[Geysers] OF Inn article mentions Tara Cross

[Freund, Udo]

FYI and slightly off-subject, Tara Cross was mentioned in Eric Nolan's
article in this Sundays Los Angeles Daily News.

The link contains the entire article.  Text follows also.

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~29387~2346094,00.html

The rock of Yellowstone 
By Eric Nolan
Travel Editor 
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. _ When a 7.5 earthquake rolled through
Yellowstone National Park in 1959, the Old Faithful Inn shuddered,
groaned and coughed up a few of its fireplace stones, but ultimately
shrugged off the intrusion. 
When the North Fork Fire savaged the park in 1988, the old inn wept.
That was the appearance, anyway, when fire sprinklers _ fortuitously
installed the year before _ sent cascades of protective water down its
steep roof and over the eaves. 
Through brutal winters, when the inn's timbers and vintage wrought iron
were assaulted by prodigious snowfalls and temperatures that fell as low
as 50 degrees below zero, the massive lodge shifted its weight and
sighed in the chill but stoically stood its ground. 
This happens a lot _ animate traits ascribed to the Old Faithful Inn, as
if it were a living being, with a heartbeat and palpable emotions. 
It's true to this day. 
On a recent Saturday evening, as George Sanborn provided his customary
piano entertainment on the lobby mezzanine, he was joined by Tara Cross,
a 25-year-old violinist from nearby Gardiner, Mont. She swayed as she
played, eyes closed, delivering a haunting interpretation of Jay Ungar's
``Ashokan Farewell,'' better-known as the theme music to Ken Burns'
Civil War documentary. 
All the while, Cross wore no shoes or socks. 
``It's a beautiful building to play in,'' she said later during a break.
``That's why I play barefoot _ I want to feel it underneath me.'' 
The Old Faithful Inn is celebrating its 100th birthday this summer, and
it seems to be standing a little taller, a little prouder. It's the
undisputed grand dame of the national park lodges in the American West,
and the years have done nothing to diminish its rustic majesty. 
It could never get built today, but there was a different land-use ethic
in place at the start of the 20th century. No one thought twice about
positioning it inside the boundary of a volcanic caldera, just a few
steps from Yellowstone's famed Old Faithful geyser, which continues to
gush skyward every 90 minutes or so. 
For building materials, they used what was at hand: hundreds of
lodgepole pine trees growing nearby in the national park and rhyolite
stone quarried from an ancient !dlim!!text!lava flow. 
Convenience and comfort were the objectives of the railroad and tourism
interests that built the hotel, and boyish architect Robert Reamer
delivered _ but with a distinct flair. 
His masterpiece is just inside the bright-red front doors, whose iron
hardware emits a resounding clank when they are swung shut. The massive
lobby rises to a ceiling peak of 76 1/2 feet, and the rounded, gnarled
timbers of the construction produce the appearance of rustic lace. 
Or an indoor forest. That's how it's most commonly described. Light
angles through this space from windows and false dormers that are
asymmetrically positioned and randomly shaped (diamonds, squares,
rectangles). Just as sunlight haphazardly finds its way into a forest
glen. Contorted logs were used as diagonal support pieces for columns,
creating the appearance of branches angling off tree trunks. 
The four-sided stone fireplace (only two sides of which work, owing to
the earthquake damage of '59) rises like a giant cairn in one corner. A
20-foot pendulum clock on its face chronicles the hotel's remarkable
staying power with every quiet tick and tock. 
The old inn zealously safeguards its heritage. 
Most of the rooms in the original building _ called the Old House _ were
never retrofitted with private baths. It means padding down a long
hallway to take a shower or use the lavatory, but it also means
affordability for families; these rooms start at $78 per night. Children
seem to find these living conditions more of an adventure than an
inconvenience, especially when the alternative might be a tent in one of
the park campgrounds. 
Also, the inn takes pride in its wealth of original furniture, but
doesn't stuff it away in a museum exhibit. The pieces are positioned
here and there for guests to actually use: oak-armed davenports in the
lobby, octagonal tables on the mezzanine, copper-topped wash stands in
some of the Old House rooms. 
``A pitcher and basin would have been on the top shelf, a chamber pot on
the bottom,'' said Betty Hardy as she led one of the historical tours of
the inn, offered four times daily for guests and visitors alike. 
The tours provide a sense of what life was like during the inn's
infancy, when the lumber was newly cut and the stones freshly laid. 
The hotel was so popular when it opened that expansion projects began
almost immediately, and continued into the 1930s. A roomier East Wing
was added in 1913, with private baths and rooms (request one with an
even number) that directly overlook the geyser. The cavernous dining
room was added in 1921. A West Wing went up in 1927, the same year the
lobby entrance was pushed out, a veranda was built and the cozy public
room that now serves as the Bear Pit Lounge was added. 
The work continues to this day, as the inn fidgets through a makeover
that will span the next three years. 
The fireplace will get a new foundation, two of its earthquake-damaged
chimneys will be cleared and the area around the hearth will be sunken
for greater intimacy, conforming to its original design. The weathered
flooring of the lobby and the Old House rooms will be replaced. Wiring
will be restrung. Upgrades will be made to accommodate disabled
visitors. 
During the construction, the inn will remain open during the summer, but
on a shorter schedule than normal _ for example, likely from July 1
through Sept. 11 next year. 
When the work is finished, ``the lobby will be restored more to what
guests would have found when it first opened,'' said Scott Cote,
executive director of operations for Xanterra, Yellowstone's
concessionaire. ``But there will be seismic and life-safety upgrades
that will help ensure that people will be able to enjoy it for another
100 years.'' 
Enjoy it they certainly do. To its credit, the Old Faithful Inn is an
affable and welcoming soul, swinging wide its doors at the slightest
sound of tread on the porch. The result is never-ending waves of gawking
admirers. During the day, tour buses pull up to the porte-cochere one
after another. 
If you're a guest in the hotel, however, you might conclude that these
conditions make the first floor of the lobby less than optimal for quiet
relaxation. Many guests, in fact, retreat to the second-floor mezzanine,
there to settle into comfortably rustic chairs and settees around the
balustrade and survey the human parade below. 
Another such retreat can be found in the Bear Pit Lounge, where there
are four local microbrews on tap (including Moose Drool brown ale from
Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, Mont.), friendly bartenders and such tasty
appetizers as smoked salmon and goat cheese croustades. 
Those glass panels behind the bar aren't playing tricks on your eyes.
Yes, that's a moose dancing with a woman in a ballroom, while a bear
leads the orchestra and a bighorn sheep balances a serving tray. The
sandblasted images pay tribute to wood etchings that were fashioned by
cartoonist Walter Oehrle in the 1930s. Some of the original wood panels
are protected behind glass in the Pony Express snack bar. 
In the evening, the routine at the Old Faithful Inn is as reassuringly
familiar as the geyser itself. Guests who were wise enough to make
reservations far in advance make their way into the sprawling dining
room, which is doing some fine work under the guidance of new chef Jim
Chapman. 
Menus from as far back as the 1920s were consulted so that a few
``historical selections'' could be included among the entrees _ roast
leg of lamb, coq au vin, pan-fried Rocky Mountain trout. (Back then, the
trout was undoubtedly wild, but bland, farm-raised fish must be used
now; even the pecans and lemon butter can't make it interesting.) 
More contemporary dishes include an outstanding Angus coulotte steak and
a nice choice of vegetarian dishes. 
The service in the restaurant tends to be young and minimally trained
but earnest to a fault, and the wine list is a wonder _ an extensive
selection with prices that seem to be just a couple of dollars over
cost. 
Spring for the good stuff here. There aren't many nice restaurants in
the West where you'll find Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc champagne for $45,
Rancho Zabaco Sonoma Heritage Zinfandel for $24 or Ste. Chappelle
Johannisberg Riesling for $16 (a steal). We only wished the general
locations of some of the wineries were listed (Oregon? Italy?). The list
does, however, include helpful descriptions of the wines and explains
why they go well with particular foods _ a nice demystification of the
process. 
There's speculation that the Yellowstone volcano will erupt again
someday, and as if in anticipation, the dining room's dessert menu
includes the Yellowstone Caldera, a decadent offering of chocolate
truffle with molten center. 
Throughout dinner, the piano music wafts in from the second-floor
mezzanine through a balcony opening, where a string quartet played
during the hotel's early days. 
There used to be a lot of interaction among the guests, including long
tables for dinner, ballroom dancing on the lobby floor, singing around
the piano, gatherings at the fireplace for popcorn popped over the
blaze. 
``Early visitors were traveling around the park in stagecoaches with the
same group every day. It was very social,'' said Ruth Quinn, the inn's
interpreter. ``We lost that with people coming in their own cars.'' 
But the inn does a nice job of trying to reclaim it. There is not a
single TV here _ not in the bar, the lobby or any of the guest rooms _
so guests naturally gravitate to the lobby as the evening proceeds. 
People play cards and board games (bring your own), or write postcards
or read books beneath the green-shaded lamps of the writing desks. Some
grab an ice cream cone from the Pony Express and wander onto the veranda
to take in a moonlit geyser eruption. Others sit quietly and listen to
the piano music. 
Hushed conversations, the whir of cards being shuffled, the creak of
ancient floorboards beneath footfalls, the crackle of the fireplace ...
they all combine to create a gentle hum. This is the Old Faithful Inn's
pulse. 
Surely that's what the barefoot violinist was feeling 
Eric Noland, (818) 713-3681 eric.noland at dailynews.com 
IF YOU GO... 
GETTING THERE: The most convenient airport to the Old Faithful area of
Yellowstone is Jackson Hole, Wyo. But major construction is being
conducted on Highway 89/191 in Grand Teton National Park, just south of
Yellowstone, and it took us two hours to drive the 48 miles. The return
drive required even more time, due to a flag delay of a half-hour. A key
tip: The Jackson Airport is several miles north of town, and the
rental-car companies that operate at the airport are Hertz, Avis, Alamo
and Thrifty. If you have Dollar or National, you'll take a long shuttle
ride into Jackson _ the opposite direction of your ultimate destination.

THE INN: Rates range from $78 for a room without private bath to $134 to
$185 for a premium room to $371 for a suite. The Old Faithful Inn will
be open on its usual schedule this year (until Oct. 15), but will
operate on a shorter-than-usual schedule next year, due to renovations _
likely July 1 through Sept. 11. Xanterra, the park concessionaire, also
operates eight other lodging options in Yellowstone. (307) 344-7311;
www.travelyellowstone.com. 
DINING: There are a number of budget-priced cafeteria and snack bar
options in the Old Faithful area, but if you're looking for something
nice, the inn is about the only choice. This means it is essential to
book reservations for dinner far in advance: (307) 344-7901. We also
enjoyed breakfast and lunch here. Buffets are available for both meals,
but we found some excellent made-to-order items on both menus _
vegetarian breakfast tacos in the morning, for example, and a hummus
pita with salad at midday. 
THE PARK: The fee for entering Yellowstone Park is $20 per private
vehicle, good for seven days _ and you're not exempted just because you
have a reservation at the Old Faithful Inn. Don't try to tackle this
park in a day ... or even two or three. The park encompasses 3,472
square miles _ larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined _ and has
310 miles of paved road. There is a lot of diverse terrain, geologic
wonders and wildlife to see, all of which is best enjoyed if you take
your time. Yellowstone's buffalo population has stormed back in recent
years and herds can be seen on drives near Old Faithful. Rangers at the
visitors' center can provide details. www.nps.gov/yell; (307) 344-7381. 
NEXT IN THE SERIES: The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on Hawaii's Big Island,
Sept. 19 	
	
	
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Udo Freund
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