Weekend trip (#2)

      Friday night some more HSAers showed up to spend the night and then caravan with us to the get-together the next morning. I was just wondering how I managed to go the whole evening without pictures but then I remembered. The evening was spent eating supper, doing dishes, eating dessert, playing a variation of kick the can, and talking (something we did a lot of over those few days) so I didn't always remember to have the camera with me. But I had it the next morning on the 2-hour drive to the hotel where we'd be spending a good portion of the next couple of days.

 

 

 

Gavin and Katie

That would be the 2 of us girls banned to the backseat in the van. :D

Roxanne and Rocky, the van mascots

Beautiful scenery out the window. Yes, you can see a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG way out there!

I like landscape pictures ;)  and the landscape pictures are definitely a little more varied than any inside-the-van pictures would've been. So I took part in the varied conversation (it's a pity that can't be shown in pictures like the scenery can) and got pictures of the fields outside the window.

A neat church building we passed on the way

  When we arrived at the Valley View Inn we were the first to get there since the main planners had been delayed by their neighbors' cattle. Mrs. S. went inside to talk to the people about our rooms and the rest of us sat in our vehicles talking and waiting... and taking pictures of a little blue dragonfly that landed on the antenna. 

See, there it is!

  Mrs. S. came back for us so we all trooped inside while she finished getting the rooms and keys. Then it was time to unload and wait for the rest of the party.  There was a pretty gazebo outside so we saw there playing a game called Qwirkle (which I had never heard of before) until the rest of the group arrived.
   The weekend was just full of new things for me. I got to milk a goat, play Qwirkle, play Pictionary, teach a dance, ride a horse, and probably other things that have just flown my mind at this point. But Anyway, back to the story on hand... or maybe I'll just let the pictures tell the rest. :)

Listening to someone in the back of the room.

Abi and Andrew... I don't know exactly what was going on at this point. Either Pictionary or the ice-breaker questions

Heather reading a question she drew from the bowl

 After supper there was ECD which for the most part lasted until around midnight, with a break somewhere in there. During the break Gavin and I pulled out our instruments to play for a few minutes on the lawn. That was fun... even if we did lose his guitar pick in the grass! :P

How do you like the speed limit sign there in the back? :D

Learning the Posties Jig

  After the break I was asked to teach the Posties Jig. That's one of my favorite dances and I've helped walk people through it some but never actually taught a whole group! In the beginning I was in it, then Gavin took my spot dancing with Katie so I could focus more on teaching. In a little bit they were figuring it out fine (with the good help of Abi who was dancing) so I was able to sit back, watch them, and talk a little with Mrs. S. until Katie dropped out (as it turned out, she ended up right back in when Abi stepped out to do the official calling -which she was very good at) so I took her place. After a while, though, we finally stopped. It's amazing how that dance tends to go SOOOO long! I guess everybody likes it. ;) But anyway, we finally all stopped and sprawled out on the grass to talk. Before long I moved closer to the building to sit by Mrs. S. and to get a drink. As I sat there I felt around in the grass, casually looking for that guitar pick. As I found out later Gavin was watching me, wishing I would look up so he could give me a stern look and tell me to quit looking for it. I didn't look up while he was watching though so I was spared his wrath. :P And I did find the pick! Triumph!  Right about midnight the sprinklers suddenly appeared. Needless to say, the yard was vacated within a very short amount of time - and Gavin got his pick back. :)  And so ended the first night of the get-together - or that's how it was going to end. I think many people have found out that if you put several girls in a room together, unless they are just dead tired, they aren't likely to go to sleep very quickly... and we certainly didn't in the room I shared with Katie, Elizabeth and Abi. :)  But at last all was quiet and we drifted off to sleep to dream of whatever came to mind (which, in my case, was intimidating horses).