Fourth of July Spectacular at the Sierras!
Jul 8, 2009
This past weekend Kairos had a special opportunity to stay in a charming and lovely house in the Sierras. Instead of roughing it, Richard T was able to find us a gorgeous house where all forty of us packed it in. The house was so cozy, each room having their own themes and decorations — there was even a purple room! We were all pretty comfortable even though we had to squeeze forty people into five rooms.
When we arrived and got settled, we prepared to go to Lake Spaulding. When we got there we had a picnic lunch and waited for our kayaks to arrive. However, when some of the brothers brought the trailer, it was empty. (They shall not be named.) Despite this minor setback, the rest of us found a way to occupy ourselves, either by eating, skipping stones, and/or playing with the kids. A short time later, the brothers brought a trailer full of kayaks and oars, and very soon after we were all off into the lake. Of course, regular old kayaking would be boring so we spiced it up a little with splash fights, paddle races, and kayak jousting. It was a full day when we headed back to the house where we thoroughly enjoyed Dora’s Chicken Tiki Masala with garlic naan. After washing and showering up we went outside to play a mysterious game that Josh invented. Once we split into teams, he explained the rules of the game. Needless to say, many of us got quite nauseous after Josh mentioned the title of the game, “Eating Trash Relay”. Each team had to run to and grab and eat an item from a trashbag. Some items include: a whole watermelon slice, Durian wafers, Saltine crackers, black licorice, Spicy V8, and a PB sandwich (yes, there was no J). It didn’t really matter who won or lost, because everyone walked away a loser because of the stomach upset that was caused. After that unusual game, the brothers and sister split off to play normal games like Spoons, Catchphrase, and Pokemon. We all went to bed tired and ready for our next day of adventure!
The next day we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast of corned beef hash and leftover Tiki Masala. We did our DT and drove out to Lake Faucherie. The ride was pretty nice halfway through until we hit unpaved road where all of us bumped along a 45 minuted drive to the lake. A SUV full of brothers bumped too hard and punctured two of their tires. While the rest of us were at the lake having lunch, they had to go back to get the tires fixed. Some sisters made them a lunch to go and we all missed them while having fun at the lake. At the lake we tried catching snakes (some of us successful), fished, skipped stones, played games, and rafted. We then went on a short 0.2 mile hike to see a beautiful waterfall on the other side of the lake. The water was cold and very clear, and the picturesque scene really made me appreciate God’s awesome artistry (who would have thought that water falling from a higher place to a lower place could look so amazing?). We took a memorable picture and hiked back quickly so we could get back to the house in time for dinner and fireworks. We prepared a Korean BBQ feast of salad and kalbi. The house had a great view of the fireworks already so we didn’t have to fight the crowds. After dinner and clean-up the sisters and brothers again split up to play games of our own. The sister played an intense game of King Kong shower. After wards we played…girl stuff, while the brothers were calmly playing instruments in the music room and playing Pokemon again. We all then went to bed, resting before we headed out home the next day.
We woke up the next day and had chicken soup while doing DT. We then cleaned the house hoping it would be spotless so we could develop a good relationship with the owner. Afterwards, we packed all our things and headed to Sierra Lodge to have Sunday worship with Koinoinia, Praxis, and the Staff. Pastor Ed gave a great message about 2 Kings 5 and the story of Naaman, focusing on the other “minor” characters like the servant girl and Naaman’s soldiers. After worship service, we had meatball sandwiches for lunch and then made our way back home. Although we were hindered by the traffic, the sisters made efforts to entertain ouselves with games and singing. When we got to Berkeley, most of us went to Racha Cafe to eat a late dinner. We enjoyed the great food and company telling each other riddles and sharing our food.
It was such a shame to go back home and having to get ready for another week of school, but this Kairos trip was certainly very memorable since it was our whole group together and the first with the newly added A2F Blue group. I made so many great memories (and ate such great food!) and can’t wait for our next Kairos wide trip 
.
Go Kairos! It looks like you guys have had so much fun! I wish I could be there! We celebrated July 4th here in Taiwan by a day trip and exercised freedom of speech with the 3 lawyers in our midst. Miss you all!
Wow. These pictures make me long for the great outdoors on Northern California! I sure do miss those pristine lakes and large pine trees!
I can’t believe Yang actually tipped the kayak… especially with Sue in it. That took a lot of guts and Yang sure does have a lot of guts! =)
Looking forward to having you here in Taiwan!
Seems like you guys had an awesome time! :]
That looks awesome! Too bad some of us couldn’t be there with you all to celebrate the Fourth… Maybe we can celebrate July 14th, the French National holiday.
What’s Tiki Masala?
Thanks for the comprehensive post, Chanhee! It looked like you guys had a lot of fun. Those of us who went to the staff retreat also had a great time of fellowship and in studying God’s Word with Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang.
@Carmen: we all miss you and Ken! Take good care of Yang and Mike for us!
Thanks Chanhee for capturing many memorable moments of this trip in detail! I had such a great time just hanging out with everyone =) it was truly surely certainly one of those trips which you’d remember as “dude…it was SooOOOoo AWESOME!”
Man, that was the best 4th of July I’ve had ever! Awesome view of the lakes and mountains, the bumpy trek up that mountain, the fireworks and stuff,… man it was a memorable trip. Thanks to all those who did the planning and organizing!
FIRST of all – I’d like to exonerate my name. Contrary to what Richard Tay would have you believe, I did NOT bring that bear. The bear was at the house. I believe in sabotage as there are pictures of Bryan Anger making faces. It was all an elaborate setup.
Having said that, this trip was an incredibly fun trip at a steal of a price. Josh Vinville in order to be completely fair, after hosting that game also ate saltine crackers and the spicy v8 so he was not immune. The brothers did not play pokemon or spoons but a variety of board games provided either by Ryan Theimer’s personal stash or Dana house.
Overall we got to spend time like a family, which just made me appreciative of the community that we have here. Sue was definitely gracious about getting splashed – by almost everyone (mainly large brothers). It was a great trip and no one got hurt (minus a few scrapes) so I look forward eagerly to the next Kairos trip.
I just went through the entire photograph collection taken during the course of the trip, and to echo what Hartie said, that was the best July 4th trip/experience that I’ve personally ever had! Escaping the confines of daily life in the city to explore the great beauty of Northern California’s Sierras was like a breath of fresh air.
Truly, this is how we were meant to live: in fellowship, faith, awestruck wonder at Creation, and in coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ, each taking on our own responsibilities to help make the trip an amazing experience. Thank you so much for all of the leaders who planned the trip, and for the steadfast drivers who kept us going strong even when some of us K.O.’ed in the car =).
Man! Dongses is such a better photographer than I am… and Dora too !- Teach me . Teach me~! All of the good photos were taken by Richard Dongses, Mr. Art, or Dora Wong , Queen of the Lens. All of the bad photos were taken by me… Mr. Poser.
Looks like you guys had a great time at the trip! I am sad that we werent able to go with you guys, but it was really nice bumping into you guys at Sierra Lodge. We were saying that Gracepoint was truly on wheels that day as so many different departments came together and met at Sierra Barn for Sunday service– hope you guys all enjoyed the message by P. Ed! I also heard about Josh Linville’s “creative” game– seems like some of the sisters werent too fond of it!
Man this was such a fun trip. It was great spending time with everyone and I am so thankful that we were able to catch that memorable moment of Sue’s tipped kayak
I as well had a great time on the trip. Looking forward to more times of great fellowship in the future!
Man, sounds like the trip was a blast. I wish I was there. That Yang guy sure has some nerve. Can’t wait for the next Kairos trip!
Yeah, that was an awesome trip, lots of fun. Actually the picture involving a certain brother R and bear was not a setup, I think he just went to sleep and bear was next to him. He just grabbed it when he sleeping unknowingly.
Pokemon?! Which brothers played Pokemon?! That sounds so weak. I don’t know what others were playing, but I played a game called Dominion! Unfortunately, after two games, I still have to win a game, but I’m getting there….you better watch out Robert. Btw, I concur with everyone, we had a pretty grand ‘ol time celebrating the 4th of July in the Sierras! It was my second time to Lake Faucherie and I still say it was all worth the ride. Speaking of ride, it was quite interesting caravaning with some of the sisters. Jackie’s car won the 2009 “Interstate 80 Idol” contest. But I think Pearlene gave her a good run with her beat boxing! I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving Celebration 2009!!
[...] a video from the Kairos website from their weekend excursion showing what took place over the otherwise peaceful Lake Spaulding. [...]
Wow! This must have been an awesome trip! I’m sad I missed it though we obviously had a great time in China too! Glad to be glad and can’t wait to see everyone again! I definitely missed everyone too!