Ladies Retreat

On March 7, I rode with some friends to Springdale, Utah, to the Majestic View Lodge for our church's ladies' retreat. Ted was able to get off work, so we left in the morning and stopped in St. George, UT, for lunch at the Cracker Barrel (yummy!) and some shopping. I'm not a big shopper, but it was kind of fun to putter around in various stores. It was interesting to look in the scrapping stores, though I never buy any supplies other than what I can get through Stampin' Up! (Partly for convenience' sake, partly because of my discount, and partly because yes, I'm a Stampin' Up! snob!)

After checking into our room, we had our first session that evening. The speaker was good and lots of fun. We didn't stay up too late that night...I roomed with my friend Debi and two older ladies, and I was more than happy to go to bed early. It was actually a rough night (I roomed with some gifted snorers), but I woke early and took a walk after my shower. If I had brought running pants, I would have gone for a run, but it was pretty COLD outside, so I walked briskly in my jeans and sweatshirt. I probably walked about 2 miles and was more than ready for breakfast when I got back.

The lodge had a beautiful view of the mountains--Zion National Park is a short drive away, and the scenery is definitely majestic. After our morning session, four of us grabbed our box lunches and headed for the park. We ate lunch, and then Heather, Michelle, and I went hiking while Debi read and napped in the car. It was gorgeous! The hike alone was worth the trip up there! Michelle and Heather gave me a hard time about the "strenuous" exercise we were getting, but we all had fun giggling and guffawing our way down the trail.

We made it to the Lower Pool, where little waterfalls were trickling over the rocks, and thought we were halfway through the hike. The sign seemed to indicate that the trail would loop back to where we started. Ha! Another half hour later we realized the trail was actually leading us much farther away from our starting point. When we heard thunder, we briefly considered hitchhiking our way to the picnic area, since we were now by the park lodge. But we didn't--don't worry, Mom. :-) We walked along the river and made it back. The journey was approximately an hour long. We drove around the park some more and headed back to the hotel, where I crashed for awhile before dinner.

We had another session that evening and one the next morning, and then it was time to go. I drove Heather's vehicle home to give her a break, and we made it back early enough in the afternoon that I was able to enjoy time with my family (though I probably should have taken a nap!).

The sessions were good, but I must admit I was a bit disappointed that the spiritual content wasn't deeper. I suspect the whole event was designed to be more of an outreach and a way to connect women together. However, having experienced three amazing ladies' retreats in Idaho, I really missed the small group discussion time and chance to get to know other ladies more intimately as well as dig deeper into God's Word.

Still, I can't complain. It was a nice little getaway. You can see pictures--mostly scenery--by going to this link. You may want to click on "Slide Show" and enjoy them more fully.