The retreat was awesome. It was started by some guys who wanted to thank soldiers for their sacrifices. They talked to people, who talked to others, who talked to others, and they started things moving. Various companies in the area donated their services. One of the guys is a National Guard Chaplain and a psychologist, and he did some stuff with us: color tests, and such. Those were really interesting, especially since they were quite accurate. There were three couples in this session, which was actually the first one, so we were the guinea pigs to see what would work and what wouldn't. It was a great experience.
Monday we went to a destination resort in the area and we all got massages. Afterwards we had a meditation/relaxation session with Tibetan bowls. We all fell asleep during that one. It was nice to relax and get pampered.
Tuesday we went on a hike guided by guides from the destination resort. I haven't been on a hike that strenuous in quite awhile. It wasn't super tough, but it certainly wasn't a walk in the park. Beautiful scenery, nice warm sunshine, gorgeous day. In the afternoon we went out on the reservoir in a boat owned by the guy who came up with the whole idea for the retreat. The water was cold, but most of us jumped in quick and hopped right out again, which felt really good after the hike that morning. Hubby spent 45 minutes trying to get up on a surf board and almost made it several times.
On the left: Hubby and me
On the right: The 3 couples plus the chaplain
We spent most of the day Wednesday out on a golf course, which turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be. We started out with some instruction from the resident pro, then we each got to practice with a bucket of balls. After that we did the 18 holes at the putting green. I managed to get a hole in one on a very difficult hole! Then we headed out to the links course and did 9 holes. We played best ball (everyone tees off, and you play from whoever's ball went the furthest. you do that every time, so everyone ends up getting a great shot sooner or later and being the best ball), which is totally the way to play golf. It was a lot of fun and no one felt pressured or anything. It was quite windy and I had left my jacket at the hotel (the day before was so nice and warm, I didn't think it would be so bad the next day), but luckily I was able to borrow a jacket. Unfortunately it was quite large and looked like a tent on me, so the pictures weren't the most flattering.
On the left: everyone practicing their form. On the right: check out that swing! (before I got really cold and put the voluminous jacket on)
Thursday we wrapped everything up, and were videoed for testimonials, which will be used to get bigger sponsors (so the programs can be greatly expanded) and to put on the website to show potential attendees what a great experience it is.
It was a great experience for us. We were able to spend time together without Little Miss Sunshine (who we missed a lot), but it was good to do things without her and focus on us. 5 days without her is by far the longest time we've been away from her (a bit less than 24 hours was the previous record), but she did pretty well and had fun staying with her grandparents.
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