We are now in what is called the shoulder season. The weather is generally warming and the crowd are starting to arrive but we are not at peak Summer visitation levels yet. This happens on either side of peak season as you probably guessed from the name.

This is a difficult time of year. The full Summer crowds aren't here yet but there are a lot more people than there are in the off season. Staffing levels aren't up to peak yet either though. Places are just opening or are still...

The weather is starting to improve. The outlying hotels are opening up. Another season is starting. With it comes another batch of idiots who don't seem to think the usual traffic rules don't apply here.

Don't cross the double yellow line. No, not at all. Definitely not while going around a blind curve on a stetch of road with zero shoulder on either side.

Stopping in the road is not ok. Seriously, it isn't. No, turning on your hazard lights does not make it...

A few years ago, I got a request from rooms division. They wanted to know the usual number of parties that did not arrve (DNAs) on a given day of the week. This was an odd request and I thought it would spell problems. I was right.

Someone in rooms division had an epiphany. We get paid for the first night of someone's stay whether they show or not but people who don't show don't buy food and souvenirs. If we had all the rooms full of people, we could get a bit more revenue. ...

Many restaurants with table service allow people to bring their own wine but charge something called a corkage fee for doing so. It's to make up for the revenue lost not selling them the wine. Generally only relatively upscale places have this since people don't bring their own wine bottles to Dennys that often.

One of the restaurants in the park charges $12 as a corkage fee. That's all well and good except that it's a lie. The corkage fee is actually $10. What's the other $2?...

There is a free shuttle bus that runs from 7am to 10pm every day and stops at a number of popular spots in Yosemite Valley.

People who know about economics will look askance at that statement. They will be right to do so. There is no free shuttle bus. People don't have to pay when they get on but it isn't free.

Half the money comes from NPS. In other words, it comes from taxes. It's government money but there is no such thing government money. It comes from...