Wild Walker Weekend 2010

Last week, Lisa and I volunteered to take charge of this year’s Wild Walker Weekend and are ready to start getting things planned. At Thanksgiving last year, Lisa and I joined her family at Washington State Park and stayed in a cabin. We immediately thought of using the park as a place to host this event. Since other possibilities for a weekend retreat have not been promoted, this is exactly what we are going to do.

It took Lisa and I under an hour and a half to get to the Cabin from our doorstep, so it is pretty convenient for those of us in the STL area. You can read about the park at the link below.

Washington State Park

There are three types of cabins available to rent at the park. There is a large 3 bedroom cabin that is ideal for hosting the meals and gathering times. It is set apart from all the other cabins and campsites and provides plenty of room to goof off outside undisturbed. This cabin is not marked on the map below, but it is near the swimming pool.

There are both one and two bedroom cabins set in groupings also available. We stayed in a two bedroom cabin, which was very nice and we enjoyed it very much. These cabins are marked on the map below. It would be a 2-3 minute car ride to the larger cabin, or a 10-15 minute walk.

Here is what we are proposing:

Rent the 3 bedroom cabin and 2 of the 2 bedroom cabins. This would give us the meeting space needed for meals and such and would allow each family to have their own bedroom space. We’ve run the numbers and have figured that this would put the cost per person at $20 per night. So that would mean the following cost for each family:
Cole: $240
Golfway: $80
Gant: $120
Green: $240
Kaatman: $80
Livingstons – We are assuming you will not be able to make it, but if any of these weekends work for you, let us know! If you came, we would add another 2 bedroom cabin and the cost would drop to $17 person per night.

Camping Option
If the cost is too much for your family, there is always the option of camping in the park for a much cheaper cost. A campsite would cost something like $34 for the entire weekend. There is a set of campsites between the two sets of cabins, so it would be quite close. You’d be able to shower and use the restroom at any of the cabins, so basically you would be using the tents for sleeping in only. If anyone would like to use this option, Lisa and I have a tent you can borrow. If a family camps, they would pay their campsite cost and the others would split the cabin costs. The difference in price for the cabin dwellers would be less than $2 per night per person.

Here’s what we need you to do:
Check the following weekends on your calendars and let us know which weekends you are not available and any preference you may have:
July 16-18
August 20-22 ; 27-29
September 3-5 ; 10-12

Let us know your availability and preference by Friday, 26MAR10. We need to book the cabins as soon as possible.

Hot Air Balloon

A short story sent to me by Sarah....

A woman in a hot-air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude."

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Democrat."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."