welcoming us new employees. I sit through being instructed about masks being required by employees and customers, but they aren’t sure at what age that starts. I had the assistant manager of ALL the general stores in the park tell me when I questioned that, “if they are walking, I expect them to wear a mask.”
Like what?!?
A lot of 1-year-olds are walking around, and some even younger than that, and you expect them to wear a mask that is not recommended for their age by the CDC.
No thank you!
After all of these confusing speeches that contradicted each other, we were assigned to groups to help get the store ready for opening. I told my group leader about my incomplete employment pack, we went to the general manager, Ben, who said I couldn’t work with an incomplete packet. He told me to go sit in the employee rec room and he would check on it.
1 hour later, I heard nothing from him about it.
Another hour goes by, and still nothing, so I go upstairs and he’s in a meeting in his office.
Another 30 minutes roll by, I find the assistant manager, Matt, and he says he will check with Ben about it.
Another 30 minutes goes by, and I am told to go home. I ask, do I come back tomorrow, and they say I can’t work until the packet is finished. Wait on an email.
I had already been in the park over a week at this point.
It is not like they were waiting to see if I would show or not, I was there. But they did not put my paperwork through.
A few days later, I am finally able to work. I have now been in the park 2 weeks.
I wanted to make the best of my time in Yellowstone National Park, so I brushed off the frustrations of the previous week and jumped in to work.
I met some really amazing people during my time working here. Some of those individuals will be lifelong friends of ours.
We also had some fantastic experiences. Can you imagine living inside of Yellowstone National Park for 4 months? We hiked amazing trails. We had incredible wildlife experiences. We achieved bucket list goals. We made memories that will last a lifetime.
These are the pros of working at Canyon General Store.
The cons of working at the store seemed so great during my workdays, but now not so much.
For example, our schedules would change repeatedly without prior notice. More than once this occurred after the schedule had been posted for a few days, without giving anyone a heads up that it was going to change. Think you come in at 11? Now you are late because the schedule change to 1030. Make plans for your off day on Sunday, well we just changed it to Monday.
It was not just occurring to me, it occurred to every employee repeatedly throughout the season. I discussed my frustrations over the changes with the General Manager, hoping that would help, but it did not.
The management team left something to be desired, for sure.
We had a member of the management team who was very carefree, just there to have fun and hike. We had another member who took everything too seriously but was there any time we needed him. We had one who did nothing, unless specifically asked to. We also had one who did EVERYTHING. Seriously, that store would not have functioned without her. It was an eclectic mix of management staff, that sometimes wanted to make everyone want to pull their hair out, depending on who was scheduled to work that day. However, it is only for a short period of time. It is not a lifelong job.
One of the biggest frustrations of working at Canyon General Store, but also one of the best parts, was the customers.
Now if you have ever worked retail you know what I am talking about.
We had some of the best customers and some of the worsts. We got to be part of some amazing memories for families, and we got the brunt of vacation frustrations from some.
I think these two experiences best sum up our experiences.
I met a family of over 20+ people on an epic road trip. The matriarch (mom/grandmother/wife) of the family was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and given months to live. They rented a RV, piled everyone in, and set off to make her last few months the best they could. You would not have known from the expressions on her face that she was dying. She was so happy and excited. Her husband told me about their adventure after his eyes teared up seeing her having such a great time. The love he had for that woman was so heartwarming.
I am not sure if he will ever read this, but if he does. I want him to know, being a part of that experience touched my life. I will forever be grateful for the small role I had in making her last months wonderful.
I also had a customer throw a candy bar at me. A Mr. Goodbar to be exact. My computer crashed, which was a common occurrence at that store. I apologized to the customers I had, moved them to another line, and put my register closed sign up while it restarted. The other register had a few people in line. He went to get in that line when he seen me standing at my register. He walked over, did not say a word, and attempted to hand me his candy bar over the register closed sign. I gave him the standard line of “I am sorry sir; this register is currently closed while the computer reboots. They would be happy to help you at any of the open registers throughout the store.”
He did not say a single word to me. He just chunked his candy bar at me and walked out the door. I do not know who was more shocked, me or the other customers waiting nearby. I never seen that customer again, but the experience with him also impacted my life.
Please do not throw candy bars at your cashiers. They can not help computer troubles.
Before I finished out my contract at Canyon General Store, I was asked by many people if I would be returning the following year.
The answer is no. I am going back to nursing, but I will be travel nursing. I miss my patients. My passion has always been nursing and helping pediatric patients. It was my dream as a child and I worked hard to make it a reality, but I lost sight of that passion. The bureaucracy of the medical field made me question my life choices and I needed a break to make sure I was on the path in life I truly wanted to be on. And that is ok. If you want to take a break in your career and do something crazy, do it! There will always be other jobs out there, but you only get one life. Do not waste it being miserable and just going through the motions. Sometimes that may mean you need to change careers to something you are more passionate about, and sometimes that just means you need a break to mentally recharge. Find what it means to you. Find that passion in life and go for it. I will support you all the way, and I would love to hear about it. Leave a comment below or pop over to our Instagram or Facebook pages and reach out to me. Share your story, it is important and I want to know it!
Do I regret working at Canyon General Store?
Definitely not. Yes, I had some pretty frustrating experiences, but I also had some amazing ones. With any job, you have to take the good with the bad. In my experience, the good outweighed the bad tenfold. It is a time in my life that I would never trade or regret. If I could go back and do it again, I absolutely would, just hopefully not during a pandemic.
Do I recommend you working for this company?
If you are wanting to live in a national park and truly immerse yourself in all the park has to offer, I absolutely recommend you working in one for a season. If you decide to make the leap and work at Yellowstone National Park, check out our posts linked below for some of our most memorable experiences.
Frequently Asked Questions of Yellowstone National Park