I am home from my much needed adventure.
This weekend, a few of us from the Wesley Foundation went up to north Georgia and extreme Southeast Tennessee for white water rafting and an Atlanta Braves game. I was the only chick from the group to go, other than our minister, Melissa. We went up on Friday afternoon/night and got into Copperhill, TN around 10 PM. We stayed at the campgrounds of Whitewater Express. This was the company that Melissa uses for trips up in the area. This picture is of the group dining at Cracker Barrel Friday night. Yes, I'm the only girl of the group! I didn't let my gender stop me from having fun. The cabin we were assigned, due to our bus, was a cabin that had 6 rooms and could fit 96 people. We all slept upstairs. The guys took the big room with the windows; Melissa and I took the smaller room with the power outlets. I think the guys were more excited of the space than Melissa and I were.
Saturday morning was spent on the Ocoee River. We did the middle course, not the upper course. There were a few beginners, like me, rafting for the first time. I ended up not paddling at all because I volunteered to be the odd man out. I just sat in the raft and soaked in the scenery, and the water. Every time the leads got splashed, being directly behind them in a diagonal meant I got wet, too. It was such a shame I couldn't have a waterproof camera with me. 
The weather was perfect for the trip! The water temperature was fine. And the water flow itself was great. I will have to do it again! And yes, I'll do paddling next time. If you have a chance to ever get up this this part of the US, do it! I want to go back just to photograph the Olympic kayaking venue that's in the area.
Our rafting time ended just in time for us to get on the bus and make it down to Atlanta for the baseball game. The Braves played the Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field. The game was to be originally at 7 PM, but with the game having playoff implications for the Brewers, FOX chose to broadcast the game. Again, weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot; it wasn't too cold. The game lasted 11 innings, with the Braves winning it with a Mark Texiera hit. Those that stayed the whole made the crowd electric! While I was up there, I got Nicki a Brian McCann shirt.
We ended up staying last night at the Georgia Tech Wesley house. We had breakfast and worship there this morning. The GT minister recognized me. He doesn't know my name, but he knows I'm in the Savannah group and has been to the last 3 GWSM retreats. I told him I graduate in December. This trip was a little bittersweet being the last one I'll take of this kind. After worship, we got on the road and had lunch at Steak 'N' Shake in Macon. Matt and I just wanted some, since it's not in Savannah. The other guys weren't too excited about it at first, but we were able to convince Patrick, best known as Ramocleas the Shafted, that yes, this burger at Steak 'N' Shake was worth the stop.
Pictures from this weekend can be found in my Fall 2007 Wesley Trip Flickr set.
Posted by Shawn at September 23, 2007 7:40 PM in Flickr Photos, General.
