THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Well, folks, Joe and I are back.  It was not at all what we expected it to be.  I took over 100 pictures and videos.  And lost my camera.  I had it at the parking lot at the hotel.  I did not have it at the restaurant we stopped at for lunch.  I have called both and neither have it in lost and found or have seen it.  Both places went way out of their way to look for it and have my name and phone number.  Joe and I have looked at every piece of luggage and/or bags and searched the car.  I am heartbroken to say the least.  There was so much I wanted to show you plus there was last week's sermon I hadn't had time to download to our youtube page.  I want to cry.

In spite of that I will give you a quick overview of the time and hope that I will have found the camera to give you more specifics later.  Please pray with me that I find it.  *sob*

The first day we left in what I thought was plenty of time to get there.  The computer told me it would take 2 hours but it actually took 3.  We drove through beautiful scenery, though.  So we got there too late to get dinner.  Just enough to get ourselves settled into the room and get to the first meeting.

Here is one picture I have that I took with my phone.  This is the children's garden that you see when you first come in.

The first night we had great singing and a message from Dr. Allen, one of my favorite speakers.  We also welcomed a new church into our denomination.

The second day we got there for breakfast -- scrambled eggs, hash browned potatoes, sausage, orange juice, tea/coffee.  Then on to another meeting.  There was more singing, another message and then some business was conducted.  I sat in the back with my friends Sharon, Sue and Nancy and we were all knitting.  I saw a lot of people I knew and it was great catching up with all of them.  However, when we broke for lunch Joe came over to me for the room key and told me he was sick.  He was.  Very sick.  He was so sick we didn't get to eat lunch at all and he wasn't able to go back the rest of the day.  I actually went to Rite Aid to get something to help him feel better.  (The pharmacist was so helpful and nice.)  He didn't get back for the afternoon session and thought if he slept he would be OK for the evening.

I left him alone to get dinner.  I had baked chicken, roasted red potatoes and green beans with garlic.  Everything was so good.  I sat with Pastor Ralph and some other pastors.  As soon as I was finished I went back to the room.  Joe was still sleeping so I went to the evening Ordination Service without him.  There were two men who were ordained this year.

Joe was feeling better by the next morning.  We went to breakfast and had French toast and bacon.  Got to sit with some of our friends which was fun.  Then it was back for more singing, another message by Pastor Reed that was probably the best message I have ever heard.  And then more business.  

At break time I went to the room to clean everything out, pack up the car and get it ready since we had to be out by noon.  But while I was packing, I got sick.  I finally figured out that the pounding heart, headache, etc. was due to my blood pressure being high and that was because of the very salty bacon I had eaten.  I don't eat it at home because I have a salt sensitivity.  So now neither of us was feeling good.  *sigh*  I took a couple of aspirin, drank a lot of water and sat awhile until I started to feel better.

We went to lunch and I had a hamburger and fries but Joe was afraid to eat anything.  Then we went back for the afternoon session.  As it was winding down, we decided to leave a little early and go to the hotel we were staying at for the night.

It didn't take long to get there.  We watched the live stream of the end of the meeting and then talked about having dinner.  I wanted to go to our favorite Chinese/Japanese restaurant Ichiban Hibachi Grill.  And that's what we did.  Joe had Japanese food and I had Chinese.  Everything was really good.

We went back to the hotel and settled in for the night.  And then I got sick with what Joe had the day before.  I didn't get much sleep because I kept getting up to go to the bathroom.  The bed was really comfortable too.  It was a nice room.

The shower the next morning was the best I have had in a long time.  What a great shower head they had.  I wish I had looked at it closer to get one for home.  We had gotten up late and left just about as close to check out as we could.  Joe packed up the car and I walked down to the end of the driveway to get a picture of the scenery.  I took two on my camera and one on my phone.  Here is that one.

Then I got back into the car.  My hands were full.  I was juggling things and I was sure I put the camera on the back seat with several tote bags and some clothes.

We got on the road with the GPS because I had no idea where I was going.  After driving two hours we got to one of our favorite diners -- Zoto's.  I needed to stop.  We both needed the restroom.  And we needed to eat.  This is where I went to take a photo and noticed I didn't have my camera in my purse.  I figured it was in the car.

We got home an hour later.  It was a good trip even if I don't have the pictures to show you.  But I'm praying hard that the camera will still show up somewhere.

Have a good rest of your day, friends.  I'll be talking to you later.

Kathy