Lake Powell

 I fought.  I complained.  I rejected.  I acquiesced.   This week I totally acknowledge that I was wrong and was being stupid.   Lake Powell is a magical wonderful place.  I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that we are half-week owners of the Imperial Sunrise houseboat on Lake Powell.  I hope we can buy a second week, and a third.

I loved that Tony was really excited about it and was as into the preparations as I was.  This is new for us, getting ready for vacations together, and I like it.  Sunday was one of my favorite days.  We had church, loaded the food, then listened to conference talks together totally unstressed and calm all the way to Powell.  Then we unloaded the food, and made beds before heading to meet everyone at Horseshoe bend.  The houseboat is so functional and cozy.  

The Rippy's all boarded the houseboat and gave us tons of approbation.  After getting settled, Dad hosted a fireside and shared his conference synopsis' with us.  We laughed and talked and played games and finally snuggled in for the night.  On Monday morning we set sail!  The pilot got us out of the marina and handed the wheel over without a second thought.  It was harrowing and Tony had lots of stress tethering the boat to the back, driving and figuring out the engines and generator.  We found a beach to dock and anchored up and then spent the day surfing and swimming.  That night we grilled steaks and baked potatoes to celebrate the actual 50th anniversary then all went on top deck to watch the stars,  We went around the circle and shared what about Mom and Dad's marriage we admire.  It was pretty tender and Mom shared how much she trusts and admires Dad.  There was a lot of laughing that night.  Tony was truly exhausted and stressed and had a night of high anxiety including some regret for the houseboat purchase.  Thankfully by Tuesday morning and a good sleep he was back to himself and enjoying the beauty, feeling a little more confident.  

On Tuesday we did yoga with Chelsea, then had breakfast and loaded into the boat to go explore Navajo canyon.  The very bravest among us, Tony, Cameron, and Stacey floated in their bumfloat's into a slot canyon.  Cameron got cut up by the mussels (STD of the lake) and Stacey fell off the boat once, but other than that we were safe.  Everyone loved the amazing canyons and we all continue to be stunned at the beauty.   The boat was acting up which gave us a little stress but Cameron and Tony got it figured out.  The Red Thai curry was a big hit that night.  We played codenames late into the night and laughed so hard pee came out.  On Wednesday we made Dad's delicious tostadas, pulled up anchor, sailed back down the channel and then reanchored at a beach just across from Wahweap.  It was so hard to say goodbye to my brothers and their beautiful wives.  There wasn't one time I didn't feel total love and gratitude to have my siblings.  I loved watching Kimberly remember her many childhood vacations on lake Powell.  I loved watching Jill run on the beach.  I love watching my brothers go down the slide.  I loved doing watching Chelsea dance in the kitchen.  I loved Stacey willing to try anything.  I especially love watching my parents enjoy the fruit of their labor.  I loved watching all the boys trying to figure out how to start the generator.  Cameron pushing buttons, Jeff reading the manual, Tyler cracking jokes, Dustin doing the heavy lifting.  

Thankfully, the fun wasn't over.  After a harrowing experience of pulling the boat out, filling the boat and gas cans, hitting a trailer, scaring Tony to death with my extended absence, we got a lovely evening all by ourselves on the houseboat.  We made good use of it :)  By 9:00 it was time to pick up Brad, Kim, Jeff and Betsy.  It was so fun to see their excitement about the houseboat they half own!  At midnight Tony and I took our flashlights and crossed the dark lake again to pick up Jason and Andrea.  None of us got much sleep that night because we were all so excited.  In the morning we embarked back across the cut.  The funniest moment was nearly running into  houseboat playing chicken with us on the right side of the channel.  We started joking about them being from the UK and when we got up close enough to talk to them, we discovered by their accents they were indeed from the UK and were driving on the wrong side of the street! After a lovely ride down the channel, we found a perfect place to dock at the end of a bay with total seclusion and sheer rock walls.  We floated in our bumfloat's and swam and surfed. We grilled brats and and apples talked about everything and caught up with Brad and Kim's amazing adventures.  We were all so tired from our late night we were asleep by 10:00 and slept like the dead.  Happily after a yummy breakfast we had a great day ahead of us.  We all lounged on the deck in the sun and read scriptures and shared our deepest thoughts and experiences.  Finally we got our lazy bones into the boat and went searching for EBB.  The waves and wind were terrible but we finally found our beloved bay.  The guys all bumfloated for a while then we found a beach to munch our mostly bacon sandwiches (I forgot the lettuce!)   We headed back across the bumpy waves and settled in for delicious Indian butter chicken and coconut rice.  Somehow Andrea figured out how to make caramel corn and we ravenously ate it and laughed our heads off playing codenames again.  On Saturday we ate breakfast, pulled anchor, cleaned up and got Andrea and Jason back to shore in time for their flight.  Then we met the pilot, gassed up, finished filling the boat with water, and loaded our stuff onto the boat.  It was finally time to say goodbye to an incredible week of family and friends.  

I am a Washington skier and love trees and green.  But I am now a lake Powell girl and can truly enjoy the beauty of the canyons and rocks.  I loved going in October.  I'm so thankful for a husband that dreams big.