4th Annual Camping Trip

When I resigned from my 29.5 year job, one of the things I knew I would miss was the daily interaction with my friends and co-workers at the office. Friendships are such an important part of life. These were the people I could “let my hair down” with. They knew me in all my “jeans and t-shirt, no makeup, grumpy mood glory”. They are part of my life history because their lives became woven into the threads of my own life. Not seeing them very often and interacting with them sometimes felt like that thread was unraveling or a part of the fabric was torn. But I’m finally learning, instead of complaining and being sad about not seeing them, to just be thankful for the times we do get to spend together.

So, with that said...here's where I've been since Thursday night:

Kim, Patty, Audrey, and I all worked together at North Valley Baptist Church. One day at work, we started talking about going away for a weekend, and that's when we instituted our first McCloud Camping Trip. That was in 2006, and we've gone every year! Our dear friend, Audrey, couldn't come for the whole weekend this year because she has a one year old and a newborn at home. We are rejoicing with her, but missed her very much. Audrey was able to come up on Saturday and spend the day, but it was sad to say good-bye to her after dinner. :(

A big "thank you" to Terry (Kim's husband) for taking the trailer up for us on Thursday afternoon, setting it all up, having dinner ready for us when we got there, and coming back on Sunday to take the trailer down and drive it back home. YOU ROCK, TERRY!!!!!!!

The trailer we stayed in

Our agenda for the weekend was simple: eat, relax, play games, read magazines, laugh until our stomachs hurt, and talk, talk, talk!! Here's some pictures:

On Friday, we drove to Mt. Shasta and browsed in the little shops!

We went to Mike & Tony's Italian Restaurant (established in 1945) in Mt. Shasta for dinner.
(It was sooo yummy!!!)

Eating!!

Reading magazines and relaxing!!

Visiting!!

Last, but not least, here's our "annual" picture we take every year (same pose, same place on the bridge). Our dear Audrey sets up the camera with the timer and then runs around and gets in the picture.

Many times throughout the weekend, I thought about that little song we used to sing at Pioneer Girls Club sometimes: "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold." Thank you, Lord, for my "old" friends and a wonderful weekend!!