Poker Night

Next Friday, May 8th, is Poker Night hosted by Rev. Mike Adams. All donations benefit the All Saints' Rector's Discretionary Fund. Come out next Friday, play cards, visit with friends, and root for the winner. It could be you :-)

Camping at Canyon Lake

Last week we went on our first TNT camping trip of 2009. You remember, the rainy weekend. The one where it poored all day on Friday. That weekend. Friday night - last bit of shopping - in the rain. Saturday morning - packed the car - in the rain. Drove to San Marcos - let the dogs stretch their legs - in the rain. Got to the park - SUNSHINE! It was steamy, but it was clear, sunny, and beautiful at the lake!

Lee and I carpooled to Canyon Lake on Saturday morning with a carload of food, charcoal, and gear. Cali and Ela rode in the back (and did fine until we started home). The ride was pleasant, and I only got us lost once - big thank you to Lee's iPhone for putting us back on course. Lee and I arrived a little before noon, checked in, set up camp, and had lunch. Misty, Brian, Rob, and Ewan arrived just as we decided to take the dogs for walk. Misty and Rob stayed at the site to set up their fabulous new luxury-accommodations tent (good looking, spacious, air mattress - the good life :-) while Brian and Ewan joined us for our walk along the lake shore.

A note about the shoreline - the water level at the lake seemed very low. There was a lot of beach between the regular shoreline and the water. And the beach was absolutely covered with nickel-sized clam shells. Lots and lots and lots of shells. Lots. We looked at the Potter's Creek campground website when we made the reservation, but none of us had been there before and the photos on the website didn't tell us much. The lake is blue, clear and cold, shallow at the beach, and deep at the dock. Some sites have trees, some don't. Some have level ground good for a tent. Some don't. So here is my advice: If you go tent camping at Potter's creek, register for a site away from the lake. The sites closer to the lake seem less workable than the ones further away. We registered for sites 98, 99, and 100. We parked vehicles at all three but we set up camp at site 100 - it was much nicer than the other two sites.

As we returned from our walk Lindsay called to let us know that she and Don were delayed in town but still planned to join us. We took some time to soak-in the music from our neighbors (Rob's reactions were a riot) and watch Cali and Ela go nuts on their zip lines when the deer came strolling through the campsite. We also got a call from a mysterious new person named Cas. Cas wanted to know if there was still room to join us. We started with one slot open and then Henry had been forced to drop out that morning - we missed you Henry - so we had plenty of room and Cas decided to join us. He arrived in the middle of the afternoon with a new tent, ice to top up the coolers, and a complete willingness to do dangerous-but-helpful things with lighter-fluid on our behalf. Welcome Cas!

Don and Lindsay made it to the campsite a little before dinner time. The charcoal was hot and they set to work chopping vegetables, Top Ramin (the seasoning packets are important here), and ground turkey to make their traditional "hobo dinner." Lee and I grilled some veg, made a salad, roasted some corn with tomatoes and chilies, and charred some chicken fajitas. Brian and Misty contributed sausages and buns (many flavors of sausage selected by the "we can't make up our mind so bring everything" method). Misty taught us to eat radishes whole - yummy! We all shared our dinners & coolers full of beverages, and we supped mightily.

As the sun went down we stretched our legs, read, drifted in the hammock, and enjoyed the twilight. Eventually the air began to cool and the food coma wore off and we gathered around the camp table to play Apples to Apples. We roasted marshmallows over the last of the coals and made smores. The milky way made a brief appearance over the lake, but as the temperature mellowed some whispy clouds settled in and the sky relaxed for the evening.

The next morning I rolled out of my tent early and went up the hill to the bathhouse for a shower. Ela was asleep at the foot of my tent, so I left her there. When I came back a few people were up and Misty was walking Ela. Apparently Ela got up when I left and barked the rest of the campsite into the new day - my bad. Misty had just rescued the poor noisemaker from my tent when I started back down the hill from the bathhouse. We met in the middle then walked down to start the coffee.

We enjoyed a restful breakfast, discussed the virtues of Turkey Bacon (every piece looks *exactly* like every other piece), and spent some more time at the shore. I spent the morning quietly wishing for a kite. I'll put it on the list for next time. We broke camp a little before noon. Everybody seemed interested in another campout - I'm certainly looking forward to the next one.

Here are some more photos from the trip. They are in a Set at Flickr, presented here via a Slideoo. Click on the + to advance the slides. Click on the - to back up. The + and - are hidden until you hover your mouse over them (on the left and right edges of the Slideoo). The hidden bar at the bottom of the Slideoo will let you slide through the pictures.





The full size Flickr slideshow is here.

The photo set is here.

Spiritual Growth Retreat

Just wanted to let you know that the Episcopal Church Women are hosting a Spiritual Growth Retreat on 13-14 March 2009. The retreat will be held at Camp Allen. The deadline for signing up is 06 March 2009. The registration form can be found on the Spiritual Growth page (scroll all the way down) on the Diocese of Texas ECW website.

The topic for this year is Getting Closer to God Through Trials presented by the Reverend Bobbie Knowles. Below is the description of the retreat from the ECW brochure:

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28 that, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” James 1:2 says, “Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many
kinds.” Through her experiences The Rev. Bobbie Knowles will
help you realize how you too can get closer to God through the trials you experience. You will learn that God’s grace is really sufficient to get you through any and every situation in your life. You will discover that
when your trials seem too hard to bear, God does provide a way of escape and through those trials you emerge a much stronger person. Because of the many trials in her own life Rev. Bobbie has learned that there is always grace within the trials
one encounters. She also realizes that when we come close to breaking down, we begin to touch those things that break us and in that breaking, our true nature
emerges. Only then do we appreciate that we are actually strong enough to bear these trials and that is when we begin to allow God to get closer to us, as we get
closer to Him.

Rev. Roberta Knowles, aka Rev. Bobbie, has been the Vicar at St. Philip the Joy-Giver Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas since June 2007 after serving as the Assistant Priest of St. James Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas.

And here are some great reasons to attend the retreat:

• Establish, re-establish or deepen their personal relationship with
  Christ.
• Learn how to yield to the actions of the Holy Spirit and experience His presence as He works in and through them.
• Join with other Christian women in sharing the trials in their own lives as they discover they are not alone.
• Meet new people and make new friends.

I will be attending the retreat, and would love to see some of the All Saints' Twenties and Thirties ladies there!