S.N.O.W. Winter Youth Retreat: Day 2

Here's a picture of the lodge I forgot to add to the previous post. Pretty neat, eh?!

The view out of the windows was incredible. Waking up and looking out to THIS automatically made your day amazing.

After breakfast, we would have a devotion and some time to read the bible and pray. My friend Missy gave a devotion on loving one another, then we dove in and did some studying of our own. Then we broke into groups of two and would pray for specific things in each other's lives. It was a good relationship building/spiritually growing time.

The lodge had cupboards stocked full of board games and PUZZLES! (my favorite!) Jessica, Alex, and I completed this after devotions. We started the night before. We all have our hands on the puzzle, claiming our handiwork, I guess ? :)

We had different outdoor activities for each day, and this day's activity was snowshoeing. I didn't think much of it when I first heard we would be doing this, but it ending up being a really incredible experience. It was hard to get used to at first. I've never skied so had no previous experience manuevering around with the poles and things on my feet. In this picture is myself, Kayla behind me and Uranna behind her.

This crazy steep hill was interesting to go down. 

We stopped quite frequently to take breaks. I've heard snowshoeing is one of the best workouts you can get. Now I can vouch for the fact, that it really is! 

It started snowing about halfway through. We didn't know what we were in for, but along we trudged. 

It turned into a full blown blizzard after a bit. The wind picked up as well as the snow falling. Thankfully the weather was nice (30-40 degrees) or else we really would have been in trouble.

Eventually it all got to be too much. I plopped down and stayed there for quite a while :) The sleeting snow and wind whipping you in the face got to you after a while.

My happy spirit still stayed in contact though :) It was all apart of the adventure!

After an hour and a half, we did make it back to the lodge alive! Thank goodness. Our group got split up and it was pretty scary at times but the experience as a whole was really awesome. If you live somewhere near this kind of scenery, I definitely recommend buying snowshoes and trying it out for yourself!

Our activity for that night was a trip to Chico Hot Springs, located about an hr away in Pray, Montana. 

Don't let the towns name fool you into thinking this place was.. er, holy (ha) it certainly wasn't. The whole place was like an open bar. Everyone was drinking, carrying around their bottles while wading in the pool. PDA was plenty. Although I was one of the oldest kids on the trip, I was one of least comfortable. I was freaked out the whole time and was horrified that our youth group was in such a place. My youth pastor wasn't aware that it was that kind of atmosphere so he was as taken aback as us. We got out of there pretty quick, but not without paying a (large) price. The boys went back to get their stuff from the locker room and found out not everything was there. An ipod touch was stole, $20-$30, a hat, and my youth pastors video camera. We were all so bummed it kind of ruined the rest of that night. 

BUT, for the record, a week after we came home my youth pastor's wife reported the theft and.. long story short, the sheriff department tracked down the thieves and the stolen goods are back in the hands of their owners :)