The Reynolds Turkeys!: Lake Powell 2012

We had the time of our lives this summer at Lake Powell with Uncle Ryans family, Uncle Mark, and cousin Emmett! We explored all of the nooks and crannies of Red Rock Country via houseboat, wave runner, and speed boat (we even swam a little...okay, a lot!). Josie learned how to swim this summer, so she and cousin E had fun splashing/swimming near the shore every day. The olders discovered new-found freedom in the form of a wave runner; they loved taking off at any given time to go do donuts in the water, or to explore nearby coves and watery canyons. Everyone also had a ball rock jumping and canyon-land hiking. On one of our days there we hoofed it up to Rainbow Arch--HOT--but worth the long putt-putting ride on the houseboat. The arch is a magnificent sight! The last time we were there was in the summer of 1998 when we hiked it with Thys, as a papoose on my back!

Mia, Ben and Becca partied it up all week, as did Thys and Zach. Uncle Ry loved taking the kids out on the speedboat to wakeboard, water ski, and tube. I'm sure they all swallowed plenty of lake water that week! An unexpected bonus of the trip was the rejuvinating mud baths we happened upon as we searched for White Canyon one day (an amazing boat ride I might add!). We found ourselves high-centered on a sandbar deep into the canyon and couldn't go any further, so we decided to bail out and enjoy the water...and uh...mud! That afternoon all enjoyed mud sculpting, mud slinging, dreadlock making, and war painting. Topped off by cliff jumping that afternoon, it was nearly an excellent day!

Other highlights from our Powell adventure included movie watching on the houseboat roof in the evenings (on Uncle Ry & Aunt Sherenes projector screen...The Pink Panther was our fave!), eating Aunt Sherenes awesome cuisine, Slimey-rock sliding/swimming in a little cove, playing Aunt Sherenes "Present Game" and fishing with Uncle Ryan and Uncle Mark. We will always remember venturing out to gas up the houseboat late-afternoon at Dangling Rope Marina and then trying to find our way back to our camp in the dark. Fortunately Uncle Mark waited back at our beach for us and used his IPhone/lighthouse to guide us into our cove. On a different night Uncle Mark had a dream that we had somehow become "unanchored" and were drifting out into the lake. In his sleeping state he ran up to Ry & Sherenes room and frantically announced that we were drifting. They ran to the head of the boat only to find that we were safely anchored to the beach, and Uncle Mark woke up. We had quite a laugh over that one!

Truly, I can't really describe how beautiful Lake Powell is. We would explore all of the little coves/canyons that we could and still not get enough of their splendiforous beauty! And the company was even better...we loved having that time with Ryan, Sherene, their kids, Uncle Mark & cousin Emmett. I'm already thinking that Lake Powell will have to be on the agenda for August 2013! This little trip was a great way to wrap up our states-side time for the summer of 2012!