Part 2 - The Yurts!!!

From the beaches of South Carolina I headed straight to Westchester County in New York - to spend the weekend "roughing it" with my college sorority sisters. A totally different terrain but equally beautiful. Our fearless leader and supreme planner Kim did a fantastic job of making a memorable and fun weekend for those that attended - some of who I hadn't seen in too many years to count! 

Located in Westchester and great for hiking and fishing. Over 1,000 acres and the highest mountain in the county. 

Arrivals occurred throughout the afternoon on Friday and into the evening - from all over the country. It was non-stop talking and maybe a few glasses of wine as we all got reacquainted down by one of the 5 lakes. 

That's Kim - the hostess with the mostest wearing her original Theta pledge t-shirt! 

The park was gorgeous - and the leaves were just starting to change color.  

Now for the "roughing it" part. We stayed Friday and Saturday night in yurts! Don't know what a yurt is? Well neither did I until recently! They are kind of a cross between a tent and a cabin. Ours were pretty large - had sleeping capacity for 10 per yurt. They were very clean and had limited electricity - one light in the center and one electrical outlet. Not heated which was the only thing that really was a bit of an issue as the temperature got down into the low 40's at night!! We learned our lesson the first night and the second night we were all wearing most of the clothes we brought to sleep in!! And we were still cold! The bathroom was about 50 yards away and heated a bit - so there was a rush in the morning to take a hot shower and warm up. Luckily they were hot showers!! But now we can all proudly say we slept in a yurt! 

Kim had signs on the yurts like bars in Champaign - Kam and Dooleys - so cute! And that's our dining hall in the top left corner.  

Kim led a hike for those of us that were up early Saturday morning - and the overlook was spectacular. Worth getting up for and more great time to chat!

Kim, Cindy W., me, Marysue and Nancy. Cindy M. taking the picture and in the pic on the left. The early risers! 

After hiking we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then a yoga class was available. Yoga - why not??!! 

Benjamin was the teacher and he was great!

There was also a masseuse available throughout Saturday - and quite a few took advantage of that. In a grassy area that was affectionately called "The Quad" Kim had a band play for 3 hours in the afternoon. The weather was gorgeous and the bonfire going the whole time. 

On Saturday Kim invited a bunch of her good friends from the area to join us in the festivities. 

And then another band played Saturday night post dinner in the dining hall and they were fantastic. Everyone was up and dancing most of the night. 

Kim put together a great slide show taking us back 40 years. And Cindy showed a video of 2 of our old waiters that she interviewed to get their perspective on working in the house - priceless! 

There were so many great little thoughtful touches that Kim added to make the weekend special.  

Even pansies in pots!!! 

Kim hired a caterer to do most of the food for the weekend - and it was all delicious. I can't even begin to imagine how many hours this all took for Kim to plan. She started the process last year and was on top of every detail - including coordinating flights and transportation to get everyone to the park, renting linens, taking beverage requests, planning activities and being a superb and gracious host!! Thanks a million Kim!!!

I think the trip exceeded everyone's expectations - and was so much fun to reconnect with friends from an important time in our lives. There is already talk of putting another one together maybe next year in a different location. Napa anyone????

My great yurt mates!!! Back row - Nancy W., Nancy H., Bette, Linda. Front -  me, Cindy and Marysue. 

There was a Part Three to my trip so that blog post will be next. I never get tired of traveling!! Thanks for coming along!