** Warning - this is my journal entry for our vacation, it is long**
This summer, we had the most amazing family vacation. On July 3rd, we piled into a very loaded mini-van and started our journey to northern New Mexico. The adventure started early for the kids when we stopped in Amarillo for the night and they slept in actual hotel beds instead of a pull-out couch (yes - we deprive our children and it's easy to entertain them). The next day we finished our drive and arrived at Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico.
Philmont has a great history full of American pioneers and the stories of the Wild West. Before becoming a Boy Scout Ranch, Philmont was owned by Waite Phillips, a wealthy Oklahoma oilman, who donated his beautiful land to the Boy Scouts of America. In December 1941, Waite Phillips said, "These properties are donated and dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America for the purpose of perpetuating faith, self-reliance, integrity and freedom - principles used to build this great country by the American Pioneer. So that these future citizens may, through thoughtful adult guidance and by the inspiration of nature, visualize and form a code of living to diligently maintain these high ideals and our proper destiny."
Philmont is most famous for it's wilderness treks into the mountains - many boys scouts climb the peaks every summer. However, there is also the Philmont Training Center where there are conferences throughout the summer to train adult scout leaders. We were lucky enough to get accepted to attend the Philmont LDS Scout Leader Conference. There are two conferences held each summer that are specifically for scout leaders from our church. The conference is run by the LDS Young Men's General Presidency and also the Primary General Presidency. The conference is set up for the scout leaders to attend training every day and for their families to hike, play, craft and tons of other fun things. I knew from the first time Dallin told me about the conference that it would be a good time for our family, but I had no idea how much we would enjoy it and what it would mean to our family.
When we arrived on Saturday afternoon, it was fun to meet up with other families from our stake attending the conference and also the Porter's, a family we knew when we first got married in the Irving Ward (Brother Porter is now President Porter of the Dallas stake). We were greeted at the camp entrance by President David Beck (YM General President) and Sister Cheryl Lant (Primary General President) who gave us our instruction packet and headed us toward Tent City which would be our home for the next week. Yes - we lived in tents for a week. But they weren't your average run of the mill tents. Each tent had two twin beds and a small piece of furniture to hang your clothes. They also had a light and an electrical outlet. I never got a great picture of Tent City (there are actually two tent cities at t he Philmont Training Center - we were in South Tent City), but here's a view of the boy's tent. We didn't spend a lot of time in the tents when we weren't sleeping, but for the first several days we were there, afternoon storms would blow in so we would all hang out until they passed. On Sunday it even hailed and on the day of this shot the wind was blowing so hard we thought we were back home in Texas.
We spent our first day unloading the van, unpacking and organizing the tents. We had our first introduction to the cafeteria - we really weren't roughing it at all. However, while eating around a campfire might be hard for some, I assure you that going through a cafeteria buffet line with four small children can be just as rough. Our first meal was harrowing - I think we listened to Porter yell for most of it about wanting to eat a brownie. However, we quickly had a system down and meals got better from there. I don't know if our system worked or we just started letting Porter eat his dessert first and that made things easier. We learned that if we got in line to wait for our meal shift about 15 minutes early, then we were the first through the line, we got a good table and we were pretty much settled before it got too crowded. Our system worked so well that Dallin even took all the kids to a meal on his own while I was attending a "Supporting Your Spouse" meeting for all the women.
The "getting ready for bed" routine was a little scary the first night and the kid's even took cold showers (Dallin and I discovered the warm showers in camp after we had put the kids down). I was a little nervous about the kids waking up in the middle of the night and waking up the rest of the camp, but they did so well. Brooklyn woke up almost every night and kind of wandered around our tent until we heard her and took her to the bathroom. But we were all so worn out each night that eyes were often closed before heads touched pillows. And after the first night, we were a showering machine. We discovered the family bathroom which had a toilet, shower and sink. I would undress and shower the kids and Dallin would dry and dress them and then we would carry them back to the tent so they wouldn't get dirty again. And boy did they get dirty - especially the girls.
Sunday was great. We had most of our church meetings outdoors. There is such a wonderful spirit being out in nature and then to be able to worship in nature made it even better. The kids were taught by Sister Lant in primary and we had great meetings. And then we got to spend the day together - and it truly was a day of rest. No meetings, no dirty dishes, no meals to cook. It was such a great day for our family. And then we spent the evening at an adult fireside given by Brother (1st counselor - YM general presidency) and Sister Gibson. It was just fabulous!!
And then our week began. We started every morning with a flag ceremony. The entire camp gathered at the flag poles. Patriot music would be playing and the spirit was great. There was a brother who conducted the ceremonies and other events during the conference. He was absolutely fantastic. He would pass out "band-aids" at the flag ceremony - they were sticks to aid in leading the music. The kids thought it was great. By mid-week, as soon as we neared the flag poles, Porter would start asking for his stick. There was a lot of announcements and reminders but it was so entertaining. Some of our favorite lines from flag ceremonies:
-- Every morning he would say, "Most people say that ..... is their favorite day at Philmont." On the last day he said, "Most people say that today is the saddest day at Philmont."
-- After making an announcement for the early morning run, he said, "If you can't make the run, meet me here 45 minutes later and I'll beat your knees with hammer and you'll get the same effect."
-- He told us we needed to drink six 5-gallon beverage coolers every day. His wife stepped up and whispered in his ear and he said, "Oh - that's makes a lot more sense." He then held up a water bottle and said, "You need to drink 6 of these a day." The kids thought it was so funny.
We had a great Family Home Evening Talent Show on Monday evening. Each of the families at the conference got to go up and stage and introduce themselves (that's about 150 families) and show their family flag. We didn't get a shot of our flag up on our tent, but here it is laying on our floor at home.
Our days were full of so much great stuff. Dallin would go to his training meetings all morning (which he loved). And the rest of us got to play.
I went on hikes, attended wonderful spiritual classes, read my book (I was also doing laundry), visited with fantastic women, did a COPE course (learned I have terrible balance, and when you are going over a large turning barrel, hold your shirt down when you're sliding off), and even rode a horse. It was great!! My hike was not far and it definitely wasn't very tough, but I did get closer to the Tooth of Time peak (the kids at the conference between the ages of 14 and 18 were on a trek almost the entire time we were at Philmont - they were really roughing it - and they hiked to the Tooth of Time).
Baden was a Deputy. He got to do archery, shoot rifles, ride ponies, visit a greenhouse, make homemade ice cream, play lots of fun games, and do crafts. He also visited the Cowpoke group. The hiking was a little hard for him, so when the Deputies would go hiking he would go with the 6 -7 year old boys. He didn't mind - he got to ride ponies more times than everyone else and he got to do two crafts. He also got to make one of the famous Philmont leather belts with his initials on it.
Brooklyn loved Philmont!! She was a Cowgirl. And she really loved camp songs. She came home singing so many fun songs and they all learned fun camp games. She went on a hike to the only documented T-Rex track in the world. She also rode ponies and did crafts. And she made great friends. She loved her friend Betsy from Idaho - and the Olsen girls.
Ella and Porter were both Small Fries. They got to play together and spend time at the playground, riding ponies and doing a little craft. They had a lot of fun, however, by the last day they were completely worn out and ready to just stay home and rest. I had to walk away from the Small Fry building on the last day listening to Porter yell for me all the way down the hill.
Everywhere we went, Ella would say, "There's my friend from small fry." She loved having so many little girls to play with. One of Ella's favorite things about Philmont was when she fell out of her tent one morning. She was climbing out to run to the bathroom but she fell over the bungee ties and landed on the ground and when she looked up she was about ten feet away from a deer who was grazing in the play area. I think it startled both of them, but after her initial shock and after the deer ran away (I'm pretty sure she scared it more than it scared her), she thought the experience was pretty cool.
Near our tent was a playground where the kids played whenever they had free time. They would play so hard and get so dirty. There was a climbing wall that had our girls stumped. About halfway through the week their dad showed them how to climb the wall. Brooklyn thought it was cool, but Ella was so proud of herself. I was so glad she overcame her hesitation and found something she really liked to do.
On most days, Dallin would join us for lunch and a short break time and then we would all be back to our activities in the afternoon. Dallin would join us again for dinner and then there was always family activities in the evenings. On Tuesday, the entire afternoon was family time. We spend our free time with the Olsen family touring some of the sites at Philmont and in Cimarron.
We first went to the Kit Carson museum. The tour was very interesting and my kids thought it was cool to see some of the things we had read about in our Kit Carson book from the library. However, tour quickly became much more interesting for the adults than the kids and a kind Philmont staffer offered to take all the kids outside (and between us and the Olsen's, we have a lot of kids - 10 on that day). When we joined the kids outside, we found all sorts of fun mountain man activities. Our favorite was the tomahawk throw. Ella was the only one of our kids to stick her tomahawk, but we all had fun.
Then we headed to Cimarron where we went to an old hotel that still had gun shot holes in the restaurant from Wild West days. And then we had ice cream at an old fashioned ice cream parlor. The kids really enjoyed their ice cream (my bets are that Brooklyn might have enjoyed her's the most of all).
We celebrated the 4th of July in the middle of the week (even though the actual 4th was on the day we arrived). There was a children's costume parade. Our kids were Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. Porter was not so sure about the whole idea of waiting in line just to walk around, but once the parade started and he realized that people were cheering and pointing out how cute he was, he absolutely loved it. It was so fun to see him strut around. Baden was a little embarrassed, he's not one to enjoy dressing up (I have no idea where he gets this).
We spent the rest of the evening playing bocce ball on the lawn, eating barbeque and even going on a tour of the Waite Phillips summer home, Villa Philamonte. It was gorgeous. It was kind of an open house tour, but because Baden went on an official tour earlier in the week, he was our tour guide. We were so impressed with how much he remembered.
We even caught a glimpse of the real Papa Bear. We don't get much footage of him being this silly so of course we had to share.
We spent the rest of the evening playing bocce ball on the lawn, eating barbeque and even going on a tour of the Waite Phillips summer home, Villa Philamonte. It was gorgeous. It was kind of an open house tour, but because Baden went on an official tour earlier in the week, he was our tour guide. We were so impressed with how much he remembered.
We even caught a glimpse of the real Papa Bear. We don't get much footage of him being this silly so of course we had to share.
We ended our week with a great closing program. Each of the kids got to sing a song they learned in their groups during the week (evening me and Dallin). The Philmont Staff did skits and had us all laughing. A great northern New Mexico wind blew down off the mountains and the sunset was amazing. It was a great way to end a fantastic week.
Although I'm sure you could have great family camping experiences anywhere, there was something about Philmont that was perfect for us. It was just the vacation we were needed. We got to play and spend time together and we were spiritually fed all at the same time. Our family completed the LDS Philmont Duty to God by having special family devotionals every night as a family. It was the perfect end to our Philmont days.
The best part about being at Philmont was getting to be outdoors and getting to spend quality time with each other that was completely uninterrupted. There were no phone calls, emails, bills to pay, etc... And we were surrounded by wonderful faithful families who influenced our family in wonderful ways.
The other great thing about Philmont was being surrounded by Boy Scouts. The men wore their scout uniforms at all their training meetings (so they were pretty much in them all the time). I loved hearing about all the things Dallin was learning about how to use the scouting program to bring young men unto Christ. It was a great example to my sons to see so many adults who love Boy Scouts. How thankful I am for a program who helped to build and shape my husband throughout his youth. I'm thankful for a program that will help my sons to have the same great character their father has. I'm thankful for a program that will teach my sons to do hard things, both physically and mentally. I know the scouting program will teach my sons to be better missionaries, better men, better sons, husbands and fathers and it will help to bring them to Christ. And through the process of molding my boys, it will influence and shape our entire family. What an awesome part of our lives!!
As we left Philmont early on Friday morning, we drove up the hill a little ways and stopped to get one last look at this little paradise we got to live in for a week. From this point you can see the horse stables, the large camp where scouters stay before heading out on their treks and also the Philmont Training Center. It was hard to leave such a beautiful place - even harder when we got out for gas in Amarillo and felt the Texas heat (we wanted to turn around and head back).
If you ever get the opportunity to go to this wonderful camp and attend the LDS Scout Leadership Conference, take it. You will not regret it. It was truly a week that we will never forget and hope that maybe one day we can go again.
The best part about being at Philmont was getting to be outdoors and getting to spend quality time with each other that was completely uninterrupted. There were no phone calls, emails, bills to pay, etc... And we were surrounded by wonderful faithful families who influenced our family in wonderful ways.
The other great thing about Philmont was being surrounded by Boy Scouts. The men wore their scout uniforms at all their training meetings (so they were pretty much in them all the time). I loved hearing about all the things Dallin was learning about how to use the scouting program to bring young men unto Christ. It was a great example to my sons to see so many adults who love Boy Scouts. How thankful I am for a program who helped to build and shape my husband throughout his youth. I'm thankful for a program that will help my sons to have the same great character their father has. I'm thankful for a program that will teach my sons to do hard things, both physically and mentally. I know the scouting program will teach my sons to be better missionaries, better men, better sons, husbands and fathers and it will help to bring them to Christ. And through the process of molding my boys, it will influence and shape our entire family. What an awesome part of our lives!!
As we left Philmont early on Friday morning, we drove up the hill a little ways and stopped to get one last look at this little paradise we got to live in for a week. From this point you can see the horse stables, the large camp where scouters stay before heading out on their treks and also the Philmont Training Center. It was hard to leave such a beautiful place - even harder when we got out for gas in Amarillo and felt the Texas heat (we wanted to turn around and head back).
If you ever get the opportunity to go to this wonderful camp and attend the LDS Scout Leadership Conference, take it. You will not regret it. It was truly a week that we will never forget and hope that maybe one day we can go again.
"No one ever really leaves Philmont. Your soul becomes one with the trail, and deep in your heart a piece of Philmont remains forever." -- Earl Owens, Scout Leader and Boy Scout Jamboree Coordinator