Days 144-146: Barnesville, MN

From our last stop, we headed to Assumption Church in Bartlesville, MN. According to the schedule, we would be staying here for a few days, which is honestly really exciting. Not sure exactly what we’ll be doing, but it’s exciting. Today, Jakob and I have the retreat off! Fortunately for us, the AFC Championship game was on during our time off, which is huge, since Jakob is a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan, who is playing in the crucial game. If they win, they head to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, we’re kinda in the middle of nowhere Minnesota, where there’s no place to watch the game. Unless, we drive 30 minutes west to Fargo, North Dakota to watch the game at a Buffalo Wild Wings. And that’s exactly what we did! Well first, we tried to find a place to get a haircut in Fargo, but every place we went had a 40 minute wait time! Apparently all of North Dakota wanted a haircut today. Not mad. Anyways, we stayed at BWW for four hours just to watch the game. Was it worth it? Heck yea! The Chiefs won, and Jakob was living. Plus, it was the first full football game we’ve watched on the road all worth, and it felt so so good. When we returned, we found out we didn’t miss much, as there were only 6 retreatants that day! And we met 4 of them before we left!! Officially our smallest retreat yet. Lucky for us, we didn’t have to go far for host homes, as we were staying in the offices, where there were beds for us. Plus, the whole facility was ours to use for the next few days, which is so sick! With that, we used the main space and played night games such as Grog and Mafia, with lights out and scary music. It was pretty suspenseful, but some of the most fun I’ve had and most active I’ve been on the road, running around and playing sneaky. We all agreed it but be the last time we played those games. . . Today was a team day, but as i mentioned, there wasn’t a whole lot to do. In the morning, we had team prayer, Men’s Session and lunch, but after that was free time until dinner. Nd with Sarah and Nels taking the van, there wasn’t much to do besides stay in or explore. So Aimee, Moriah, Ellie and I explored, walking through the foot-deep snow at a brisk zero degrees. We found a grocery store and picked up snacks, and that was about all that there was there. Later that day, Jakob wanted to go and step on a frozen lake. I mean, there wasn’t a lake nearby, but there was a creek right behind the office. Long story short, we stepped on, took a few steps, and fell in hip-deep. He got himself out, screamed in excitement and victory, and ran inside to warm up. I was there in case he did fall in, though i wasn’t much help. He turned out fine, just made Nels and Sarah upset, and gave our care taker/retreat contact person, Theresa, an unforgettable story. That night, we came back together and played more games in the dark. Knowing how to play all the games, more strategy, adrenaline and intensity came out of all of us. So. Much. Fun. . . Our first no-obligation day of the year! Really it was more of a game day with the team. Played a new game called Star Realms with Adam, played Egyptian Ratslap with a few others in the afternoon, but also got Dairy Queen in the afternoon. Plus, we went out to lunch with the Diocesan Contact Person, Bob, at the Purple Goose in downtown Barnesville, which was super chill. Thats what I love about no-obligation days, its super chill no matter where you are and what you’re doing. You’re on your own time, and i took advantage whenever i could. Finally, to end of the night, we watched The Lego Movie 2 and Dora the Movie. Weren’t the best films, but watching it with the team made it worth it. Plus, i probably would’ve never seen the films if it weren’t for Monica and Roni hitting up Redbox. Some people during the day went to Fargo, others did laundry, and many took time for themselves. With the schedule ahead of us, we’re taking all the rest we can get.