Gatlinburg Day 1

I am not sure what I was thinking, but I did it... I planned another "team bonding" trip to Gatlinburg, TN with the BMC cross country team.  Last year I learned some lessons, and I was hopeful that this trip would be more enjoyable for everyone.  I think I was right!  We left Blue Mountain very early in the morning, and headed out in our much more reliable bus!  This year Sarah and my sister Hillary came along to keep me company- I was so thankful to have them on the trip!

We arrived at the campground later in the afternoon and set up camp.  Our team was quite a bit bigger this year, so we had some extra tents and took up a lot more room!  Everyone got changed and we had our first practice of 2011 on the mountainside trail... this time everyone ran to the top and hiked back down; last year the downhill run was a little too strenuous on everyone's joints.

Since it was Wednesday, we sat around the campfire after dinner and listened to "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" preached by Paris Reidhead.  Excellent sermon.  Some people listened, some slept, and others did a little of both...  Granted, it was a long sermon at the end of a long day, but I really didn't want to have just a 5 minute fluffy devotion to start our season.  Recently, I saw a twitter post that read, "People who pride themselves on getting beyond creeds end up with the paralyzing incapacity to get beyond catchwords."