Tom and I are back at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.  We drove down on June 17 and started working June 19.  Our dates were about a month later than we had planned on arriving, but being in Ohio was more important.  Fortunately the staff here is very family-oriented and they completely understood.  They were also really glad to see us when we arrived.

Our first week was settling in to the routine of working.  We unloaded our living history stuff and got our clothes.  Tom and I also cleaned up the living history storage area.  Although people have used it since we were last here, they didn’t take time to put stuff back where it belongs.  Organizing it again helped us find the stuff that we needed.

Our work schedule is the same as it was last year.  We work Friday through Monday.  I work on the Information Desk on Fridays and Sunday mornings.  I do textiles on Saturdays and Mondays.  I decided to mix things up a little more this year and am preparing a colonial games program for Sunday afternoons.  More about that in a future post.  Tom is blacksmithing on Mondays, coopering on Saturdays, talking at the Iron Furnace on Fridays, and leading a Gap Hike on Sundays.

Part of being back at Cumberland Gap is getting caught up with people.  I love the rangers here and we keep up with each other.  They sent Tom and me the sweetest sympathy card.  It meant so much for them to take time to write it.  Two of the rangers also lost their fathers in the last year, so we can commiserate on the rough year for fathers.

We also got in touch with the local people we know.  There was a Campground program on mosses on Saturday night and two of the couples that we meet for meals were there.  The next night was a worship service at the campground with A Christian Ministry in the National Parks.  We took so long talking to the locals and the other park volunteers that we stayed after worship for an hour.  In our two previous seasons at Cumberland Gap we have made a lot of friends and everyone seems to be glad we are back.

Because this is our third season back at Cumberland Gap, lots of things are familiar.  We alternate weeks at the two grocery stores in Middlesboro.  Tonight we are eating at our favorite local restaurant, Gap Creek Cafe.  Tom is looking forward to going to the Dutch Treat on Thursday for a grilled cheese sandwich.  We will be heading in to New Tazewell tomorrow to do our laundry.

There are also some new things.  The park has a celebration coming up for America’s 250, and Tom and I will be helping with that.  There is another special event in September.  The Cumberland Gap Tunnel is 30 years old in October and there is special stuff going on then.  The park has three four interp interns, which is the highest number they have had since we have been there.  We are sounding them out about a game night because they live in seasonal housing next to our RV spot.

I already had my first encounter with wildlife.  I got stung by a yellow jacket.  Tom and I were hauling water to fill a container and I knocked their nest with my bucket.  Neither of us saw the nest until after I got stung.  When it happened I was mostly concerned with keeping any of the yellow jackets from flying up under my long skirt.  But the pain soon set in.  The sting is on my thumb and, because it happened at work, they had to fill out an incident report and have the EMTs come and check me out.  It still hurts and my thumb has resembled a sausage for three days now.

It should be a fun and busy summer back at Cumberland Gap.  I think we will have plenty to do which means I will have some interesting stories to tell you.