Lake Powell
(Warning. Long post. Feel free to skim.Or look here
We just got back from a week at Lake Powell. It was a great break from the hum-drum life of gardening, laundry and checking my email.
Here's a synopsis of the doin's at the Lake:
Day 1
- Attendees: Sebastian, Nikki, Matt, Grandpa Robert, Uncle Hollis, Aunt Tina and me.
- 5 hour ride in the car. Sebastian did amazingly well, especially when we took a potty break in Price, Utah and found the dinosaur museum.
- 20 minute nap (instead of the usual 2 hours).
- 1 hour wait at the dock for the ski boat shuttle to the houseboat. Again, Sebastian did amazingly well.
- Sebastian was a total pill on Monday. He was punchy from the car ride, amped up from a weekend with his sisters and just tired. He ran around the houseboat, acted like a maniac and had zero impulse control. This actually turned out to be a good thing, he's normally very cautious but instead of saying things were "scary" he jumped right into them. Example: we went swimming and he was really eager to get into the deep water (yes, he was wearing a life preserver). Matt and Nikki were swimming off the back of the houseboat and I asked him if he wanted to jump in. "Yeah!", he said. So, I took his arms and swung him into the water. He came up, coughed and sputtered and started laughing manically. (It made me feel better to huck him into the water, too). His courage set a good tone for the rest of the trip. He was eager to try anything that we put in his way, including Buffalo steaks at dinner.
- Ii got a cowboy hat at the hole in the rock gas station (middle of nowhere, Utah). You'll see this creation atop my head in every one of my pictures.
- Sebastian had an "Isabell" moment. "Hey, where's the TV?" We're on a boat, on the water, 500 miles from home and he wants to know where the TV is. Incredible.
- It RAINED! When I say rained, it really rained on Monday night. Wind, lightning, lots of big fat raindrops. I was glad Sebastian and I opted to sleep in the stifiling heat of the houseboat that night.
- This was the most eventful day.
Day 2
- Attendees: Sebastian, Nikki, Matt, Grandpa Robert, Uncle Hollis, Marlies, her friend Brittany and me.
- Sebastian and Matt went swimming. We found a swimming board and he got used to swimming on his tummy!
- Marlies, Brittany, Matt and Grandpa Robert went waterskiing. It was a 2-hour adventure in the boat and Sebastian did really well. He helped hold the orange flag and loved going fast in the boat.
- Drinking enough water is a challenge in the heat of the desert. We taught Sebastian a drinking game to help combat the problem. Every time we'd take a drink we'd say, "Cheers!" and raise our glasses. He called the game "chairs" and would say it with every glass raised.
- We slept on the bow of the boat that night. Sebastian loves to snuggle when he sleeps. He also snores.
Day 3
- Attendees: Sebastian, Nikki, Matt, Grandpa Robert, Uncle Hollis, Marlies, her friend Brittany and me.
- Hole in the Rock. It's this little, steep canyon the Mormon pioneers treked. Apparently there were *80* wagons, women and children in the caravan. Crazy stuff. Couldn't pay me enough money or tempt me with salvation to do that.
- Rainbow bridge. It was a two-hour boat ride to Rainbow bridge. Sebastian had a 45-minute nap in the boat and everyone was greatful for it. When we got there Hollis, Marlies and Brittany camped out in the boat ("We've seen it") and Matt, Nikki, Sebastian, Grandpa Robert and I made the 2.5 mile trek to see one of nature's most beautiful creations.
- Sebastian ran the whole 2.5 miles up the trail. I'm sure he was greatful to get out of the boat and run around.
- Sebastian had enough sunscreen in his hair that I gave him a mohawk and it stayed upright for quite a while.
Day 4
- Attendees: Sebastian, Nikki, Matt, Grandpa Robert, Uncle Hollis, Marlies, her friend Brittany and me.
- Sebastian discovered the joys of hiking on the beach and up the small bluff. Alone. An adult was always watching him but he felt like he did something by himself without help which is a huge milestone for him.
- Sebastian also discovered the joy of sticks and pretended that they were dinosaurs or sharks or baraccudas that were fighting. Keeping the sticks, which inevtiably fell apart into pieces, out of the houseboat was something of a challenge.
- He discovered the joys of mud, making footprints in the mud and almost completely submurging his Allasaurus into the sticky mud.
- The rest of the day was a chill out day. Hanging out, snacking, drinking water and telling stories we've already told each other.
Day 5
- Attendees: Sebastian, Nikki, Matt, Grandpa Robert, Uncle Hollis, Marlies, her friend Brittany and me.
- Day 5 was the clean-up day. Cleaning red mud off of carpet is a little trickier than just vacuuming it up after it dries.
- Sebastian helped Brittany and Marlies deflate the rafts.
- Sebastian was a very good boy when we moved the houseboat back to the marina. He sat on his bum, ate Doritos and fruit snacks and talked in a low voice so as not to distract Hollis. Good job.
- Sebastian rode in an inflatable kayak with Brittany and Marlies. Given his cautious nature I wondered how he would react to paddling around in a small, inflatable craft. He loved row-row-rowing the boat!
- What he didn't love was the 6 hour car ride home. "Momma, my bum hurts. I'm sick. Can we go up the hill (home) please, please?" Poor guy. Yeah, he slept well that night.
Side notes:
- T-mobile is the ONLY cell carrier that has no reception in the southern 1/4 of Utah.
- If you think that you've applied enough sunblock, seek out a buddy and re-apply. When you've reached "greased pig" status, you're good to go.
- Drink drink drink. When your stomach is full of water, keep going.
- Overpack delicious, munchy, snack foods.
- Prepare to gain weight from said snack foods.
- If you feel like you're still on the boat when you go to sleep, it's normal. It's normal for the next couple of days, in fact.
