I have a good friend, Chris, who has a houseboat and water toys at Lake Powell. She and her husband and their three boys use it probably around 50 days a year. As a result of her last boy leaving the house (going on his mission), she planned a ladies' trip to Powell - lucky me! Six women ended up going, along with Chris' husband Ben. Even though the water is not my favorite thing, I had a wonderful time! Chris did so much planning and practically had everything for us - she prepped all the meals, had lifejackets, towels, bedding, etc., etc.
We six ladies left on Thursday morning and got to Powell around 4 (it's about a 5-hour drive, but we took a few stops on our way). Ben joined us later that evening. We took the houseboat out and beached in a nice spot, and brought the speed-boat over as well. Ben cooked all our dinners for us, from wraps to chicken salads to burritos and tacos. He even served us up some amazing pina colada slushie one night. Thursday night we all played Secret Hitler and that was pretty great. We all (minus Ben) slept on the roof of the houseboat. They had all the beds/bedding there for us as well - thick twin-sized mattress pads or something like that. I tossed and turned, but it wasn't bad and the stars were amazing!
Friday we got up early to get the smooth water for water surfing. Chris beautifully showed us how things were done! Then each of us (minus Jody) gave it a go. As expected, Brianne and Jaymie were awesome. They both have experience with wake-boarding and/or snowboarding and they just did great. Heather gave it a good try or two or ten, but wasn't able to get up. I managed to get up on my try and stay up for a few minutes. But I wouldn't call what I did actual surfing . . . I was too far out from the wake and just couldn't get over to it . . . so I just hung out in the choppy area of the wake, haha. It was fun, kind of. Not totally my thing but definitely fun to try. I tried a couple more times but didn't get back up. Oh well, it was a one-and-done kind of thing for me!
We went back to the houseboat for lunch and relaxing . . . Jaymie, Heather, and I paddleboarded to a really beautiful inlet or cove or something. Too bad none of us had phones for pictures. But it was so pretty. Later that evening went back out on the speed boat. Heather and I ended up jet-skiing (into another super-cool cove) while the others were surfing and watching surfing (Jody was a hard-no on trying. She had neck surgery in the past and didn't want anything that could mess that up.) It was a cool evening. Back to the houseboat for dinner and hanging out. Oh that night there was a huge lightning storm near us - it never came right over us, but it was close. And the lightning went on for hours and hours . . . almost all night!
On Saturday we were up early as we had a big day planned. Our first stop, about a 2-hour "drive" (boat ride) was to Hole in the Rock. This was where a group of Mormon pioneers created a crack in a 1,300 sandstone rock crevice to get down to the Colorado River, where they were to eventually establish a settlement. It took them 6-weeks, at what is now Hole in the Rock, to blast and hand-dig a crevice wide enough for them and their wagons and cattle to get down. They lowered the wagons with heavy ropes and locking chains (for the wheels) - 83 wagons. Over 1,000 cattle. And no one died. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to climb it, just one way. I thought no way when Chris told us it would take us about 3 hours to do it all. But she was almost exactly right! Chris stayed back on the boat and Ben came to guide and assist us. It was good he was there as we used him quite often - knee boosts, hand holds, etc. It was really cool.
After that, we continued south into Lake Powell and made our way to Rainbow Bridge arch. (We stopped right before this at an old dock for this area and enjoyed a yummy lunch!) Because the water levels are so slow, we had to hike about 1 1/2 miles to the arch. Chris later shared an old photo from maybe the 1990s in which boats could drive right up to the arch! Just crazy. It was hot, but dipping our shirts in the water sure helped. The arch was very impressive! It was definitely worth doing.
We then made our way into Escalante Canyon and, again, it was a beautiful area. We got to Gregory's arch and drove the boat under it - usually the arch is completely under water . . . Then we made our way back to the houseboat. It was about 80 miles total of "driving" and was just awesome. The speed boat is amazing and has like everything - bluetooth speakers, phone chargers, water holders, all sorts of fancy seating, and more and more. That night was watched a movie on the roof before bed and it was just a great day.
I needed to get back on Sunday - 1. for a Stake meeting and 2. because I worked the next day. The rest of the group stayed and came home on Monday. But Chris and Ben rode me out to the dock (Hall's Crossing) and I had a nice drive home. It was a fantastic trip and I was so grateful to go with those gals. :)
Pictures in mostly-random order!
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