Our favorite volleyball spot has added new nets & lights so we can enjoy outdoor volleyball action every Tuesday night for the rest of the year! The heat has finally broken so even if you don’t love volleyball you will love relaxing on the patio with a cool drink and good friends. Happy Hour is all day and you can watch your favorite channels on the new flat screen TV’s outside!
Reid Event Manager Houston
Have you ever been river rafting? WOW! What a thrill. We started off on a calm leg of the Umbra River in Peru. Most the water is from glacial runoff. Good thing because that sun is toasty at 10,000 feet. We learned to paddle together (which is very difficult when there’s a splash fight with the other boats!) and headed down to the class 3 rapids. Coolest thing ever. Our awesome guides knew just when we needed to give extra effort to stay off those sneaky rocks. A couple times my heart felt like it was going to stop when we hit the rushing rapids. We looked at each other and realized we all had the terror-thrill grins and started laughing as we slapped out paddles together over our heads for our congratulatory cheer. We did it! When can we do it again?
Jacque Event Manager Dallas
I was thinking about how great our summer was and all we have done and accomplished together, and one of our August hikes came to mind. A simple afternoon hike can turn difficult depending which path you choose. If you hike in a park, there are usually maps and paths to guide you, but sometimes it’s fun to “off-road” and take the path less traveled. We started out on a very wide, tarred path with many people surrounding us, then it slowly got more narrow with no one else in sight. Boulders came to be an obstacle, so we started to climb. I looked back, as I was leading the pack, and the looks of determination on the faces behind me, told me to keep going. We went up and then we went down and then up again. When we arrived at the landing overlooking the river, we all took in the view… as we all took a drink of water as well. We took a victory picture then and as we headed back, I was thinking about how our lives are much like this hike was… may seem simple at first, but there are difficulties along the way. What goes up, must come down, much like our climb on the boulders. But the best part about it is that we learned something about ourselves as we did something we may have never done before… we pushed ourselves, where other times we might have just given up… and we did this because we first took a leap of faith and joined E&A. This may be the first step, but it’s not the last… and I’m looking forward to sharing many more of these victory moments together!
Megan Event Manager Minneapolis
Hiking is one of my favorite things to do with E&A. Getting out and exploring all the neat locations, seeing the beautiful landscape, getting a great workout, and being able to really talk and connect with people is why I love it. The group went to Alum Rock Park on Saturday for a 6 mile hike. It was a blast! I got to meet some new members and really was able to get some one on one time with them. It was a blast racing George to the top of a hill. I am pretty sure I won, but we both had to stop and take a couple breaths at the top! It was so much fun giving Rolando a hard time during the hike. He was always at the head of the group, running up all the uphill portions working really hard to get that workout going. What an athletic guy! Afterward, we all went to Lucy’s Tamale Factory which has the best tamales in San Jose. Delicious!
Julie Ott Regional Events Manager
It’s been awhile since I’ve felt like a kid again, and our pottery class did the trick! Having clay all over my hands, arms and under my fingernails brought me back to my childhood. There is something about being dirty that makes me cringe and happy at the same time! We all began nice and slow on our pottery wheels trying to keep control of our clay and the splatter to a minimum. It didn’t take long before we realized this isn’t as easy as it looks! Some of us created beautiful bowls and vases while others’ looked like the work of a kindergartener(myself). All and all our creations were our own and we were proud of our art, perfect or lop-sided. I can confidently say that we threw around some clay and some laughs as well!
April Kordyak Event Manager Chicago
I took this picture at our basecamp at Soraypampa, Peru roughly 3,800 meters up in the Andes Mountains. After completing the first days 7 hour hike in the lead group I see a bright light of confidence and accomplishment in my eyes. Day 2 would destroy that light like a waterfall crushing the faint light of a candle. After “sleeping” through rough winds, cold temperatures and a choir of wild dogs; the banging on our tent at 5am wasn’t the best wake up call I have ever had. This was the start of the most challenging day of my life. Fighting altitude, rough terrain and fatigue I would eventually reach the height of our trek 15,220 ft…before lunch; A grueling 4 hour hike up over 3,000 feet in a matter of hours. As I passed another adventurer up the trail he said something to me I would never forget. He was much older than me and he looked at me through tired yet excitedly hopeful eyes and said “Have you ever had so much fun being miserable?” It was a quote that I will always remember because I never want to forget that the things in life worth striving for often require the most challenging journeys. Learning to love the journey is what Events & Adventures is all about every single day.
Reid Johnson
Events Manager – Texas Region
E & A Member Meeting events are always a blast! It’s a great opportunity where we get to go somewhere or try something new! From cooling down at a pool party during the hot Arizona summer to meeting up for a mix & mingle at fun venue, and don’t forget our smashingly dressed members at the toga party! These are just a few of the different kinds of Member Meeting events we’ve had in the last few months.
Just as importantly as meeting and making new friends at each of these Member Meeting events, we also discuss any awesome upcoming events or travels on the calendar, along with events and adventures that we’re interested in going and doing as a group. From horseback riding, hot air ballooning, to local community events, our members always have a plethora of ideas to suggest for events!
E & A is a club that is all about its members. We’re interested in going and doing things that will bring people together, making memories with great friends you might otherwise have not done on your own. Hence the Member Meeting event is such a great opportunity to bring new ideas and suggestions to the table…and it’s a fun social event at the same time.
Don’t miss out on our next Member Meeting event here in Phoenix! It’s happening tomorrow night… check out the calendar for the details!
Courtney- Event Manager Phoenix
I didn’t expect I would be laughing so much and fearing being hit by a small ball at the same time. I mean it was mini golf after all. What could possibly cause such reactions? It wasn’t the different holes that recreated iconic Bay Area sights, from Lombard Street to the Winchester Mystery House, nor even the fact that many holes needed a bit retouching so that it didn’t take 500 strokes to get past the tee off marker. It was the fun and interesting group of E&Aers that made it so fun ! Ken the expert golfer could be counted on to make a hole-in-one while I think we all ran for cover whenever it was Catherine’s turn to putt. Best of all, no matter how many strokes it took to complete the crossing of the Golden Gate or the skateboard park, there was much laughter and smiles all around. If I had even the slightest worry about playing mini golf, it was replaced with smiles and fun by the 2nd hole.
Bryan Event Manager San Francisco
We just got back from Peru and Machu Picchu. Wow! What a trip. We visited the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. We saw astounding Inca ruins. It’s truly amazing how exacting their workmanship is. They actually built their palaces and alters to withstand the regions earthquakes. All by hand, with no iron or metal tools! Perfect notched seams. They hauled those massive rocks up thousands of feet – with no tools. I can’t imagine how they did it. Machu Picchu is a beautiful and miraculous site. It definitely was a trip of a life time. I’m so happy that E&A gave me this opportunity!
Jacque- Event Manager Dallas
Although I had never been there despite my many trips tasting in Napa Valley, I was repeatedly surprised by the party, wines, and, best of all, great E&A group at the event. With our gold wristbands firmly fastened, we were given large wine glasses and told to roam the property. Want to enter the barrel room? Go ahead, and we’ll even have the winemaker meet you there to try barrel samples. We wiped the delicious grape juice from our chins and roamed out for some lunch. What a great spread, salads, Cuban sandwiches, and two types of tamales. Oh, and even more wine to sample. The salsa band started to play, and under the shade of the little grove we ate gourmet food, listened to great music and just soaked in the wonderful weather.
Then the competition began. Take off your shoes and socks, step into a barrel and you get 60 seconds to crush as many grapes as you can. The person with the most volume of juice wins. I didn’t realize grape stomping is a lot like dancing; everyone has their own method and rhythm. Super Stomper Richard from E&A even won 2nd place and a bottle of wine! Even better, Elizabeth grabbed Richard and turn the vineyard into a Salsa dancing machine. The band was so thrilled that they gave her a recording of their music.
Wine, food, perfect weather, an idyllic scene, uncontrollable smiles, and wonderful diverse E&A company. A perfect day in wine county.