This weekend my life group from State College E-Free went on a winter retreat. The destination was the Krislund Camp and Conference Center, near Madisonburg, PA. We stayed in a cabin surrounded by snow, ice, and evergreens.
The setting.
I took very few pictures during the weekend. When I got back home and looked at the photos I had taken I realized that most of them were of bacon. While bacon is rather photogenic, normally I wouldn’t do this. But this bacon was rather extraordinary. Andy brought his smoker and made it a weekend project.
Bacon hangs in a haze of smoke.
The smoke clears.
The retreat was very informal. We played a lot of games, talked, ate, and had a relaxing weekend. I managed to fit in some studying time, which was good. On Saturday I did a bit of exploring around the campground. The stream that ran along
The stream.
the property line was beautiful. It was situated in a hemlock forest with interspersed rhododendrons on the stream bank. In some places ice and snow covered the running water.
I found a group of wagon bunks near the stream.
They looked like old-fashioned covered wagons. They were like tents; each wagon had four bunks in it. It would make a very interesting setting for summer camping.
A wagon bunk.
I found a bulldozer too.
The bulldozer
On Saturday evening the bacon moved from the smoker to the refrigerator.
Smoked bacon ready to be sliced and fried.
Sunday morning the smell of frying bacon permeated the cabin. It was wonderful. We had pancakes, baked oatmeal, eggs, English muffins, and bagels for breakfast, but the featured attraction was the bacon.
It was nice to have a relaxing weekend and still get some work done. Something about sharing stories, laughing, and eating with friends refreshes the soul.
