It was interesting being a 19 year old high schooler at the Retreat. I mean, there were two 16 year old girls that were put in charge of the girls dormitory, so that was, humbling? I suppose.
It all worked out as my friend Alexandra and I got a separate room with a cool girl named Aishah.
The car ride up was fine, we stopped at a shopping center for lunch and I ate at McDonalds with a few friends and had a good time before we went on our journey up the mountain.
After helping unpack we got to just chill before our team helped make lasagna for dinner, and afterward we did worship and my friend Tyler spoke about what we were expecting to get out of the retreat. Then we had ministry and fellowship until the wee hours of the morning (Something that would happen every night of the retreat).
During the retreat we went to Big Bear Lake which was a first for me. I had never been to a lake before. It was beautiful, and felt pretty good. But basically it was a slimier, calmer, rockier, uninhabited version of the ocean.
Not that I got that wet. Up to my knees. (not really a swimmer) But I did ride in the back of a canoe and eventually learned how to paddle. Pro status. I was all up in that lake.
Okay, maybe I totally failed at it (So much so that my brother Jonathan at one point was yelling at me for not knowing what I was doing as were were trapped in the middle of the lake with a junior higher loudly voicing her complaints of being on his lap and with people who don't know what they are doing all the way back to shore. True story.)
We went hiking, another thing I totally "rocked" at. (Get it? rocked? Hiking? anyone? .... fine I sucked at that too.)
One of the most fun nights was after hiking when half of our group had got lost (true story) but made it back to the truck and we went out for pizza and then evangelized at a street corner in a little town up in Big Bear. The drive back was full of music and bubbling joy as we all shouted worship songs and stared at the stars with the wind whipping in our hair.
We had a boat day as well which was alright, the more water-sportsy people enjoyed it more. It was still a fun day at the end though.
Lots of games were played, lots of songs were sung, inside jokes were told, crushes were had, and closeness with eachother and God was obtained.
The car-ride back went smoothly, we stopped again and ate at McDonalds and had some more fellowship before going back down the mountain.
The Retreat was great. A lot of things did and didn't go wrong. Not everyone got along with eachother perfectly but there were no major fights or arguments and in the mostpart there were no disputes or harmful pranks. Not everything was perfectly planned but everyone obviously had a good time. To summarize: it was a really really fun camp. I love the mountains. I loved having two roommates and just chilling out.
I miss it already.
A lot.
Next stop? Redding/Northern California on Friday. 6th-16th. Just me and my family. Should be interesting...
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