Question:

I’ll go out on a limb and speak for the four of us (Kathi, Roger, Carol Ann, and me), we had a great time!  The weather was fantastic!! We got started on Saturday morning with Carol Ann graciously picking us up at our hotels.  After a bite to eat, we landed at Zoo Atlanta.  Pretty much walked over the entire place, as far as I could tell. We then headed over to Fernbank for the Natural History Museum, which was pretty cool.  We saw a film at the IMAX called Stomp that I really enjoyed.  I only wish it had lasted longer. All LCers should visit the Fire of Brazil if/when in Atlanta.  Pricey, no doubt, but the food was great.  I’m sad to say that I ate too much  I learned that I’m no fan of gater, too After getting a chance to freshen up a bit (and write to Luna), we headed over to the International Bowling Alley.  I was all primed to really stomp the others at bowling, but since I hadn’t picked up my ball since ‘94, my skills were totally nonexistant.  Kathi, Roger (Kathi’s hubby)), and Carol Ann all had turns trouncing me good.  About the only thing I could do was get some speed on the ball, but without being able to hit the pocket (or the pins), that made no difference at all.  BTW — Luna — cosmic bowling is lame — hated it!  I can’t believe people like that.  Fortunately, we only had to play about 10 minutes under those lousy conditions.  I had a lot of fun bowling, though, so I hope I can find some time to do it more frequently than once every 9 years! The event ended with Sunday morning brunch.  I ate too much again — so no more eating today for me.  But it was worth every minute (and every carb) because I was in good company the entire time.  This is the second such event I have attended since finding my way to this newsgroup.  I truly wish that more of you were able to attended and that others consider attending such events in the future.  It really is fun to meet in person the face behind the poster.  It drives home the "human" element of online social interactions. Finally, the pictures….there are some coming.  Carol Ann took several before she dropped and broke her digital.  I’m not sure if she will be able to recover any of those…. Kathi and Roger took some on a film camera.  So we’ll have to wait on those to get developed.  Roger (Kathi’s hubby) has photo duty, so we’re hoping that something happens soon — even though I hate seeing ME in a photo! PS: My glutes are sore from bowling!  Yikes!

Response:

I’ll second what you said!  I had an absolutely fantastic time!!! I’m so glad that I had a chance to spend time with you, Roger Zoul, for the second time!  Vegas was nice, but Atlanta was REALLY nice. We could not have asked for better weather!  I couldn’t believe it. Kathi and Roger (Kathi’s husband) are a fantastic, easy going, fun couple! Kathi looks like Cybil Shepard to me!  She even SOUNDS like her!   I surely hope we plan more weekends in the future. Roger Zoul looks fantastic!  We had a great time at the Atlanta Zoo (the red pandas and gorillas were my favorite!).  We got to meet the people from the new reality series on Animal Planet called King of the Jungle!  We all got pins and I got pictures and all of their autographs.  Then, I dropped and broke my camera.  BUMMER! The Fernbank Museum of Natural History was okay.  But the IMAX film was fabulous.  If we meet again in Atlanta, we should try Sci-Trek www.scitrek.org . Since the two Rogers are into technology! We should also visit the Fernbank Museum of Science.  There really is so much to do! Bowling was fun but I could only play two games.  My scores?  85 and 85. Horrible!   I’m not giving up, though!  Let’s go again! Brunch today was very nice.  I hated to see the weekend end. Thank you, Roger, Kathi and Roger, for driving all the way to Atlanta to spend the weekend together and for buying my shoe rental, sodas, lunch….Perhaps we can get more and more people interested for future Retreats. If any of you low carbers want to have one, just post about it and make it happen!  It’s a great way to share ideas, meet nice people and develop lasting relationships. We did discuss that we would try to plan a physical activity in the future. For example, a Walkathon! So, that’s it.  Now we wait to hear from Kathi and get the pics! ~Carol Ann We did talk about Callaway Gardens* in the future!  If you want to see something really nice, perhaps we can meet in November/December for their Holiday Festivities called Fantasy in Lights.  They even have a March of Dime NIGHTWALK!  Wouldn’t that be fun?? http://www.callawaygardens.com/events/fil/fil.htm http://www.callawaygardens.com/ Callaway is an award-winning, 14,000-acre gardens, resort and preserve nestled in the southernmost foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, in Pine Mountain, Georgia. In addition to three types of accommodations, a choice of restaurants and plenty of shopping, guests at this family-friendly getaway enjoy lots to see and do. The Virginia Hand Callaway Discovery Center, Birds of Prey shows, Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, John A. Sibley Horticultural Center, Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden, Callaway Brothers Azalea Bowl, Overlook Garden and miles of nature trails showcase the beauty of nature. The 10-mile, paved Discovery Bicycle Trail provides an invigorating way to see the Gardens. For the sports enthusiast, championship golf courses, including Mountain View Golf Course, former home of the PGA Tour’s Buick Challenge, are a good place to start. Callaway is consistently recognized as one of the Top 50 Tennis Resorts in the Country by Tennis magazine thanks to its Mountain Creek