Running my fingers over the bones of an animal that lived more than one hundred million years ago was pretty awesome.

Stars, a fire, a nearby river, and cicadas—it’s almost like I stumbled into heaven.

I stepped out of my tent this morning and, as the scent of pine engulfed me, I was momentarily thrust back in time to when I was 21.

And our campsite is amazing. I’m not sure how I got so lucky unless Dad was looking out for us from above.

Thousands of pioneers pushing west—on the Mormon Trail and the Oregon Trail—traveled through the shadow of Scotts Bluff.

Reagan was one of Dad’s favorite modern presidents. He’s the first president I remember running for office.

Day 1 As expected, today was exhilarating. Philmont is beautiful. I did not sleep well last night. No surprise. I went to bed early and fell asleep relatively easily, but by two o’clock I was awake and could not fall back to sleep. When my alarm clock sounded at 4:50, I sprang out of bed and took a shower. I didn’t want to get on the trail without showering since there will be nowhere to shower until we return to base camp. Oh, and for those of you not familiar with Philmont,

The drive was about three and a half hours which got us to Philmont a little after 10:00.

I went to bed early last night—nine-ish—and planned to sleep as late as possible. But sleep often eludes me and last night was no different. I woke up 4:54. I still had nearly two hours before my alarm went off and I was intent on going back to sleep, but after about a half hour I gave up, got out of bed, and took a shower. I then grabbed the book I’m reading and went outside. The mountain air was cool that early, so when I started to feel cold I withdrew into the lobby. I am

After 18 months of planning, training hikes, backpacking weekends, and team building meetings we are finally off to Philmont. Due to the excitement, neither G3 nor I slept last night. The lack of sleep before going away always reminds me of Dad. He too could never fall asleep the night before vacation. My alarm went off at 4:20. I said goodbye to the cats—I am going to miss them terribly—Kati took a picture of me and G3, and we were on the road by 5:10. The crew—eight scouts,

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