This picture is now five years old. It was taken on June 30, 2004 in Pueblano Camp at the Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico. Jordan Roper, the kid sitting to my left in the green shirt, just returned last Saturday from his church mission in Los Angeles, where his assigned areas ran the gamut from Compton to Malibu. (Jordan and I both spoke in sacrament meeting last Sunday -- boy, was he a tough act to follow!) My son Darren, the one in the middle with the camo pants and hoodie, now has only five weeks left on his mission in Honduras, which, given the current political situation there, are bound to be the longest thirty-five days of my life. Curtis Twitchell, the blond kid in the brown shirt, is now eight months into his mission in Peru, although now it appears likely that he will soon move over to Bolivia (the country he was originally called to) as the church starts sending gringos back there.Looking at this photo makes me remember just what a good time we had at Philmont in 2004. Our crew got along extremely well together, and we wrung just about all the fun out of our trek that there was to be had. I want to go backpacking again soon!
