And he's off...

Rick is on his way to Philmont Scout Ranch located in Cimarron, NM. Philmont Scout Ranch is a national camping area, owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America. Philmont is large, comprising 137,493 acres or about 215 square miles of rugged mountain wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) range of the Rockies. He left with 2 other adults and 9 young men. They will be on a 10 day hike, traveling approximately 65 miles while carrying about 45-50 lbs in their packs. Sounds like fun, huh? NOT! It will be pretty warm during the day but cool at night. There will be no showers during the 10 days... YUCK! Fortunately they let them shower before they get in the vehicles to travel back home. I doubt anyone wants to be trapped in a car for 12 hours with a bunch of stinky guys!



We are definitely going to miss daddy while he's gone! Here are the girls and Rick, just before he gets in the car. Notice the haircut? That is courtesy of Jen's Crazy Clippers, my new salon!

James Seal is one of Rick's traveling companions. The girls and I went over to commiserate with Tristen about the guys leaving and decided to take in some of the best therapy known to woman-kind... SHOPPING! We also invited Hattie and her 2 girls. Here is the whole crew at the Rainforest Cafe.



Notice the not-so-happy look on Haylee's face? She's not a fan of this dining establishment. She doesn't like all the crazy animals and loud noises but she really loves the fish there! Kaiya was enthralled with everything going on around her. There was also a balloon man and he made all the girls fun things... Hannah and Haylee got balloon kitties and Lauryn got a balloon flower. Here they are showing off their balloon art.



After the mall we went to Walmart for a little more retail therapy and Tristen is now the proud owner of RockBand for the Wii. I can't wait to go over and play!

Miss ya boys! Be safe!