I went to the Men's Retreat put on by our church this year... I went last year, and had a great time... and this go around did not disappoint at all!

Mt Si
On the day we were heading to the conference, I went to a friend's house to help him demo a deck. We were carpooling, and we wanted to get that done before we left.

A load of Deck
This is what I got the truck for! =) We hauled most of the deck out in one load, and planned to get the rest when we got back from the conference

The transfer station
The dump is closed, and the loading area is now used as a transfer station to a central trash processing facility.

The 'Man Buffet'
Once we got to the conference, they had a great spread laid out. The speaker made a comment about our 'Man Buffet'... it was mostly various kinds of meat, and sandwiches.

Kicking things off
We had a good showing at the conference - about 80 guys, which was more than last year.

Catching up
Between sessions, we milled about, and caught up with folks we hadn't seen in a while, and made sure to meet the new folks

Outdoor games
I'd never seen this game before, but it was pretty fun. Sort of like shuffle board, only with pool balls.

About to get Walloped
I'm not losing yet because we haven't moved any pieces. He actually knows his score, while I still remember getting whipped by Chestmaster 2000 on 'Easy'... it wasn't a very long game! =)

Setting up for War
We were determined to beat our Pastor at Axis n Allies. It didn't happen, but we had a good time anyway.

The Station
The conference is held over the weekend at 'Brightwood Station', which is set up with a rail station motif

The Engine
We stopped for pictures in the 'engine' on the way to breakfast

The Crew
Once he did it, everyone wanted to get one.

Good Eats
The food at the conference center was very good, I thought anyway.

Great preaching
We had a minister come up from California for the conference. He speaks at various men's retreats, and did a fantastic job. He was friends with the pastor at my former church... small world!

Heading to the mess hall
There are several other loging areas, and we share a common 'cafeteria'.

Axis n Allies
We went for another round on Saturday in an effort to get at least ONE victory against our pastor.

Poker Tournament
While the war was going on, most of the men were raising money through the poker tournament.

Another Round
We were all trying to gain insight from 'the master'...

Wha???
For one game, I was on Pastor John's team... I'd just made a move, and he's trying to figure out what I just did. =) We ended up winning, but but I guess I didn't play the way he expected me to.

The Gun Church
The conference was great! Lots of great fellowship, lots of great preaching, an awesome challenge, and a great weekend for refueling. On the way home, we stopped by the 'Gun Church'... nothing like mixing God and Guns, eh? Actually, its a gun shop set up in a former church building... but the owners said that they had lots of people who came in, saying that they'd been married there. Too funny.

 

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