June 26 - The Trip Begins

Well all the planning is done and the day is finally here.  The trip starts at the scout building at 6:30 AM June 26.  A caravan of six cars start with the crew of 13 from Warner Robins.  Scott and Carter will also be meeting us at the airport coming from Buford where they have recently moved.

We rendezvous at the Delta south terminal of the Atlanta airport.  Many struggled getting their bags to the group ticket counter stressing that their checked bags stay under the 50 pound limit.  My bag rang it at 49 pounds and I was happy to see it pass on the conveyors out of site.  The lady processing the group was very nice and must have been worn out after loading all of those bags.

We caught a break on baggage fees as our frequent flyer Scott had some kind of silver discount that allowed us to only have to pay for 8 bags with 7 free.

I briefed the crew that they would have an opportunity to eat before and/or after the flight.  I had a candy bar but some boys went to a TGIF.  After the meal the manager, an Eagle Scout, comped their meal because they were behaving properly in scout uniforms.  This was an extremely nice tribute.

Atlanta - Georgia Dome

Flight Statistics

Our plane was a brand new 737 with media players in the back of the seat in front of us.  There was a large selection of movies and everyone seemed to pick a different movie.  It also had TV and music available.

Our plane landed and Main Event bus transportation was there to pick us up.   We met the owner and he introduced us to our bus driver.   Immediately we noticed the change in climate.  Gone was the high humidity we have in Ga with dryness and a nice breeze that was very pleasant.  The terrain also had hills and mountains with more brown than we have.

Just out of Albuquerque we stopped at a McDonald's for a second chance at lunch.  I had a fish sandwich which I hadn't have in over a decade.  The driver pleasantly let us eat on board which ultimately allowed us to arrive early at Philmont and on time for supper scheduled at 4:45 PM






During the three and a half hour bus ride we enjoyed the spectacular views snapping photos along the way.  As we neared I had correctly identified the mountains of Philmont, yet it took another 45 minutes to reach Philmont base camp at the base of the Tooth of Time.









At the Philmont Welcome center our crew leaders and crew advisors were immediately taken in to a meeting.  The crew leaders were presented with papers and a brief summary of the camp layout and schedules.  With that we received our camp assignments and quickly started hauling our gear.

Camp was setup as inbound and home-bound sections.  Each section had at least six columns with each column having close to a hundred tents.  Because we were an early arrival they set us up in the home-bound section.  Our tents were almost at the far end of the column.

Tent City

Each tent was a platform type tent on a slab with two metal frame beds.  We quickly stowed our bags and rallied at the dinning hall for supper.  We were the last crews in and were just baked from the heat when we finally went in.

The rest of the evening was chaotic as we bounced from tent, bathroom, security, lockers, and Tooth of Time multiple times.  This chaos drove me crazy the whole time at HQ.

Tooth of Time

Before bed a storm hit the mountains but it didn't rain at HQ.  That night the temperatures dipped in the upper 30s.   I slept very well that night.



 


Photo Highlights:

Waiting on Leadership

This little guy was just hopping through tent city.

Jacob and Curtis