2007 Men’s Retreat – Broken Bow, OK
WHAT AN AWESOME TRIP!!! My thanks to those that prayed for and supported this retreat! I also want to thank those that attended: Jim Trussell and Johnny Simmons (and myself!). This by far was the best retreat! Although the number of attendees wasn’t what was anticipated, it only goes to concrete Matthew 18:20:
“For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them.” (Matthew 18:20; NIV)
Detailed below are the chronicles of the retreat, but first I want to share something…
The true value of the retreat:
I had been looking forward to this retreat for such a long time. A lot of planning had gone into it. Even though I had hoped and prayed for more men to come, I was truly thankful and indebted to the ones that did. What I want to say is that I not only enjoyed the thrill of the catch, the awesome scenery, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, clear starry skies wherein you were in awe at the number of stars one could actually see, the camaraderie, but also the preparation of our catch and the pleasure of enjoying great meals with wonderful friends. Moreover, I enjoyed spending time with Brothers and getting to know each other better and learn more about each other.
The chronicled journey… (read at your own risk!)
Thursday (October 18, 2007)
Left for Johnny’s house to pick him up and pack his gear. Headed up to the church to wait for Jim. We headed out for Oklahoma around 9:45am.
On the way, Johnny and I stopped at Mary of Puddin Hill in Greenville. When I lived in Greenville as a young child, I remember the chocolates and fruit cakes from this place! Since Johnny had never been there or ever tried anything from there, I knew a stop there was in order. What I remembered being a small cabin is now much, much larger!! Now they have a restaurant and a catering service! So it looks as though another trip there is due so that I can sample their fine cooking!! Like kids in a candy store (well, we actually ‘were’ in a candy store!!) we took a while trying to pick out what we wanted. I settled for peanut butter fudge and Johnny selected the pecan clusters. We weren’t even out of the parking lot before we started sampling our candies!!
Heading through East Texas is always a joy for me as that is were I grew up! As we entered into the Piney Woods region, we knew we were officially in East Texas by the growing number of bugs pelting the windshield! The drive was nice and relaxing and it’s always a joy when crossing the Red River.
Just a short drive up from the state line and we arrived at the cabin. We stayed at the Mountain Fork Riverfront Cabins owned and operated by Terry and Daphne Patrick.
If you want peace and quiet… go there. If you want tranquility… go there. If you want top-notch hospitality… go there!!! The cabin we stayed in was called the “Memories Cabin”. This cabin had it all …. comfy beds, a game room, fully stocked (I can’t think of anything – other than food – that you would need to bring!!), awesome access onto the Lower Mountain Fork River, and unlimited usage of their boats, canoes and kayaks. One thing that I really enjoyed was reading through their guestbook. Folks that have stayed there have written about their stay and what they did during their trip. Folks also left mementos all over the cabin (pictures, toys, knick-knacks, letters from children, antiques, etc.). So in keeping with that tradition I left a little memento of my own; one of the flies that I had tied during our stay.
Upon our arrival we quickly set about getting a lay of the land, unpacked our gear, and got to our favorite sport, hobby and way of life…. FISHING!!!! Jim quickly got the action started by catching the first of many catfish and some bluegill. While he and Johnny worked the tank, I went down to the river to set out some trotlines. Once I spotted an ideal location, it was time to lay down the lines. In my haste of packing for this trip, I found that I did not pack my lines correctly for they were an awful, tangled mess!! What should have been a 30 minute job turned into a couple of hours of pain (hooks in my hands!!), frustration, and thoughts of abandoning the whole operation and going back to the cabin!!
Well, I finally got it all set up and started back towards the cabin. This portion of the river is so scenic — large cypress trees, oaks, pines, bamboo, and a few sycamores. Beavers working on their dams. Fish jumping about. And the lazy flow of the river. It was a pleasure to sit back and just float down the river in utter silence – except for the sounds of nature. I could already feel myself really starting to relax. I took into account just how noisy and busy my daily life is and how much I needed to break away and get back to nature in order to relax and recharge.
I rejoined Jim and Johnny out at the tank to get caught up on some fishing. After fishing for a while without any catches, we decided to head in and have some dinner. I fired up the grill and got the burgers going while Jim worked on getting everything else all set up. It was a joy to have someone along that loved to pitch in and help out wherever help was needed! After dinner I went out to check on the trotlines — no luck and no fish.
Friday (October 19, 2007)
Up early after going to bed around 2:00am!! Had some strong coffee to get the day started off right! I headed down to the river to go check on the trotlines. When I got to the river, I witnessed a most beautiful and awesome sight — the river was covered with mist and fog. How incredible it was to go upstream in the middle of this early morning fog! It felt so cool to my skin and you couldn’t hardly see but a few feet all around. But Old Man River wasn’t being nice for there were still no fish on the trotlines. I decided it would be best to relocate my lines. After finding another ‘ideal’ spot, I put the lines back down. This time the process went by much quicker for I had packed my lines in a more organized manner!!
Heading back to the cabin, I decided to float around and do some river fishing. I had a lot of fish inspect my offerings but none would take them. I met up with Jim as he was heading out in one of the canoes to do some river fishing of his own. After making it to the cabin, I headed out to the tank with Johnny to get in some more fishing for catfish. After working the tank, we began to read what the fish were wanting and how they wanted it to be presented. Soon the basket became heavier and heavier to our delight!! During the day, Jim returned but didn’t have any luck on the river so he joined in and started helping out and filling up the basket! We knew by the end of the day that we were going to have one fine fish-fry that evening! We also knew that we would have enough to take home to share with our families. Everyone pitched in that evening on the fish cleaning and we were done in no time!
For our evening meal we had burgers, taquitos, and some incredibly delicious catfish! What an incredible meal!! We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and fellowshipping.
Saturday (October 21, 2007)
I woke up to the smells of coffee and breakfast! Jim had gotten up early and had breakfast burgers and strong coffee ready! After eating, I went out to the river to get some pictures of it and the cabins. The weather was just perfect …. nice and chilly! It was so beautiful and peaceful that I didn’t want to leave. Soon it was time to get everything packed. We said our farewells to the cabin owners and then hit the road. Along the way, we made a few stops for some picture taking. Jim said that on his way home he spotted a 6-point or 8-point buck on the side of the road just as he crossed the Texas state line. Shortly after that, he spotted a large wolf near the roadside.
As much as I didn’t want to leave the cabin, I really wanted to get back home to my family. So needless to say … we got back home in a “hurry”! I’m sure Johnny’s hands, arms, feet and legs were worn out from all the times he was tensing up in the heavy Dallas traffic!!! How odd it was to think that just a few hours earlier we were trekking down dirt roads and now we were caught up in the congestion of 5-lane traffic!
Once I made it to my home, everything was unpacked and put away as best as I could. And then it was time for a nap. A nice, long nap…
Indeed… this was an amazing trip!!
Be sure to watch the video!!!
