Lake Powell Day 4

After packing up, Mom and Dad drove the truck home, while the boys rode with Laurie and Glen in the motorhome. As we were driving, we reflected on what a great trip it had been. We were especially proud of how great the boys had been. We made this little list of things that impressed us on this trip:

Mark made sure Mom didn’t go out of the wake.

Mom made meals.

Mark let Dax lay on him.

Seth said kind words about Dax trying skiing.

Mark helped Glen with the boat. 

Dax and Seth made a fire pit.

Mark and Dax laughed in the tube together. 

Dad got in to help the boys ski.

Seth put the slides in on the motorhome.

Dax and Seth taught Laurie to play Bears and Bees.

The boys played the quiet game with Nate in the boat.

Seth took losing his towel really well.

Mark spotted for rocks and used the oar.

Dax and Seth took the garbage out.

Dad did the dishes. 

Dad drove the truck. 

Mark did crosswords with Laurie.

Dax was the first to try water skiing.

Dax tubed with Glen.

Dax helped load the boat. 

Mom did the preparation for the trip. 

Mark got in the water for Seth to cliff jump. 

Seth was the first to cliff jump. 

Mark and Dax dried dishes. 

Mom took care of the food and cooking.

Lake Powell Day 3

Iceberg Canyon was beautiful. 

We spent a lot more time in the water today. After Mom made waffles for breakfast, we got the boat on the lake and headed south. It was cold on the drive to Iceberg Canyon, but by the time we got there, it had warmed up nicely. This was the most beautiful canyon that we visited. It reminded us of Kolob in Zion, but it was so cool to visit by boat. We saw a great blue heron along the way, too. As we got deeper into the canyon, Mark and Dax climbed onto the tube. They glided along slowly as we crept to the end of the waterway. Eventually, the water got shallow enough that we scraped some submerged tree branches, so we had to turn around and back track. 

We loved this canyon.

The water was smooth, and made for great reflections.

Mom didn't get sick once on this trip. 

We were so glad that Nate was on this trip with us.

Once we were clear of the trees, Glen got the boat going fast so that Mark and Dax could have a real tube ride. They loved it, and we all loved watching them laugh and smile together. Finally, they got thrown out of the tube, but they still had a great time.

Lake Powell was a gorgeous place to tube.

Mark and Dax love tubing together. 

Lots of smiles!

Glen always gives them a crazy ride. 

Finally, they got thrown out. 

The boys really wanted to watch Dad ski today. After he popped right up and skied in and out of the wake for a while, they all wanted to give it a try. Dax went first, and by the time he got the skis on, he was pretty nervous. He was saying, “No, Dad, I don’t think so,” as Dad was yelling “Hit it.” Much to our surprise Dax popped right up, too. He only skied for a few seconds before losing control of the skis and crashing, but he actually skied. His second try went about the same, and then he climbed happily back into the boat.

Dad was excited to see if he could still ski.

He popped right up like a champ.

Dad even went out of the wake.

The boys loved watching Dad ski.

Dax was nervous, but so brave to try water skiing. 

Dax popped up for a sec, and then went down, but we were all so proud of him.

Seth was next. He had never really been comfortable in deep water, but he got out there with Dad. We didn’t have the trainer skis, so he was using skis that were really too big for him. He gave it two tries, but he didn’t get up. On the second try he did body surf for about 30 yards after forgetting to let go of the rope. Later in the day, he popped up for a bit, but the skis went every which way and he was down quickly.

Seth loves to swim in the lake.

Seth was also brave to try water skiing.

He tried later, and popped up for a sec, but then crashed. 

Mark took his turn, but he wasn’t able to make it up. Still, we were proud of all the boys for getting in the water to try. Next year, all of them should be able to water ski! Nate took a turn skiing and even Glen wanted to get in and try after watching everyone out on the skis. Finally, he decided to just tube, and Dax got in the tube to ride with Glen.

We had a blast on the boat with Laurie and Glen.

Glen and Dax had a great time in the tube together.

Dax was all smiles on the boat.

After Iceberg Canyon, Glen and Dax tubed to Slickrock Canyon. We sailed around up there for a little while before moving on to Annie’s Canyon for lunch. We found a nice little cove and Mom made sandwiches for lunch. She did so well at not getting sick on this entire trip. She was even brave and got in the tube, but only because Mark rode with her and promised to keep her safe. He was so nice to make sure they didn't go out of the wake, and they had a great time tubing together.

Mark and Mom went for a tube ride together.

They laughed a lot.

Mark said the ride was easy-peasy.

Mark made sure they stayed in the smooth part of the water.

Finally, we found a really narrow canyon called Lake Canyon. Up one of the arms it narrowed down so far that we had to turn the boat off and keep it away from the walls with the oars. Mark and Dad sat on the back and pushed off the walls, while Nate sat in the front and watched for things going under the bow. Eventually, we got to deep sand. We could have hiked it out from there, but instead, we had to back the boat up by pushing against the walls. Glen, Mark and Nate really loved that part.

Mark loved kicking around in the lake.

The boys were pretty worn out after a long day on the boat, so they played some games on the long ride back.

Mark couldn't wait to go in the narrow canyon.

He got to use his oar a little bit to keep the boat safe.

 

We got back to the motorhome and were greeted by Mom’s barbecue beef, all ready in the crockpot. After we ate, Dax and Seth built a fire ring out of rocks they scavenged, and we roasted marshmallows for s’mores. We stayed outside looking at the stars until the fire burned all the way down, and it was after nine o’clock when we finally came in for scriptures and prayers. The boys were already asking to come back next year!

Dax and Seth worked so hard to build a fire pit that was safe.

It was the perfect way to end our trip.

Sleeping in the motorhome is always an adventure.

Lake Powell Day 2

The night wasn’t without incident. Seth rolled off his bed onto Nate, so Dad had to rescue Nate. Then, in the morning, Glen woke up with bite marks on the back of his arm. Apparently, Laurie dreamed he was an ogre and biting was her only defense. Despite these setbacks, we had the boat loaded and ready to go by 9 o’clock. 

Nate took a few turns driving the boat. 

Dax loves driving the boat, too. 

Seth had his turn, too, and it was super windy!

It was a full day as we made the 50 mile trek to Rainbow Bridge. Amazingly, there were very few boats on the water, and the lake was as smooth as a mirror. Glen revved it up over 40 for most of the way, and we made it in record time. It was really cold with the wind and the spray, but we were glad to be there in only 90 minutes. 

The water was super smooth.

The boys were freezing!

We were so grateful for the blanket. 

We hid under the blanket, anything to keep warm.

The hike up to Rainbow Bridge was about a mile. Dad was really excited because this was our last national site in Utah that we needed to visit. We spotted a lot of lizards along the way, and the boys even saw some fish along the dock including massive carp and some bass. Finally, we came around a corner and the bridge came into view. It was massive enough to house a twenty-five story building, and stood entirely by itself. We took a bunch of pictures, and since we had Nate with us, we even got some nice family pictures. Dad followed the trail up around the bridge to the back. There were some plaques commemorating the Native Americans, and the back of the arch looked a little different. Then he and Mom hustled down the trail to catch the boys. 

The canyon into Rainbow Bridge was pretty. 

Lake Powell was so beautiful.

Seth enjoyed the boat so much.

Mom and Nate are always good buddies.

Mark and Mom snuggled together to stay warm.

The hike to Rainbow Bridge wasn't too long,
and it was cool to come around the corner and see the bridge.

Laurie and Glen hiked part of the way with us. 

The Bridge is massive!

We were surprised no one was there.

Mom and Dad were excited to visit this site in Utah.

We love getting family pictures on vacation.

There was a beautiful dino track by Rainbow Bridge.

Dad always has to try a selfie. 

Rainbow Bridge was amazing.

The back of Rainbow Bridge looked lots different. 

We got back in the boat and headed farther down the lake to find a place for lunch. After turning up a narrow gorge, we found the perfect place to park the boat. The boys paddled around in the tube while Mom made sandwiches. We had a nice lunch and then headed deeper into the canyon. Glen was hoping that it would get narrow enough we’d be able to touch the walls, but the water in the lake is pretty low, so it only got down to about 18 feet wide. Still, the towering orange canyon walls and the deep green water was gorgeous. We traveled a good three miles up the narrow gorge before we had to turn around and sail out.

We found little alcoves to eat lunch. See the boys floating way out there?

Exploring the narrow canyons were so cool.

The colors at Lake Powell are gorgeous. 

Mark loved being the spotter in the front of the boat.

Our next stop was for gas at Dangling Rope Marina. Gas was $5.29 per gallon, but we had to have some to get back to Bullfrog, and we weren’t done exploring yet. We turned in our Junior Rangers on the dock and bought a spoon for Grandpa, but they were all sold out of ice cream. The boys enjoyed spotting some huge fish off the dock, and we all used the floating bathroom, too.

We were so lucky to catch a ranger to get our Junior Ranger badges.

Dad wore his mask to help hold his hat on. 

We tried a few more narrow canyons that were pretty cool. None got slimmer than 15 feet, but at the end of Davis Canyon in the Escalante River, we found LaGorche Arch. Farther up the river we saw some reconstructed Native American ruins. The water was too low to climb to them, though. We only made one other stop at the Hole-In-The-Rock overlook. Technically, it is more of an underlook, because you can see all the way from the water level up to the gap that the Pioneers used to access the river. It is amazing that they would even attempt such a thing, and more amazing that they made it.

LaGorche Arch

Exploring in the boat was a blast. 

Mark really wanted to use the oar to push the boat from the wall. 

Hole in the Rock 

So many different rock formations at Lake Powell.

We found another hidden arch. It's tough to see. 

We found these ancient ruins, too.

We put the bed up in the cuddy of the boat and started the long drive up to Bullfrog. It was so smooth again that Glen got the boat up over 40 miles per hour, even though there was a bit more traffic. We pulled up to the dock right as the sun went down. It was late and we didn’t finish off the pasta and meatballs until nearly eight o’clock. There was apple pie and ice cream, too. Mom really feeds us well to end our perfect days!

Mom and Dad had such a great time on this trip.

The reflection was nearly perfect.

Seth had so much fun!!