A Meet and Greet....

in Scottsdale, Arizona for the Revgals and guys Big Event 2.0!!!!!

April 16-19, 2009 we will meet at

The Casa in Scottsdale, Arizona for a Continuing Ed event. Our facilitator will be the wonderful Wil Gafney, Ph. D, an Episcopal Priest and Associate Professor of Hebrew and Hebrew Scripture at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

We will begin on Thursday evening, April 16, 2009, and conclude on Sunday morning, April 19, 2009. The cost of the retreat will be $385 to share a double room, or $475 for those preferring a single room. A deposit of $100 made by Feb. 1, 2009 will reserve your room, the balance will be due on March 1, 2009. Email RevGalBlogPals for a brochure and registration form.

Rate includes three nights at the retreat center, all meals, a t-shirt and RevGalBlogPals, Inc. membership for 2009. Transportation to Phoenix, Arizona, Sky Harbor International Airport is in addition.

Shuttle rides from the airport to the renewal center are available from Super Shuttle. You will need to call Super Shuttle ahead of time and reserve a place on the van - 1-800-258-3826. The estimated cost is $16.00 each way.

Once you know when you are arriving and have called Super Shuttle we can try to organize people in groups of 7 to take the shuttle. (Up to 7 people plus luggage can fit in each shuttle). If we fill the shuttle it can make a direct trip to the Renewal Center and prevent additional stops and delay in arriving. Therefore when we are closer to the date, we will try to set up a process to collate data on arrivals and connect these groupings of 7 (or less). It will take about 25 minutes to one hour from the airport to the renewal center, depending on the number of stops.

The Rev. Dr. Gafney's book, Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel, will be available for purchase at the retreat. You are encouraged to purchase it and read it ahead of time, through the link on the RevGals sidebar to Amazon.

AND - BONUS side trip: those who wish can stay longer and take a side trip to the Grand Canyon. We will leave the retreat center about noon on Sunday and arrive at the Grand Canyon about 4:00pm. (Sunset at the Grand Canyon)

It seems at this time we will have two cars to make the trip up to the canyon, maybe a third, depending on how many and who are going. The drive to the canyon is about 3 hours and 45 minutes from Scottsdale. We can stay at the rustic but clean and comfortable Maswik Lodge (assuming reservations are available). This lodge is about 15 minutes from the rim. The night of our arrival we can watch the sunset and have dinner at the Bright Angel Restaurant. Then we can rise early, watch the sunrise, have breakfast and take a walk along the rim before heading back to Phoenix mid-afternoon Monday. This time schedule will allow for those who need to fly home on Monday, assuming a late afternoon or evening flight is available. It may be possible to secure an extra night at the Renewal Center for those who will fly home on Tuesday. Let us know and we will inquire about room availability. Otherwise there are hotels near the airport. OR one car could head back to Phoenix on Monday and another on Tuesday, with two nights at a Grand Canyon Hotel...

To sign up for the Grand Canyon Side Trip email RevGalBlogPals. Let us know if you want to stay at the Grand Canyon for one night or two...and we'll start to coordinate the groupings.