About 15 years ago, I took a job with Delaware North in Yellowstone--I was going to be a credit card payment processor at their offices in West Yellowstone. I wanted to start work in early May, but the job didn't start until Memorial Day weekend. So I trundled uphill to help open their general store and restaurant at Canyon Village.
I stayed in what was a private room for the time being in the employee dorms--but I would have had a roommate if it had been later in the season. I did various and sundry jobs, including inventory, cook, etc. When the time came, I went back downhill to "West," as they call it, and started my new job--only to find that the working conditions were awful and the employee housing--for which I would be charged $400 a month--was one-sixth of a two-bedroom apartment. I would be sleeping in the same room as two teenagers. No thanks, I said.
Now, the dormy arrangement uphill wasn't too bad--there were communal bathrooms (of course), but the food they fed us (three meals a day) was actually not bad (a HUGE upgrade from prior years, I was told) and the people were not too psychotic. The work itself was strenuous but otherwise OK.
One major beef I had with DNC was their propensity to schedule split shifts, which effectively stretched the workday out to twelve hours. Also, they'd stretch you out to a six-day work week at first, so insofar as being in "America's wonderland" was concerned, you might as well have been in Cleveland for all the difference it made. I spent my one day off doing my laundry and recovering. I heard that Xanterra (aka "Xanterrible") was an even worse employer, and the slop they fed their employees would have been a war crime if it was fed to prisoners.
I should also mention that we were paid federal minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) and for some reason, Wyoming had no overtime laws--work more than 40 hours, so what. So with the food and housing deductions, we cleared basically nothing. The only people who made money were the people who earned tips.
Upon reflection, I figured that the only way to make this sort of gig viable was to stay in my own RV/van/whatever. I verified that I'd still be able to get my employee meals and use the bathroom and laundry facilities. DNC still wanted $20 a week for me to park my ass on a concrete slab with no hookups, but I would have access to water and a dump station. I was hired to work at another location in Yellowstone under these conditions, but I became seriously ill and had to turn down the job.
I've never gone back or worked at any other national park since then (before, I worked in Yosemite and Glacier). But I'm thinking about it for next year. Does anyone have any recent experience living in an RV/van and working in a national park? What were the living/working conditions like? Was your pay awful or merely lousy? Would you do it again?
I love the national parks in the West and spend a lot of time there every summer. Unfortunately, competition for jobs there, especially those where you can park and live in your RV, is fierce despite the lousy pay. So if I'm gonna do this next year, I have to start yesterday. Any input would be appreciated.
I stayed in what was a private room for the time being in the employee dorms--but I would have had a roommate if it had been later in the season. I did various and sundry jobs, including inventory, cook, etc. When the time came, I went back downhill to "West," as they call it, and started my new job--only to find that the working conditions were awful and the employee housing--for which I would be charged $400 a month--was one-sixth of a two-bedroom apartment. I would be sleeping in the same room as two teenagers. No thanks, I said.
Now, the dormy arrangement uphill wasn't too bad--there were communal bathrooms (of course), but the food they fed us (three meals a day) was actually not bad (a HUGE upgrade from prior years, I was told) and the people were not too psychotic. The work itself was strenuous but otherwise OK.
One major beef I had with DNC was their propensity to schedule split shifts, which effectively stretched the workday out to twelve hours. Also, they'd stretch you out to a six-day work week at first, so insofar as being in "America's wonderland" was concerned, you might as well have been in Cleveland for all the difference it made. I spent my one day off doing my laundry and recovering. I heard that Xanterra (aka "Xanterrible") was an even worse employer, and the slop they fed their employees would have been a war crime if it was fed to prisoners.
I should also mention that we were paid federal minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) and for some reason, Wyoming had no overtime laws--work more than 40 hours, so what. So with the food and housing deductions, we cleared basically nothing. The only people who made money were the people who earned tips.
Upon reflection, I figured that the only way to make this sort of gig viable was to stay in my own RV/van/whatever. I verified that I'd still be able to get my employee meals and use the bathroom and laundry facilities. DNC still wanted $20 a week for me to park my ass on a concrete slab with no hookups, but I would have access to water and a dump station. I was hired to work at another location in Yellowstone under these conditions, but I became seriously ill and had to turn down the job.
I've never gone back or worked at any other national park since then (before, I worked in Yosemite and Glacier). But I'm thinking about it for next year. Does anyone have any recent experience living in an RV/van and working in a national park? What were the living/working conditions like? Was your pay awful or merely lousy? Would you do it again?
I love the national parks in the West and spend a lot of time there every summer. Unfortunately, competition for jobs there, especially those where you can park and live in your RV, is fierce despite the lousy pay. So if I'm gonna do this next year, I have to start yesterday. Any input would be appreciated.
