The whole RUF group

Erica, Tori, me, and Claire
Mike, Eric, and Jeremy at lunch

Mike and I at the aquarium (sorry its a little blury)
The real live black bear

This past weekend we were in Gatlinburg for the church's college retreat. There were about 60 students from UK, EKU, Asbury, and Georgetown. It was a perfect weekend as the leaves were gorgeous and the weather was perfect. We got in around 8:30 on friday night and had a short meeting and then went to our cabins. The cabins were great as they had a bed for each person, a living area, a kitchen, and then a porch with a hot tub. There were only 5 to 8 people in a cabin so it was really nice. Saturday we had a big breakfast and then our first meeting. The meetings were neat because each campus ministry represented (campus outreach, RUF, and campus crusade) spoke at one meeting on how to reach our campus for Christ (each took a different topic- prayer, holiness, and love).

After the first meeting we went to lunch at Applewood farm and has some good homecooking and apple butter. We then had free time to go to the Auarium or the mirrer maze and then just walk around Gatlinburg. I have decided that Gatlinburg is the Myrtle Beach of the mountians. It wasn't quite as bad but it had all the tackiness and tourist attractions that Myrtle has. It was still fun to walk around though. Later that night we had another meeting and then dinner and group time (seperating into our different campuses). This was a great time of fellowship and good time to hear the students thoughts on what they saw as problems on the campus and in their own lives and how to address these things. After this we went back to our own cabins and just hung out. I got a phone call at about 10 from Mike though that there was a big bear behind their cabin. Me and 3 girls went running over to see it. It was awesome to be that close to a bear but very safe. Needless to say many other people came over to see it and it was a very exciting night.

Sunday we had a meeting and then basically left. Mike and I stayed around for a little while longer to go to the outlets because they have my formal and everyday china outlets up there. We ended up getting 2 more settings of our everyday because I was running out of plates when students have been coming over for dinner. It was a long a weekend but overall it was a great trip.