Scouting, Volume 85, Number 1, January-February 1997 Page: 20
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TRIP TIPS FOR PHILMONT FAMILIES
(Top) The boys climb the walls at Okla-
homa's Red Rock Canyon State Park.
(Above) Barbecued buffalo is a special
treat served picnic-style on Western
Night each week at Villa Philmonte.
The friendliness of the staff and
the sense of camaraderie at the open-
ing campfire program made each one
of us feel that we lived there, too, by
the time we had unpacked for the
week.
A key reason the PTC has such ap-
peal for families is because its pro-
grams are tailor-made for each family
member during the PTC conference
season. While I was occupied with
Scoutmaster Camping Skills train-
ing, Skye Jr. took part in the program
for Boy Scout-age youth and Nick en-
joyed the Cub Scout group activities.
My husband, Skye, planned his daily
schedule from those activities avail-
able in the Senores, or spouses', pro-
gram.
The lofty goals of my conference
were laid out right at the beginning.
Our 4,400-mile round trip from
Virginia to New Mexico gave me
plenty of opportunities to note criti-
cal do's and don'ts for families. Here
are a few:
TIMING: If possible, give yourself
three weeks. We couldn't, due to
other commitments, but Keith and
Theresa Kollenbaum, attendees from
Florida, used the extra week to take
their sons, Keith and Clay, to the
Grand Canyon. (We promised to
follow their burro tracks next time.)
PACKING: Whether you drive
across the country in an aging but
trusty station wagon, as we did, or a
roomy van, a cartop carrier is a
must. We started the trip without
one but stopped and bought a kit.
We built it at our Kansas campsite,
for storing our sleeping gear and
pop-up tent (shown below during a
stop at Lathrop State Park, Colo.).
Morning dew is just as wet as
evening rain; wet tents stuffed in the
back of a car with all your clothes,
books, and food make for miserable
traveling.
CAMP COOKING: Our Eastern
forests shelter us from the wind;
we now appreciate the fact that the
prairies offer no such shield. Plan
ahead for a serious windbreak for
your camp stove.
Sam Snoddy, one of my course
instructors, taught us that the best
way to keep the wind from bothering
your cooking is to "simply put the
stove inside your canoe." When I
explained that I was camping with
cactus rather than canoes, Art Kent,
from my crew, suggested stitching
canvas on a wire frame to make a
foolproof screen.
Either solution would have been
welcome the night we spent 45
minutes boiling water.
KEEPING YOUNG TRAVELERS
HAPPY: Books worked really well for
us, especially books that brought us
into the areas as we traveled. We all
read Mark Twain, Skye Jr. devoured
a couple of Zane Greys, and Nick
spent most of the drive buried in his
National Geographic Field Guide to
the Birds of North America.
The award-winner for keeping
passengers happy, however, would
have to be vinyl lace, or what we
called "gimp." Skye Jr. brought a
bag and taught Nick some easy
techniques. "You know," Skye said
to us after a particularly successful
four-hour period of lanyard making,
"if I had a bag full of gimp and a
wire loop to start it with, I could
probably do this for the whole trip."
UNIFORMS: Wear your uniform;
everyone else does. An added
benefit: Your shoulder council patch
tells people where you are from.
When my crew bumped into the
muddy teens returning from their
21-day trek, one of the boys, Ben
Home, pointed to my uniform and
noted that he also was from my
council. We'd never met before but
soon discovered that he lived five
minutes from my house, attended
high school with my older daughter,
and had a younger brother in band
with Skye Jr.
TOURING: Let every family
member choose some sights to
see. Most importantly, dare to be
different—take that detour to the
Fick Fossil Museum! Some of those
strange-sounding spots on the road
atlas can turn out to be the best
things you'll see on the trip.
BRING THINGS TO SWAP: Our tent
city held an official patch-trading
session each evening, but trading,
sharing, and giving away took place
all week. Jerry Thompson, of the
Transatlantic Council and stationed
in the United Kingdom, spent lots of
his time in a patch potlatch with my
family. My boys have a long list of
pen pals now, to whom they're
sending our council patch. —C.5.
msm
.•w>
20
Scouting *1? January-February 1997
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 85, Number 1, January-February 1997, periodical, January 1997; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353695/m1/20/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.