Let me start out by saying that our trip
to San Antonio was fabulous. Then let me continue by saying that all these
pictures are due to the work of Kelly Reins. Kudos Kelly! She took a
LOT of pictures, so it was nice to have a lot of options when putting the post
together.
The following pictures chronicle the
events in our trip to the San of Antonio. It was a BLAST.
Ok, here come the pictures!
Our trip to San Antonio began with us, loading the car. Packing it until it was
stuffed and overflowing. Jack enjoyed it though!
I was staring at our new tires. They were rather low. We filled them up before
leaving.
Then we hit the road, bound for San Antonio! I rode in the Reins' red suburban. Kelly and Andrea were joining us for this trip, and I was riding with them.
Speaking of riding with them, it can be nervewracking to ride with a girl
driving. :-
Andrea and Kelly often swapped back and forth their driving duties.
Like I said, swapping. Ya know, girls just weren't designed to handle the
constant pressure of keeping up with Dad. So they would take turns. Smart.
Reagan sat contentedly playing in the backseat. Good girl!
And in the meantime, I was navigating. Actually, Dad was in the lead rig, so I
wasn't navigating, but I was calculating times.
After a five hour drive, we arrived in San Antonio!
As I understand it, San Antonio is the home of several mega churches and
Christian organizations. John Hagee, and Vision Forum, for instance. Granted,
there is a large difference between John Hagee and Vision Forum Ministries.
We arrived at our hotel and promptly unpacked.
Then we traveled to the Henry B. Gonzalez convention center and registered for
the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp. We were greeted by a host of cheery faces, and
each one of us was given a lecture workbook. We also met up with Tait Zimmerman at this time, and said hello. Unfortunately, we have no pictures of Tait! Neither I nor Kelly took a picture of this newest addition to the Vision Forum intern team. I wish we had, but alas, we did not.
I like the Henry B. Gonzalez convention center.
After registration, we all journeyed along with Pastor Bacon down to the riverwalk. We went to the restaurant known as the 'Casa Rio'. Nice restaurant, even if they sometimes forget to wash their dishes.
Pastor Bacon discussing the Bible, and waiting for food. So much fun!
David was staring at the pidgeons that continually fly around down on the river walk.
And so was Reagan.
Meanwhile, I was taking a picture of myself with Kelly's camera. This picture is
a miracle in itself. The framing was accidentally perfect. Hmm. Do YOU believe in the providence of God?
Meanwhile Gator was content with his soda. Later at the same place, he spilled the soda all over himself. He has a unique way of weilding the straw!
And Kelly, who took the vast majority of these pictures. The only ones she didn't take, are the ones OF her. Because really, it's difficult to take a photo of yourself. I mean, I did it once, but only once.
That night, we sat through a wonderful opening session with Doug Phillips, and many of the other speakers also gave a short summary of their topic titles.
The next day, we were up bright and early, and speedily went forth to attend the morning session.
By this time, we had met up with the Powers family, and Reagan was having a great time with the girls. Andrea Reins, of course, was supervising.
Of course, the first thing we did after the morning session, was to go to lunch at the Casa Rio. The Powers, Schammels, Moore's, and Dr. Bacon all traveled together. I had gone ahead to make sure a table was available and to hold it, but I'd only reserved a place for just a few of us, so the waiter had to extend our table to fit everything.
For the record, Jack and David think that Mexican food is good stuff. I happen to heartily agree. :-D
Pretty restaraunt, with lots of windows to the outdoors, and tastefully decorated indoors. The first day, we had to eat outside because there was no room indoors, but the smoldering temperatures made the air conditioning inside very desirable for the next day. That was the main reason that Dad sent me ahead to hold a table.
Thinking. About what, I haven't a clue. However, Pastor Bacon seems to be
thinking about what was on the menu. A wise idea, I suppose.
The riverwalk is covered with such lovely decor as this artificial stone bridge.
You can tell by the people in the lower right hand corner that it's actually a
lot larger than it first appears!
My Parents and Pastor Bacon had a nice meeting with some folks up by the coffee
shop during one of the breaks.
Mamma Mia at the same coffee shop.
Mike Powers and his little brother, Jack, David, Reagan, and the Powers girls.
All having a grand ol' time within the halls of the Henry B. Gonzalez. I wish
that all of you had been there. We all had a blast.
Three cheery faces!
Is this an example of family resemblance?
Hmm. We COULD be related...
Definite connection.
Well, imitation is the highest form of flattery. Who's flattering who, though,
is the question. ;-)
While we were at the Bootcamp, we had a great time to fellowship with Elder
Seekamp and his family!
Same led us to a pretty nice burger joint, where we had lunch on the third day.
From left to right is Reagan (bottom) David (top), Me, Mr. Seekamp, Sam, Jack,
Josh, Mrs Seekamp (top) Jacob Seekamp (bottom, also seen in 'Jacob's Audition'),
and Gator.
It appears here that David and Jacob have discovered something of interest along
the riverwalk.
Josh, Sam, and then David. Three amigos! Well, we were eating burgers, not
Mexican food, so I'm not sure that they were three amigos, but whatever the
English word for amigos is, there was three of 'em!
Gator deliberates carefully before ordering. Jacob, chatechism champion, who's
face is partially covered by the menu, is sitting to his right, but it appears
that his careful deliberation has already been done.
There I am, sitting in the sunshine. Mom sits in the shade, and Dad sits in the
sunshine. Was this planned by some mastermind? One thing that was interesting
about the Lone Star, is that they had fans outside that were constantly misting
the area with cool water. As if Texas weren't humid enough already!
I love this shot. Bravo to Kelly Reins, and her photo skills!
Jack was enjoying himself the whole time. The fact that a teenage boy would
rather go to a Christian business conference than to Disney World speaks
multitudes about him and his Parents. Take that how you will. ;-)
At the bootcamp, I met up with Philip Leclerc. I'm sure many of you are familiar
with his work on the film 'Finally Home'. Finally Home was one of the very first
films we saw at the film festival in 2005. In fact, I believe it was THE very
first film. David and I had a great time at the film festival talking and
learning from Philip and his friends!
Left to right, is Mr. Leclerc, Myself, David, Philip Leclerc, Mom, Dad, and
Jack. Then a guy in a blue shirt, but I can't see who that is.
The Moore's weren't the only ones to find friends at the Bootcamp, however. The
Reins girls also met up with a lot of nice folks that had either read their blog,
or knew somebody who read their blog. I know they got to spend some time with
the Botkin girls, among others. Or maybe it was the other way around... ;-)
Is explanation really necessary for a picture with this much dramatic depth?
Hehe, actually, I have no idea what's going on in this picture.
David found friends,
And so did Jack.
Reagan found Mrs. Schamels Baby. What a treasure!
Sweet spirits attract each other!
Dad and Dale Schamel had a wonderful time
talking and visiting at the Bootcamp.
But, at last we had to go, and pull Kelly
and Andrea away from their friends. 'Twas a sad thing.
I'm not sure whether Gator was happy or
sad that we were going.
Either way, we're home now, but we had a
wonderful time at the Bootcamp! I wish you all could have been there to
join us. We're definitely going to make the trip next year, and I'm very
excited about the film festival this coming October!
Sorry for the long delay in this post,
but I've been incredibly busy as of late. Thank you all for your patience
and consistent commenting reminders that I needed to post again. ;-)
God Bless!
~ John.
