Philmont!
Sunday, February 8th, 2009 by HML
Our summer just got more exciting: The Gimlet has been invited by our local scout council to attend a conference at the Philmont Training Center near Cimarron, New Mexico. Invitations are limited to the top volunteers from around the country, so The Gimlet is honored that the scout council has offered him this opportunity. As he attended Philmont as a scout Back In The Day, he is also delighted that Thing One will be able to participate in a very unique and memorable scouting experience.
During the week-long conference, Team Gimlet will be busy: Thing Two can attend a preschool program which includes pony rides; Thing One will be eligible to take a 20-30 mile backpacking expedition through Philmont’s backcountry (with rock climbing, gold-panning, and other activities along the way); and Your Humble Narrator is looking forward to taking in the history, art, and culture of the Southwest, as well as day hikes and horse rides.
We’ll be driving to Philmont, so it’s time to dust off our National Park Passport and visit the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Arches and Zion National Parks in Utah, and any other monuments or parks we happen to drive past (there are quite a few!). This vacation will test our tolerance for touring large holes in the ground, plus this is the first long driving trip we’ve taken since our Yellowstone expedition, pre-Thing Two. Souvenir pennies will be squished, sunscreen will be slathered, and hopefully we’ll all be on speaking terms by the end of our desert odyssey. Look for trip blogging or a wrapup report in July!
