Lake Powell - 2012 - Bret's Story

Lake Powell is one of the most beautiful and amazing lakes in our nation.  It also holds some good memories from quite a few years ago as we went once or twice with my aunt Patty and her family (and mine) on their houseboat.  I was an adult at the time and the memories were of water skiing, cliff jumping, getting very tan, sleeping on the roof of the houseboat, watching satellites and shooting stars, and the warm waters of Lake Powell. 

Jacob (Wall) had the idea to relive some of the memories and so last year he decided to put together a plan to rent a houseboat and invited many of us to accompany him and his family.  A couple of weeks ago the time finally came to pass for us to go.  It took a lot of preparation and money on his part, and I thank him and Cari for all they did.  The trip, in my mind, was a complete success.

We left Phoenix on Tuesday morning in our van with Hazel added to our usual passengers.  The ride went well as we were in no hurry and we stopped briefly in Flagstaff for gas and treats.  We then met up with Cari and Kathy (Cox) in Page at the McDonalds as we waited for Jacob and my father to have the houseboat ready for us to board in Wahweap Marina.  After a Hot'n Spicy chicken sandwich we drove to the marina and within minutes we had our stuff packed on the boat and were headed out on the lake.  This was a stark contrast to years before when sometimes this phase was long and hot.  The marina made this easy and we were off. 

Tevia, my dad, Tevia, and Malik went in the speed boat while the rest of us took to the houseboat.  Jake and I had decided to go a certain route to Padre Bay, which looked great according to Google Maps and the one map we had.  But apparently those maps were out of date and due to the lower water we had to go the long way.  This was okay as the way through the Narrows was gorgeous; it just took much longer.  I stayed on top of the houseboat for much of the trip adding navigation advice and using the binoculars to see the red rock and other boats.  It took us some time to finally arrive in Padre Bay and we were able to find the other boat (which had gone ahead to scout a spot).  They found a great spot right in front of Gunsight Butte. We beached the houseboat and began the next few days in the shadow of this beautiful landmark.

My memories of the first evening there are of Tevia and I cooking (we usted the BBQ to do chicken, which came out great).  I also was able to go out and remembered how to get up on a wakeboard (it had been years).  But my favorite memory of that first night was all of us sitting on the top of the houseboat that first night and looking at the stars.  I had my laser pointer and my Google Sky app which helped us locate constellations and other objects like the Andromeda galaxy.  It was amazingly beautiful and we saw many satellites and shooting stars as well.  We even saw the international space station go across the sky, which was so bright in this wilderness it was impossible not to think it was some UFO.  I didn't sleep much the first night (rarely do on any camping trip), but the night was cool and the moon bright (after most of us were asleep and after looking at the stars). 

The rest of the trip, my highlights were:

- Wakeboarding several times and learning how to do a 180 and just enjoying the glass that we had several times per day
- Taking a trip into Antelope Point marina to get gas and some other things.  We did this on Thursday (Jacob, Tevia, Enok, and Malik) and we got a nice lime popsicle and a big cup of orange soda. 
- Jumping/Diving off the boat (we didn't ever find a great place to cliff jump so this was our thrill for the week)
- Going on hikes with my boys and rolling rocks into the lake as well as skipping rocks
- Going on a long hike with Tevia
- Driving the speed boat several times for people
- Tubing with Tommy while Jacob drove and realizing how much energy/strength it takes to do this (when going fast)
- Watching the stars every night
- Having Jimmy arrive for the brief day or so he was there

In the end the trip was great.  The weather could not have been better (not too hot, not too cold).  Nobody got hurt or really all that sunburned (only Jimmy and Holly of all of us even got burned at all).  The food and snacks were great.  The boats never broke down. 

On Saturday we packed up and headed out before noon.  The long trip back to the marina went great and my mom and Tevia joined me for much of the trip back on the top of the boat.  Once we docked we were packed in our cars and headed out within an hour or so.  We took Hazel with us again.  We stopped at Sonic for lunch in Page on the way back this time and the drive was great. 

Thank you Jacob for setting all of this up and spending so much of your time on money on some wonderful family memories.  I had a great time.  I'm sure we'll end up there again some time in the next few years.