Lake Powell
July 2014
This July Chris and I took our boys on a houseboat trip on Lake Powell for about seven days. Our good friends Chuck and Sharyl Stafford invited us to join them and explore buying into a share on this amazing houseboat. I had gone to Lake Powell many times growing up and I knew I wanted my boys to experience this type of vacationing. Lake Powell is a boater's paradise. The lake offers breathtaking views of buttes, pinnacles, amazing canyon to explore, and natural arches, encompassed by towering walls of red sandstone. I'm blown away every time I come.
So the start of our family holiday started with naturally all of the kids complained that the drive was too long (10 hours) and couldn't understand why we just couldn't fly. There would be no cell phone service and no internet, so we brought plenty of movies. How could they possibly last an entire week without texting or their Xbox? Well we sure were going to find out. A week of heaven or a week of complaining? I definitely planned for the complaining, my mind was flowing with ideas to overcome this. Like shooting them with the air soft guns that we brought.
The drive even though it was long the view was incredible.
Chris and I were sure this cloud was an Alien ship. (Chuck and Sharyl are in front of us in this picture.) We thought about what we would do if Chuck and Sharyl were to get sucked up by the alien ship. Try to join they (it is a once in a life time) or stop and turn around. Why was it so bright, compared to the rest?
We arrive on a Wednesday late afternoon to Bullfrog Marina to our palace on the water. It’s replete with four bedrooms, one bathroom, a large kitchen with a full-size stove, microwave and dishwasher, a dining area with a big-screen tv, and a large slide on the upper deck (that was painful for adults). The boys were in awed by the accommodations. We all were, really. I was sold on the houseboat day one.
After that long drive, we all jumped in the lake for a night swim. It was heaven.
The following morning we cruised deep into the canyons of Lake Powell, the red sandstone cliffs dominating the landscape, lending a postcard quality to the desolate surroundings. I feel almost gluttonous enjoying the view from the luxury of a traveling hotel. Sharyl and I sat on the top deck taking everything in, camera in hand.
Just want to kiss her and give her cuddles.
Layden, wanted my full attention and so he got it.
I personally love taking the houseboat out, the drive is relaxing, beautiful.
Skylar fall asleep on Chris for 2 hours. A very sweet moment.
The sun was getting to Ryleigh, we had to get him hydrating
All the families took turns making meals. This night, it was mine and Chris's night to cook. Ribs and homemade potato salad!!
Layden starting his search for lizards. and yes he found 2 of them. Thank God he found them early otherwise we would have been none stop for the whole trip.
Every chance I got I was taking pictures.
We spend our days in the near by canyon exploring narrow slot canyons (this is where jet skis come in handy), wakeboarding, tubing, visiting the marina for candy and milk, and watching movies (I brought dozens of DVD’s). We enjoy the water slide off the back of the boat and all overcome our fear of dropping into the lake ten feet. The boys must have played on the for hours each day. Chris and I slept on the upper deck most night, huddled in our sleeping bags while rain sporadically pelts us. We take a fabulous family photo with the lake and sandstone behind us, okay I took a ton of pictures.
Sharyl and the girls enjoying the water. They loved it.
We played in the water for everyday for hours on end, the only tech we had was my camera.
The boys loved jumping off the top of the houseboat. They had very little fear.
The boys getting Chuck to make the jump with them.
Skylar loved the water.
Exploring Iceberg Canyon was absolutely spectacular.
A detour here, some thoughts on photographing Lake Powell. It is at once incredibly simple and impossibly hard. You can get great shots randomly pointing your camera just about anywhere. But to capture the grandeur of the high cliffs and cave right next to you or the bowl you are approaching is extremely difficult. The big things have to be photographed from a good vantage point at the right distance, and a person who knows something about photography. More often than not, those attempts are disappointing. I have taken to carrying just a pocket camera and trying to take mostly pictures of us, our boats, and let the scenic background show in the background.
And no day would be complete without a picture of my three boys!
Exploring caves and cliff jumping.
It was back to the jumping off everything. Unlike many other canyons, Iceberg has many arms and some of the arms have arms of their own! This particular arm was dammed near its end by a rock slide in the 1980s, and has great cottonwood trees in the water, which make a great backdrop for pictures but I did take!
This cave was so incredible.
When we got back to the boat, we had a wonderful refreshing swim followed by Dinner.
Shooting guns, and playing Call of duty.
Fun Photo moments.
Wakeboarding.
Fishing.
Tubing.
My Birthday!!
S'more
Crazy painful slide.
Ryleigh had me pull out his tooth.
Captain Ryleigh
Ryleigh, wakeboarding.
Ryleigh was working hard on wakeboarding. The only thing he wanted to do was get up. He did on this try, we were so proud of him. But his reaction to getting up was priceless. He was so extremely proud of himself, it was perfect to see.
On our way back home.
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