America's Best Idea - The Tauck Winter in Yellowstone Event

No, of course Tauck's "Winter in Yellowstone" Event was not America's best idea, but it was set around the idea of what was.....America's National Parks, as showcased by the 2009 Ken Burns/Dayton Duncan documentary "The National Parks: America's Best Idea".

 As a Group Sales Rep for Xanterra, the lodging concessionaire for Yellowstone National Park, my job primarily revolves around a lot of data entry and answering questions - taking requests, building bookings, entering rooming lists and helping tour operators understand the complexities of working with not just a National Park, but a pretty large and varied one. While I definitely have the freedom to explore and expand within those confines, there are always exactly that: confines. It has been quite an experience in learning and growing up to be able to realize what is my job and when to do it, and what is not my job and when to shut up and leave it to those actually responsible for that task or area. Well, this winter I've had the opportunity to do something different...of course still within my realm of responsibility but with quite a bit more variety than I usually see.

 About 2 years ago, Tauck (one of the largest and best known tour companies in the US) partnered with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan to launch a series of new tours based around some of their best known documentaries (The National Parks, The Civil War, Jazz etc..) and each new tour series was to include a "Hosted by Ken Burns" Event to kick of the series. Well, "Winter in Yellowstone" was a top priority for Mr Burns and Mr Duncan, so Winter in Yellowstone it was to be. While putting this together definitely included all of the normal aspects of my job, it also allowed me the opportunity to think outside the box, work with other departments, actually assist in the execution of the plans rather than just making them and hoping for the best. It was the perfect blend of event planning and group management, probably a taste of what would be my ideal job.

 That said, don't think that it was all work and no play! The cornerstone of the event, which took place Jan 7-14, was the series of tours in the park with both our guides and the Yellowstone Association as well as the presentations by various guests speakers on the parks geology, history, wildlife etc. The event also included a keynote address by Dayton Duncan (originally planned to be Ken Burns but he was unable to attend due to medical issues). Other speakers included wildlife cinematographer Bob Landis, animal behavior and tracking expert Jim Halfpenny, and Gerard Baker, the first Native American National Park Service Superintendent (Mt Rushmore). I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to visit Old Faithful for the keynote event and dinner. This special and private event filled the Old Faithful Snow Lodge for a night, as well as allowed for us to enjoy the keynote by Mr Duncan in the auditorium of the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center - something the National Park Service had not previously allowed for anyone else to do. While of course there was a hint of disappointment in the air over Mr Burns being unable to attend, I personally felt thrilled to have the opportunity to hear Mr Duncan speak. He was the driving force behind The National Parks having been the one to suggest the idea in the first place, as well as being a strong voice in the inclusion of Winter in Yellowstone into the new Ken Burns American Journey's programs with Tauck. He spoke so passionately about the motivation for both his love of the National Parks and his desire to create these films with Ken that it seemed as though he was truly the most fitting presenter for the evening. Through his sincere storytelling and raw emotion (he noted that Ken compares him to Yellowstone: waterworks), he brought tears to my eyes on several occasions as the realization set in and dug a bit deeper each time that he was speaking about not only the amazing idea that is the National Parks, but also of the location that begin it all and that I have the enormous pleasure of calling my home.

 Amazingly though, the evening did not end there. Following the presentation and a wonderful dinner filled with exceptional company and good spirit, Dayton invited us (the Tauck staff, myself and any guests wishing to make the venture) to join him and Gerard for a moonlit viewing of Old Faithful....if we were lucky enough with timing, that is! With the VC being closed for the evening, they had done the "rough math" of when we "may" expect the next eruption and we settled on a meeting time in the hotel lobby of 9:50pm. As went the rest of the evening, time was on our side. Our group of approximately 20-25 people was taking the last few steps along the stretch of boardwalk separating the VC from the geyser when Old Faithful began it's show. Granted, I lived at Old Faithful for 5 seasons and have seen it many times, but this was different. It was the night after a full moon, crystal clear and amazingly cold (about -10 when we left the hotel....I was in a full snowmobile suit plus a down coat!) and I was surrounded by a group who 90% of them had never had anything close to this experience before. That can make even a veteran feel renewed in their surroundings. After the eruption, we took a few minutes to do what Gerard spoke of so often - be quite and enjoy the silence. Once we had settled into our enjoyment of our surroundings, he graced us with the telling of the stories behind the constellations we could see, a Native American prayer and a song for those who not be with us that night. To top of an already beautiful experience, he then circled us up for the "friendship dance" - a bit of easier two step while holding hands and moving to the beat of his songs. This was not all seriousness though, he definitely had us in stitches with a few outlandishly funny verses here and there! And that set us up for our grand finale - some hilarious attempts at ice skating on the neon blue ringed "pond" that is the Old Faithful ice skating rink. We definitely ended the night with laughter, camaraderie, insight and an overwhelming awe and thankfulness for where we were and who we were with.

 Even after all of the years I have lived here, I am so thankful to know that I can still feel as though I am seeing it for the first time.