Our adventure began with the arrivals of all the Minor Seminarians. We were all very excited to see new faces and see old friends. But for now, we had to focus on “Convivencia”, our 2 week long camping trip that we have every year. This year, our trip consisted of visiting 3 national state parks in Colorado. Two of which were in the heart of the Rocky Mountains and the other, in the outskirts of Denver.
With a full bus and full van, totaling 22 people, we began our journey to the Rockies. What was supposed to be a 13 hour drive, turned out to be a 22 hour drive filled with fun. We played board games, including Monopoly, talked for hours, ate snack, and best of all, slept. After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached our destination, the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
Everything about the first campsite was really awesome, except for the weather. We experienced terrible rainstorms while we were there which caused the tents to get really soaked. All the little tents weren’t very waterproof so our only option was to squeeze more people into every other tent which was not very comfortable. We managed to survive the rainy nights and enjoy the little sun that we had during the day. However, most of the days that we were there, it would start to rain during our sports/fishing time, which meant that we couldn’t do anything. Luckily, we found out that the Campsite had a Recreation center which had an indoor swimming pool, basketball courts, and an awesome teen room with pool, ping pong, and foosball. We all had an awesome time there, whether we were playing basketball, swimming, or just hanging out together.
Our second campsite was right in the heart of Denver. This campsite was nothing like the first; we enjoyed beautiful weather, swam in a tremendous lake, and played volleyball. Not to mention, we also got to enjoy ice cream which is always a good way to end the day.Our final campsite was right in the heart of the Rockies. With nothing but mountains around us, we decided to hike Pikes Peak, one of the tallest mountain ranges in Colorado. It took us about 3 hours to reach the mountains peak, but it was totally worth it. The view was just amazing; you could see everything, the mountains, the roads, and the awesome valleys.
Hiking and exploring the beautiful mountains of Colorado was something that we will never forget. The next day, we got hit by a terrible rainstorm, once again, which made us decide to leave Colorado and head back home to the Minor Seminary. We got home safely the next day after a 28 hour drive.This year’s Convivencia was truly one to remember; we will never forget the memories we shared together.
Our Lady of Lujan …… Pray for Us
From: IVEAMERICA.ORG
