Retreat

The final week in July Marlene and I went on a retreat with the Khenpos.  Sunday the 24th we drove to Walton where we'd reserved a motel suite for the week.  The drive was lovely - much of it following a route along the Pepacton Reservoir on which there is almost no traffic.  We were excited and happy to be attending the Khenpo's teaching.

We found the motel easily - it looked decent from the outside but we damn near fainted when the manager showed us our suite.  It had plenty of space, two good-sized beds, and a kitchen nook.  But it reeked of old cigarette smoke - and all the furniture was old, dark wood, some of it broken.  The screens in the windows were ripped, the mattresses stained.   After standing around for awhile, poking a few things to see if they were as bad as they looked (and they were) Marlene found the manager and told her we were leaving.  While she negotiated to get our money back, I made notes on other places to stay.  We even considered driving back and forth each day. 

The nearest alternative was another motel one town away - Downsville.  It was late by the time we got there, but the owner showed us what he had available - the rooms were new and pleasant and significantly cheaper than our original choice.  So we stayed there. 

The retreat itself was wonderful and intense.  We ended up leaving early, exhausted, but feeling very much enriched.