When school ended for the Spring of 1966 I prepared to go to Zion for the Summer. We got there before the Lodge officially opened for the summer. My job was as a cabin maid again and I was not happy about that. I don’t remember how I did it but I managed to get reassigned to the snack shop. We served quick order breakfast, lunch and dinner. We specialized in ice cream cones, shakes and sundaes. We made salads and cold meat sandwiches. We worked in shifts. I remember one morning all of a sudden we had all these people wanting breakfast. They were all older couples. We were not equipped to handle such a large group. There were only about six tables with four chairs apiece and a counter with about six stools. So we had all these people and they all wanted eggs. They were from a tour that was supposed to eat in the dinning room upstairs but they didn’t want their big breakfast so the hostess told them to come down to the snack shop for just eggs and toast. I was on the grill that day and one of the ladies wanted one egg sunny-side up, the egg white had to be cooked completely but the yoke could not be cooked. It took a couple of tries but I think I finally got it right at least it did not come back.
Another time I had worked the early shift and had gone back to the dorm and went to sleep. I woke up and no one was around. It was getting dark and I thought it was morning. I was so disoriented. I thought I was late for work and was really upset. I called to the snack shop to tell them I was on my way but they didn’t know what I was talking about. I finally realized it was just evening of the same day and I was Crazy.
That summer I met a boy who lived in Orderville a small town on highway 89 on the east side of the canyon. I guess he liked me a little bit. We went on a few dates and I thought he was nice. For one thing he was taller than me.
One of the great things about working in the Snack Shop was I was able to meet more of the tourists. I loved talking to people from all over the world. They would come in for ice cream and sandwiches. I got really good at making shakes and malts. The gear jammers (bus drivers) would come in and flirt with us.
As the summer was winding down there were fewer tourist coming and we were shutting down for the winter. One night Tauna and I decided that we needed to go swimming. We climbed over the fence to the swimming pool and went skinny dipping. It was so cold.
The Lodge closed after Labor Day and there was still almost a month before school started. Tauna and I went to The North Rim of the Grand Canyon to work before they closed. That was only about three or four weeks. We worked at the Store and Cafeteria. The Cafeteria was about a mile from the main lodge and it was not very busy. I loved being there. It was quiet and Tauna and I would go for walks in the evening. She told me about wanting to go to California to be there when her missionary came home. We got it into our heads that we would go to California and get jobs and be there when he came home. We decided to go after Christmas that year. Tauna had written to his Mother and she agreed to put us up until we could find an apartment and jobs. We decided to go by train. Tauna did not come back to school, instead she went to live with her sister. We wrote back and forth and agreed that she would come back to Cedar after Christmas and then we would go.
I don’t remember too much about that fall in school. Dad had built a new house south of our old house and they had moved in that summer. It was across the street from the new Church that we had all worked so hard to build. Doug was home from his mission. Sandra and Kathy were married. My cousins Charlotte and Phyllis were married. I felt like an old maid.
Doug and I kind of hung out together. At some point he left and went to School at BYU. I don’t remember the exact time line.