Breckenridge

As the California Zephyr approached Denver I received a text message from Tom S. who was due to meet me at the Amtrak depot: "The singles are organizing a retreat in Breckenridge.  Would I be interested in going?"  I replied, "Great idea!", and so that was my weekend organized!

Within a couple of hours of my arrival in Denver, I was being driven west along I70 heading for Breckenridge.  All I knew about the town was that it is a ski resort high up in the Rocky Mountains.  Denver is just over 5000 feet and Breckenridge is somewhere around 10000 feet above sea level.  When I got out of the car and got my bags I thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion!  The air is very thin and dry and so I had to keep my fluid intake at a higher level (no pun intended) than when back home in Edinburgh.  Thanks to my recent bike ride it didn't take long for me to adapt to being that far above sea level.

When we arrived there were only a few of the singles there: most of them were due to arrive the following day (Saturday).  There's an old saying in the UK that goes something like this: "You know you're getting old when policemen start looking young."  Well, I wasn't hanging out with policemen but fired up YOUNG singles and, I must admit, that I did start to feel a little old.  However, that feeling did not last long as they all made me feel very welcome and I felt totally at ease with all of them.  When it came to watching a movie, horror movies were the order of the day, and the scarier, the better.  I called it a day some time around midnight as I was feeling very tired by then (having had a rather long day) and I slept better than I'd done for a while.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I was greeted by clear blue skies and a temperature hovering just above freezing point.  Even though our elevation was around 10000 feet, there were mountains souring up around us, some of them snow capped.  After a leisurely breakfast and some sharing of scripture, a few of us went for a hike.  It was warm enough, by this point, not to need anything too warm but I decided to take a fleece in my backpack just in case.

At some points the trail was quite narrow and there were some loooooooong drops down the side of the path which meant taking much care as there were also patches of snow to try and catch us out.  I was carrying my video camera, which may not have been the wisest decision, as we got to one point where the trail dropped down quickly and it was covered in snow as well.  Discretion being the better part of valour, i decided to wait for everyone else while the climbed down the trail to go a little farther.  At this point, I was extremely glad that I had taken my fleece with me as it soon got very cold standing around.  On the way back to our lodgings I had a great chat with one of the sisters and shared some of the spiritual principles that I'd learned over the years.  By the time we got back, many more singles had arrived and lunch was soon being served before we got into the first afternnon session which was playing games.  'Psychiatrist' was the first game on the agenda and everyone who took part in it had a great time.  Later on, some of us played 'Bibleopoly', which is based on Monopoly, but with a totally different end game: to build a church rather than acquiring wealth.  One thing we did learn after we had finished was that it's always a good idea to read the instructions thoroughly!  After dinner, we had a devotional given by one of the disciples in Denver and he focused on Isaiah 55.

Sunday morning was very similar to Saturday morning: clear blue skies and a temperature to make you wear thermals!  After breakfast, we took communion together and had a lesson based around 2 Peter 1.  Then it was time to clear up!  Thirty people in a small place can make a big mess and it took some organizing, and a lot of hard work form everyone, to make the place look as clean, if not cleaner, than when we arrived.  Then it was the long drive back to Denver, but at least it was in the daylight so I was able to view the amazing scenery.