While we were waiting to board the plane, I collected $5 from each of the advisers for Waltís gift and I had them sign a card (with a picture of a bear on it ñ that seemed appropriate). We had previously agreed that weíd get Walt a silver 60^th anniversary Philmont belt buckle.

We had no real problems checking in, other than the standard drill required to deal with a crowd this large. However, the United Airlines security whackos wouldnít let us take our hiking staves on board. Perhaps they thought we might want to use them as Kung Fu weapons or something, which would have been quite a trick given the tight confines onboard the plane! The UAL gang had no idea how valuable a simple stick can be to protect aging joints on the trail. Nonetheless, we reluctantly collected all our staves and bundled them together in a long plastic bag that the baggage folks gave us, then wrapped the whole thing in several layers of duct tape and watched it slide down the baggage chute.

Adam also provided a bit of diversionary pre-boarding excitement. In spite of all of our remonstrations about the need to be in full class-A uniform whenever we were in public, and a clear definition of what that meant, Adam showed up at the airport without his contingent hat. Needless to say, this situation didnít make me very happy. Larry and I knew that he had misplaced his hat at one of our crew meetings and had spoken to him about it, but he had assured us that he would find it before we left. He apparently didnít look too hard or try to get a replacement, though. Fortunately, Walt had an "extra" hat with him (Adam had written "my hat" inside, so we knew it was his). Larry, Nathan, and I decided that the only way to make the point about proper uniforming hit home would be to give Adam the choice of staying in NJ or paying $20 for the hat. He opted for the latter. We used the money to create "Adamís hat fund", which basically was an escrow account that would be debited $1 for each of Adamís uniforming offenses and credited if he didnít have to be reminded about his appearance. I eventually returned almost the entire $20 to Adam in base camp at the end of our trek, but this ploy helped him understand that we meant business.

Well, after all that excitement we finally boarded United flight #545, which was scheduled to depart Newark 6:15 PM and arrive at Denver International 8:38 PM. The pilot backed out of the gate at 6:18 (which means an on-time departure, as the airline gurus figure it), but delays due to heavy traffic (and weather conditions?) caused us to sit on the tarmac and wait until 7:08, when we finally lifted off.

The seat assignments on the plane were a bit screwy. UAL assigned the seats alphabetically, not by crew. Walt re-assigned the seats so that the crews could sit together, but this was complicated by multiple assignments of some seats. Nothing is simple. Hereís how our crew ended up:

By the way, Walt had to suffer with a seat in the First Class cabin. What a shame.

Dinner on the plane was a wonderful way to prepare us for trail food. The menu included some type of chicken with rice and green beans, a salad with peppercorn ranch dressing, garlic bread, a butternut crisp cookie, and Starbuckís coffee. Actually, the food wasnít that bad, and it was really hot. So was the cart. In fact, Larry almost burned his arm on the cart as it brushed by him. Heís tough, though, and no harm was done.

Unfortunately, though, there was not enough soda or ice on board, so the folks in the back of the plane had a very limited choice of warm beverages (basically, lemonade or seltzer water). One of the flight attendants suggested that "the leaders" of our contingent write a letter of complaint to UAL. Yeah, right. So maybe theyíd stock up on bug juice for our return flight?

The ride got a bit choppy around 8:30 PM MDT and the seat belt sign came on. That was just a wake-up call, though. At 8:50 we had wheels on the ground.

We retrieved our baggage (yes, the hiking staves made it through the gauntlet safely), followed Harveyís directions and loaded our gear on the busses, and were on the road at 9:50. The bus company was Rambliní Express, and our transport was two 55-passenger jobs, complete with A/C, restroom, and video. Ostentatious! Our assignments on the way out were as follows:

We arrived at the National Guard Armory in Colorado Springs at 11:15, only to find that we were locked out! After several frantic phone calls, we finally got someone to let us in at 12:45 AM. The boys stretched out on the garage floor, and the adults slept on the floor in some conference rooms upstairs. The accommodations werenít luxurious, but they were cheap (and worth the price, I suppose). It was 1:15 AM (thatís 3:15, body time) when we finally hit the sack.