Prayer Meeting 12/30/2022 (Christmas Edition)

 

Due to illness, family obligations, and other unexpected life circumstances, we held our Christmas celebration after Christmas this year.  That's the first time that's happened since the unofficial gift exchange began, some 20 years ago.

Jay, Tim, Ted and I were able to make the joint Prayer Meeting/Christmas celebration on the next-to-last day of this calendar year.  We had great weather for the afternoon - mostly clear with temps around 60 degrees.  Quite a heat wave from the actual Christmas weekend, where temps were sub-zero for a couple of nights.

To say we had a great time together would be an understatement.  Lots of laughs, several cold ones, and a few glasses of Jameson's Egg Nog (which lead to a near tragedy later).  We did our annual gift exchange, which is always anticipated and appreciated.  I am thankful to be part of that every year.

As usual, the main photo on this post is from the fall camping trip a couple of months ago, with some editing.  We also took a group photo of the Rivertarian party (yes, all of us).

There are a couple of other pics we took this week, including one that shows what happens when the Jameson's really kicks in.  Don't try this at home!

From each of us to all of you, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Prayer Meeting 11/18/2022

 

Ok, so this is a seriously late post, but I have pics and I'm posting anyway.  I don't feel too bad about it since there haven't been any posts made since one.

Jay, Tim and I got together on this particular afternoon in Jay's shop.  And since it was several weeks ago I have no idea what the weather was - sorry to disappoint.

During the course of the "meeting" Tim pointed out something that I had never noticed before - Jay's beer clock changes color, or at least the beer glass does.  Check out the pics:

We started talking about camping at some point and Jay brought out a little portable stove that he occasionally uses.  Wish I'd thought to take a pic while it was lit, but these will have to do:

Enjoyed a great time with great company.

Long live the Rivertarians!

Prayer Meeting 10-28-2022

 

Jay, Ted and I were able to get together for a short prayer meeting Friday afternoon.  Cooler weather and Halloween decorations kept us in the shop this week.

Most of the discussion for the afternoon was on the fall camping trip, or at least the pictures from the trip.  Ted kept the jack-o'-lantern and has decorated his porch with it over the last week.  Glad he continued to get some use out of it.  Elections and furries were also topics of conversation. 

Not much else going on until we came across the pictured doo-dad that Jay had in his shop.  It had been used as a tie up for an extension cord, but that clearly wasn't it's intended purpose.  So I took a picture of the back of it to see the writing on it (with the help of a great deal of magnification).  Anyway, I still don't know exactly what it's used for, but I can tell you where to order one if you should find yourself short of them.

Always a good time trying to figure out what things do.

As always, enjoyed hanging out with my fellow Rivertarians.

Fall Camping Trip: Oct 19 - Oct 23, 2022

Well folks, another annual fall camping trip is in the books.  And, as usual, it was a great trip!  This year's attendees were: Jay, Tim, Ted, Todd, and myself.

Jay, Tim and Ted arrived at Blue Bend Recreation Area early Wednesday morning to snag some good sites, with electricity even!  They also arrived to some snow flurries and the coldest daytime temperatures.  Todd and I both arrived on Thursday.

The rest of the week couldn't have been more beautiful - clear blue skies every day, temps ranging from upper 20's/lower 30's at night, and from around 50 to mid 60's toward the end. 

Other than a short road trip we hung around the campsite, or at least the campground, for the majority of the time.  Being a little earlier than usual, we saw a few more campers than normal, but no one bothered anyone else (that we know of).  

Below is the standard collection of photos taken over the course of the trip, most from my camera but also some from the other's phones.  I've tried to group them in some kind of chronological order, but I'm sure I'm off on a few of them.

You should be able to figure out the activities, from electrical work, to pumpkin carving, to hillbilly horseshoes, to our favorite - cooking.

Hope everyone enjoys looking.

After sorting through 183 pictures, these are the ones I selected for this year's post.  As neat as some of the photos are, they do nothing compared to the actual experience of our yearly trip.  As another summer winds down, I'm already looking forward to the next trip.

Long live the Rivertarians!