Well, we’re back from the parish retreat, safe and sound.
The trip down was fairly uneventful. The only item of note was that, rather than the Carls, Jr, we usually stop at for dinner on the way up, we stopped at neighboring Denny’s.
Egads. I was waiting for the banjo music and pig squealing to start in the background.
Unlike the last time I tried to get up to Bear Trap Ranch, the dirt roads up there (about 7-8 miles, back behind the Broadmoor) were in good shape, very little snow on the ground. It began to dust lightly as we arrived, but no problems.
Comfy cabin, if a bit cold — underestimated how cold it would get, even with the wall heater. We compensated on Saturday, and slept much better last night.
As before, the food was plentiful and decently made — nothing terribly interesting, but three square meals and all one could want to eat. I was pretty good about sticking to a decent diet and eschewing seconds.
The weather was pretty decent. We had a bit more snow overnight Saturday, and a smidge more last night. Enough to make the drive down mildly interesting, but not risk in the Subaru as long as we just took it easy and carefully. It was cold — jacket and gloves and at kind of weather — but not life-threatening or anything.
Of the program, there’s not much to say. Discussion of this and that, comtemplative bits and all that jazz. Saturday afternoon was mostly free time, and the hay ride got cancelled because of tractor problems, but we instead moved the s’mores bonfire to mid-afternoon, which probably worked better for the young’uns.
Saturday night was the no-talent talent show, noteworthy (to us) mostly for Katherine taking the mic during a youth rendition of “We are Family,” Katherine singing a hymn she’d been learning with great gusto (if Lucy Ricardo-like pitch), and my taking on the John Cleese role in the “Dead Parrot” sketch.
Good music, good company, lovely setting, and general fun. Hard to ask for more.