Fires of Holliness: what men do when women aren't around to stop them (March 30 2008)

First of all, I feel that I need to make it clear from the beginning that this weeks Lifeteen update is in no way meant to trash talk either men or women. Quite the opposite actually. I wanted to take a few moments to share with those of you who were unable to join us on our “Man Trip” some of the things that you missed. It must also be understood that many of our exploits cannot be shared in the bulletin because, well, it was a man trip and the laws of the universe forbid full disclosure in areas where women might hear, or in this case read about them. The same laws apply to woman trips. Anyway, on to share some of the highlights. The first highlight of our trip involved the discovery of The Ultimate Power, or just the power for short. The power was actually discovered at Big 5 a couple days before the Man Trip started, but we brought it along and it provided near endless entertainment and wrist strength. We left Wenatchee on Monday evening and spent Monday night down in Yakima playing countless hours of video games with the youth minister for Resurrection Parish in Zillah. On Tuesday we crossed over the boarder into Oregon and spent the afternoon at the Grotto in Portland. If any of you have never been to The Grotto, you are truly missing out on one of the most beautiful shrines in the Northwest. It is one of the most peaceful places I have ever been. That alone would have been well worth the trip, but we chose to continue on. We spent Tuesday night in a cabin at a KOA. While there we all tried to puzzle out why any one would spell (k)campground with a K instead of a C, but unable to solve this particular mystery we drifted off into blissful slumber. On Wednesday we rose with the dawn, and then promptly went back to sleep until a more civilized hour. We spent our day at Mount Angel Abbey and took the opportunity to learn how to chant with the Benedictine monks. We spent most of our day wondering around the beautiful abbey grounds and discussing The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. We roasted Bratwurst and marshmallows over a campfire and then once again hit the sack. On Thursday we headed back to good ol’ Wenatchee so we could all recuperate before school started on Monday. All in all in was an incredibly fun trip. I wish more of the guys had been able to attend, but I know you had many other commitments. Hopefully we will be able to do this again next year. Ladies, I am still trying to figure something out for all of you.