July 4

On America Day, this is what we do. Red and blue ice cream, America music, and chants of, "USA".

Avett Brothers at Red Rocks

 

Red Rocks. It's a natural rock amphitheater. The Avett Brothers were playing that night. They're pretty much a mix modern bluegrass, folk, and soft rock.

The weather was perfect. The view, remarkable. And the concert was fantastic. If you ever get a chance to see a concert at Red Rocks, do it. It'll be worth it.

Fire in Colorado Springs

This is a short clip passing the fire on I-25 in Colorado Springs. I saw a little bit of fire, and much smoke. Helicopters took turns dropping water on the fire.

Coloradical Denver

 

Lots of Colorado art. It's definitely a trendy town.   

 

Not dog, Denver. 

 

I thought this was funny. 

Downtown Denver

Drove up to Denver to see a concert nearby at Red Rocks last week. We explored downtown first. 

 

Big cows.  It's art.

 

Museum walk. Denver's very cultured.

 

 A marble monument park, near the state capitol.

 

17th Street mall. Very cool use of downtown.

 

 Steel drum band, "Steel Workin' on It", playing at the mall.

Philmont Gateway

 

  The Philmont gateway stands next to the entrance to camping headquarters. Every year, countless homebound Scouts retire their boots, stringing them over the top to show that they made it.

Manager Break

 

Casey, the seasonal warehouse manager, and Chad, the seasonal store manager, were blowing off some steam in the office. I joined them. It was a good discussion. 

 

Afterward, me and Casey drove an hour to the nearest Dairy Queen, in Raton, New Mexico (just South of the Colorado border). I got a marshmallow sundae. It was amazing to have real ice cream again. 

Fish Camp

 

We rolled into Fish Camp late. The staff there was nice enough to let us stay in one of the guest cabins. Waite Phillips, the man responsible for donating much of Philmont, had his backwoods getaway at fish camp. The original cabins are still there. 

At Fish Camp, there are two streams that come together to make the Rayado River. Andrew describes the camp. My camera died after this, but we hiked onto Phillips Junction and Beaubien (two other staffed camps) before catching a ride back to base with Fr. Dennis, the Catholic chaplain.

Journey to Fish Camp

 

 Andrew, Jeremy, Michael and me went on an adventure to Fish Camp. It was like 6 miles to get there, and we made some stops along the way.

 

Cold root beer at Abreu-- a staffed camp along the way with a cantina.

 

We unleashed our "Make Their Day Kit". It's basically a cooler filled with Popsicles. We surprise hikers on the trail.

 

View from Carson Meadows, another staffed camp where we ate dinner. 

 

Nice vista as the sun went down. 

What Does Aaron Do All Day?

Advertisement for the PhilNews a few weeks ago. 

So you're probably wondering what I do every day at work. Well, I design signs, write articles for the PhilNews (the official Philmont newspaper), work on a marketing plan that's due at the end of summer, organize contests and promotions in the store, put together music and decor for theme days, direct video projects and commercials, and fill in as a store manager when needed. And "other" projects as assigned.

Still learning every day. One month down. Two to Go.