Lake Powell 7-2012

David and I had the opportunity to go to Lake Powell with the YM/YW in our ward. Neither of us had ever been before, so we were excited at the opportunity. We were originally supposed to have 3 boats going up, but one backed out and another wasn’t working. So at the last minute we were down to only one boat. A few of the kids that were going backed out as well, so at least the odds weren’t as bad.

We were supposed to leave at 5 in the morning, but as you know, packing always takes longer than expected. What we didn’t anticipate was that the truck pulling the boat would break down on the way up. We thought we fixed the problem, but it wouldn’t go any faster than 25 mph. That is no bueno when you’re not too far into the 5.5 hr trek. We finally pulled over and determined what the problem was. Another car went to go get the part and then we had to fix it. Luckily we eventually got that taken care of. Then when we get to the lake, we (meaning the boat peeps) realized they hadn’t gassed up the boat yet, and had to drive back into Page to get gas. That took about another 45 minutes. By the time we finally got the boat launched, it was 5 pm. We did not get any boating in that day, but the kids had fun playing in the water for awhile.

The next day we took turns going out on the boat. It was a big boat, so we were able to get the kids on in two groups. I was really bummed because there was no wakeboard. I get to the lake once every 5 years maybe, and the last time I was pregnant. If I could choose wakeboarding over snowboarding, I totally would, but since I have no boat connections, we stick with the snowboards. Anyway, they had big tubes that the kids took turns on. David and I got to go a couple of times.

We did a little bit of cliff jumping. We got to tour a huge houseboat. Haha, I think that was actually one of the highlights. It was REALLY nice. The “staff” wouldn’t tell us who owned it, but it was 2 or 3 families that split it. I wish I could remember the size of the gas tank, but it cost more than we could afford just to fill the thing up (at almost $5/gallon), let alone actually buy the thing. It sure is nice to dream. (Sidenote: that totally reminded me of something Shayla has been saying lately. She really enjoys watching Cinderella, and she will be talking about something and will randomly add “dreams come true” at the end of her sentence. I wish they all did, Shayla.)  

Hanging out at the campsite:

We decided to have lunch on one of the islands, so we dropped a group off to do some cliff jumping and '”quickly” go back, grab lunch, and pick up the rest of the crew. Apparently our “quick” trip took about 2 hours, and the poor kids were famished. We did enjoy our lunch out on the island though. :)

Since we didn’t end up getting out on the water the first day, the second day was our only full day. The last day we were supposed to leave at noon, but since they hadn’t had as much time as planned, we decided to let the kids have some extra boat time in the morning before we left. Well, what do you know, the boat broke down the first run out. By the time they got towed back and went into town to get the part, it was already noon. David and I needed to head back because we had to pick up the kids from my parents and get them home. We took a few of the kids that were ready to leave and headed home. We hit a huge rainstorm in Flagstaff which delayed us yet again. I think by the time we finally got home with the kids it was almost 10:00 that night.

One of the other highlights was this awesome double rainbow that we got one of the evenings.

We enjoyed camping at Lake Powell. It’s just like being at the beach in that you come home with sand EVERYWHERE. The evening wind storms are no fun, especially with contacts. Someday we will get another family or two to rent a boat with us and we’ll go back with the kids.