Retreat Highlights

Seven stitchers from all over the U.S. decended upon Colorado Springs last week.  Unfortunately, the current fire raging in Waldo Canyon hampered some of our plans as it started early Saturday afternoon.

Highlights (some tongue-in-cheek, others not so):

•  Frantically rushing back to airport security because my cell phone had fallen out of my pocket right before I went through security.  Luckily, someone turned it into the information desk.  Info clerk: "What's Mom & Dad's area code?" Me: (blank look) "Uhhh, 815" and then I start to describe the phone.  She held it up and I said, "That's it!  Thank you."  And off I ran to go back through security.

•  Pulling my pants up in the airport restroom as I hear my name being announced over the speaker system, “Meari… Your flight has boarded. Please come to the boarding gate.”  I didn’t know the plane started boarding 20-30 minutes before hand.  It’s a good thing the restroom was just around the corner from the boarding area!

•  Visiting a wolf sanctuary and as a group were able to get the wolves to howl back at us.  Very cool!

•  Exposing Karin and Penny to my stellar driving skills by turning down a one-way street going the wrong way.  Instead of backing up, what did I do?  I continued to the end so I could turn around!  Hey, there was no traffic coming… that’s my defense.  Luckily, no one was traumatized by this event.

•  Watching the retreat ladies diligently working on their ornaments for the class I taught.  Such concentration on their faces!  Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn’t get to finish the ornaments.

•  Having “tea” with the retreat ladies who all wore Victorian hats.  I was brave and tried the soup of the day… a cold cucumber zucchini soup.  Wasn’t quite what I expected!

•  Finding out via the local news flash on the hotel lobby TV that fires were started in the canyon I had been near just two hours prior.  Not only that, my tour to Pikes Peak was canceled due to the fires.  Boo, it was the one thing I really looked forward to as far as site seeing went.

•  Winning the First Frogger prize because I was the first one to announce I needed to frog.

•  Standing in line to board the plane to come home, I overheard the guy ahead of me tell his buddy:  “I don’t know what you’re going to do about a boarding pass when we get to the next stop, but they’ll figure it out.”  Whaat?  I didn’t have a boarding pass either!  When I printed them at the hotel, I thought one was a duplicate and threw it away, lol.  The nice lady at the KS City airport printed me a duplicate, so it was all good.

•  Trying to set my Coke down on the plane tray only to spill it… onto half my tray –and– into the lid of my floss box.  Yes, I was stitching at the time.  No, it didn’t get onto the floss bobbins or my stitching.  The flight attendant went to get me some paper towels, but meanwhile the Coke had a mind of its own.  I could feel it dripping onto my sandal and foot!  Sticky feet… nice!

•  Boarding the shuttle bus from the airport to my car only to find the bus is full.  To my surprise, a young man in his 20’s gave up his seat and insisted I take it while he stood during the bus ride.  Apparently, chivalry isn’t quite dead.

Want a more detailed look?  Read on. (We actually did stitch!)