A Fellowship with Destiny

Chapter 1 A normal work day

The next morning I was downstairs at six am, and now that all the guests have arrived I  don't need to wear my business suit, so I have on a  blue flannel western shirt, black jeans and boots, with a bit of lip gloss and my cowboy hat set on a hook behind the desk with my duster.  As I light the fireplaces, mornings are cooler here in the mountains even if it is the last week of June, taking the chill off the rooms and went behind the desk to print out today's requested events from the guests,  and children, then assign a wrangler or ranch hand for each group  activity.  All of the forty rooms or suites are occupied as the guests book here for a week at a time or longer, making things a little easier when we get to know them on a one to one basis. Carrie, Tim and Ben all showed for work by six thirty, the maids and laundry staff would be here around nine to clean the rooms, main lodge and then get all the linens and bedding washed, dried and put back for the next day. We employ two full time laundry attendants, four maids work here doing the thirty rooms as two more maids for the ten suites. I usually clean my own suite but every now and then the staff would do it without my knowledge as a thank you to me and it always makes me smile knowing  we respect and enjoy working together. 

Since Jeb stays in the bunkhouse with the rest of the guys, he has to have breakfast ready by seven each morning.  Tim and Ben help him with the biscuits, then they put out all the food as we do a buffet style each morning. Carrie watches the desk five days a week, handling any new issues or needs, answers the phone taking the future bookings and does some basic filing. . My days are always filled with seeing to the guests,  letting the wranglers and ranch hands know  what they have to do each day, and deal with issues concerning the livestock or horses. We raise our own  cattle, a small herd, but non the less I schedule for the vet or shoer for the horses when time comes, I do alot of paperwork  that has to be sent by email each day to the management company, than handle any unexpected surprises that may arise and dealing with the public it's guaranteed to happen.

The first thing I had the management company purchase when I arrived here was  two way hand held radios and a base station.  We use the radios to communicate  to each other when the wranglers are with guests at the lake, or out on the trail horseback riding should something come up. The base station has an emergency channel for me to contact the hospital, to either get a doctor up here for minor problems or the helicopter for the life threatening emergencies. Being in the mountains, the power can go out so we still have some  form of communication with the outside world. The whole lodge and bunk house have propane heat for the winter months but we always use  the fireplaces for a source of heat in the summer months. The lodge has a good size generator in the basement that will run a few small things like the base station in case of an outage. This is my second year managing the lodge, and before I took over they would close the lodge in the winter, but this year I have approval to stay open this winter  if I want, offering sleigh rides,  and a few new ideas I  may try out this winter. Twenty miles from the local town doesn't sound far, in the summer months a fifteen minute drive, but in the winter, up at this altitude,  it can take forty five minutes to an hour due to the road and snow conditions.

Seven sharp, Carrie comes around the desk,  with a plate of scrambled eggs, sausage and toast as I smile saying" A little hungry today Carrie?" She blushes then replies " Yea boss, we went out dancing and drinking last night so I need the nourishment." I chuckled, patted her back then told her what she had to take care of first this morning as she nodded while eating her eggs. I allow all of the staff to eat here, I feel it's just good business sense to have  happy employees as the food costs don't increase that much by a few more people. I informed her I was headed to breakfast then out to talk with the guys getting things started as she smiled to me saying" And to look for a certain hot male maybe?"