Lake Powell

The last week of summer before the kids went back to school, we went to Lake Powell.  What a trip!  We were lucky to be among a group anywhere between 14 and 26 people strong.  Lizzie was about the youngest mobile age I dare take to spend a week on a houseboat and Katie was young enough by only about three months to not be too mobile.  Ours were the only kids under 12.  (Read that - there were between 10 and 22 babysitters available at any given time.)  Okay, okay, aside from lots of babysitters, it was just really fun to be around such a different kind of energy than we're usually around.  In the eight days we were on the lake, the kids turned to fish.  They swam and swam. 

When they were tired of swimming, there were plenty of ski boat runs to tag along on.  We got JoAnna, Hyrum, and Lizzie out on the tube a few times.  Jason made it up on the wakeboard.  My goal for the trip was to learn to drive the boat.  In betweem swimming and boating, there were enough snacks on the houseboat to feed an army.  With so many families, mealtimes turned to light work.  We took turns making breakfast and dinner.  I remember going to Lake Powell as a kid and the most tortuous part of the whole trip was waiting to retrieve the houseboat.  This time, I got to see it through the kids eyes (it's still tortuous), but at least we had a good beach to play on for the wait.

We spent all but the first night docked here:

This shady little cove helped us come home without any sunburns.  It was mostly rocky, so it took a little effort to find some sand to play in, but Jason hiked up with the kids on Sunday to play. 

One morning, a neighboring houseboat played Andrea Bocelli's "Time to Say Goodbye" as they pulled away.  It echoed beautifully off the cliff walls of the cove. 

If a serene cove and 80 degree water weren't impressive enough, how about some summer desert thunderstorms?  About halfway through the trip, the clouds rolled in.  One day, we got about 10-15 minutes of dumping rain.  The rain stopped abruptly, true to desert form, but the fun had just started.  The sandstone cliff wall above us couldn't hold onto the water, so down it came!  Two waterfalls were pouring into the cove, one right on the front end of the houseboat. 

There was little we could do before the water stopped coming down other than move some thing off the front corner.  Instead, some of the guys swam out to enjoy the phenomenon.  These two pictures were taken of the same spot just seconds apart and show well how much water was dumping:

Later, we moved the houseboat to the right about 50 ft. to avoid the falls that were scheduled for that night.  Most of the group had been sleeping on the top deck throughout the trip.  They decided to brave it that night, but were ready to move quickly if necessary.  Lizzie and Katie slept the whole week down in a lower hull that was a little too small to be comfortable for any bigger bodies.  One of the beds down there went mostly unused.  Jason and I slept on the back deck and Hyrum opted to join us that night.  Around midnight, when the lightening cracked, the masses poured into the stuffy cabin to endure the rest of the night.  JoAnna quickly took the extra bed downstairs.  Lizzie and Katie never stirred.  Jason, Hyrum and I pulled our bedding into the hall to wait out the 15 minute storm while everyone else lined their bedding across every floor space and previously vacant bed inside.  Fifteen minutes after the uproar began, Hyrum was back on the deck sound asleep.  Jason and I fell back to sleep in the cool air with a perfect view of our own private waterfall.

As soon as we got home, I missed it already.  It took a few days to get used to hearing the phone ring again and checking my email.  Thanks, Lake Powell for a great week!  See you again when Katie's a little older.