Trinity Pines Conference Center

After Camp Zephyr we returned to the RVICS Village on Friday, February 27 for an Italian potluck dinner. Karen and I had medical appointments for the coming week before our next project. On Wednesday, March 4th we drove up to a US Army Corps of Engineers Park outside of Waco, Texas for two nights. Karen was able to spend some time with her friend Lisa Stary who lives in Waco and also get a haircut. I spent my time working on a USCG Auxiliary specialist course in Marine Safety and Management. We were originally planning on heading north to the Dallas/Fort Worth area so I could attend the District Training Seminar for Risk Management/Team Coordination Training (RM/TCT) but alas the clowns in Congress haven't approved funding for DHS, so the entire event was cancelled.

When Friday rolled around we headed for our next RVICS project at Trinity Pines Conference Center. Trinity Pines is a beautiful lakefront campus located just two hours north of Houston. Open year round, they welcome ministry groups of all sizes, from one to seven hundred. All nations and people groups are welcome and encouraged to experience the Christ-centered, spiritual setting of Trinity Pines. Their campus has a variety of lodging selections, conference rooms, delicious dining services, a wide array of recreation areas, and exceptional outdoor meeting locations with a high ropes course, lakefront activities, a pool, campfires, wagon rides, hiking trails, gaga ball, miniature golf, disc golf, volleyball courts, basketball courts, and more.

We arrived on Friday, March 6 around 3:30 PM and found a nice back-in site surrounded by pines. We are in site #3 next to our team leaders, Scott and Shalon McCart who are in site #2 and Jim and Tamra Studioso in #4. We have a large team of six couples on the assignment that include the Kline's, Tony and Barbara, the Willis', Alan and Pat, and our previous team leaders the Hazelet's, Paul and Janice.

On Sunday, March 8 the camp staff included us in a Crawfish Boil. We got to meet many of the permanent staff members and their families at this get-together.

Our first day of work started on Monday, March 9 in the Brumley Motel, a two-story lodge with 27 rooms. Each room has 6 bed spaces with one queen bed and 2 sets of bunk beds. The women were assigned with the task of disassembling the older wooden queen beds and replacing them with new metal frame beds.

This is what the room furnishings looked like prior to the remodeling with new beds.

Karen and Tamra building a new queen bed in one of the Brumley rooms.

Some of the men helped move the wooden beds out of the Brumley Motel and move the new metal beds close to the rooms for the women to complete the assembly. The other men began the process of removing and replacing the motel room front doors.

We completed all 27 rooms by the end of Wednesday of the first week and went on to Chafin Lodge to replace more queen beds. The Chafin Lodge has long been one of the most requested lodges at Trinity Pines. Chafin has 11 private rooms and a full kitchen. Each room has 5 beds and 6 bed spaces with 1 queen bed and 2 sets of bunk beds. Chafin holds a maximum of 66 guests with a minimum of 35 guests to reserve. This where we finished out our first week of work in the camp.

Friday was tour day and we all drove down to Huntsville to visit the Texas Prison Museum. The Texas Prison Museum offers an intriguing glimpse into the lives of the state's imprisoned citizens. The museum features numerous exhibits detailing the history of the Texas prison system, featuring a look inside the operations behind the fences and walls.

Huntsville Prison (the "Walls Unit"), opened in 1849 as Texas's first state penitentiary, is primarily known as the most active execution chambers in the United States. Located in Huntsville, it houses the state's death row, was the former home of "Old Sparky" (the electric chair), and previously hosted the famous Prison Rodeo.

After our tour we enjoyed lunch at the City Hall Cafe and Pie Bar. I had their Orange & Bleu burger.

Sharp and salty aged bleu cheese and homemade jalapeno fig jam, oven baked bacon, pickled red onions, and lettuce. Karen selected the grilled shrimp and salad bar. Our server Anna was super attentive and I finished off lunch with a slice of vinegar pecan pie. I learned that most good pecan pie fillings, even without corn syrups or chemical thickeners has to be (and usually is) borderline disgustingly sweet. The vinegar helps cut the sweetness just a bit, and adds a tiny-bit of much needed acidity. It was delicious!

Week one at Trinity Pines Conference Center completed. We are all enjoying this assignment and accomplishing more than the Camp Staff expected. 😃