Just Powell-ing Around

We're back on land (and in a place that has working Wi-Fi, yay!) We've been a few places since our last blog so we'll try to catch up...

Last Thursday we did a bit of a crazy thing: We checked into a floating hotel suite- aka a 59' houseboat, with a 21' speedboat in tow. Yes, you can rent this beast with only a driver's license! After a 45 minute speed presentation that included literally everything and the kitchen sink, our naive selves we were off, on our own (the rental company is smart enough to drive guests out of the marina as a courtesy) and taking the 2 hour excursion out to the bay where we would moor for the next five days.

The learning curve was about 2 days... it didn't help that our boat had a 12v issue that impacted water pressure and toilet performance- we just thought it was normal! Once we figured out why no one else was moored in in those beautiful green patches of beach (stinging nettles!), moved our boat, AND got the 12v problem fixed, the trip turned to FANTASTIC. We had heard from a number of people that houseboating on Lake Powell was a "bucket list" item, and now we know why. Amazing scenery, teal-green warm water, hot days/ cool nights, jumping fish (taunting?) and a million places to explore- lake and land- we are hooked! Truly, Matt and I are already talking about when we could do a next trip! (Would be great to have another couple... any takers? Read on... :) )

Like a typical beach house vacation, our days were full of swimming/ tubing, fishing and eating (nothing we caught, however)... the houseboat difference was Matt adjusting our anchors everyday to accommodate the rising lake levels and using the "small" boat to travel through beautiful canyons with no sign of humans- no people, no houses, nothing ... it could've been 200 years ago or another planet- truly awesome.

Speaking of awesome in the true sense of the word, the weather gave of some new respect for God and nature. Our first few days, we lucked out with perfect warm, sunny weather and then we saw what they mean by the famous flash storms of Lake Powell. We were returning from Rainbow Bridge National Monument (up-lake about 20 miles from our houseboat) when the first one came through the channel. It wasn't too terrible and we we got back "home" it was sunny and flat. However, we got some new neighbors way too close our boat (houseboat etiquette is to stay at least 100 yards from neighbors unless you know them)... it turns out they we VERY nice people but storm was terrible on the lower channel and they moored urgently.

Our last day was also beautiful to start and after we returned the big boat we went back out to a very flat, sunny San Pedro Bay for some more tubing and wake-boarding. 30 minutes in, the sky to our left was dark purple. Within 5 minutes, the waves were white caps and we were 40 minutes from the marina... Matt did a terrific job navigating across up and down (pro trick he learned: it's flatter in someone else's wake ;)) There were some white knuckles and lots of wet cold sprays but the girls seemed to love every minute. When we finally go to the marina, we thanked a bigger boat for letting us follow and then... SUNNY. As we drove off to our next destination (Grand Canyon), we say two big rainbows- reminding us how blessed we truly are!

ANA SAYS:

Lake Powell was really fun but at times it was really rough. I really enjoyed riding in front of the boat and tubing but I kept falling off (editors note: the tube, not the boat). One time though, I went across a whole bay on the tube!

JOSIE SAYS:

We learned some interesting things about Lake Powell. We learned that it was named that because Powell was a map maker and it was one of his favorite places to sit and map. Riding in the front of the boat and hitting waves was one of the things that was most enjoyable. You could feel them and it felt like you were flying; I like that feeling. Also, our houseboat had a slide which was super fast and sling-shotted you! Which was incredibly fun. You can go to sightings where you can land but kids have to use life-jackets anytime the boat is moving- even if you're on your beds which was uncomfortable. But don't get me wrong, it was still fun!

MATT SAYS:

I was a bit intimidated leaving the bay on the first day captaining a 59 ft boat trailed by the 21 ft open bow cruiser. This was a little out of my comfort zone, especially when I found out the house boat had issues ranging from the 12V system failure, including a steering issue that did not let you steer to the left very easily. Typical rental problem, and if we do rent something like this again we will be sure to check the systems a bit better before leaving the marina.

Finally after 2 hours of cruising on the open water it was time to beach the boat. This did not feel natural especially knowing that most of the bay we were mooring in was pure rock. As it was getting dark I decided to beach in a spot with green vegetation, and come to find out I landed in some type of "picker bush" and I am still recovering from rashes a week later.

I know I made this sound terrible, but the house boat experience on Lake Powell was incredible. When we woke up the first morning surrounded by red rock buttes, and beautiful mesa's I knew it was worth the pain. The fish were all over the place even though I was only able to catch a bunch of catfish and one small mouth bass. The stripers were gurgling and there were some other species I had never seen before.

Finally, we enjoyed cruising the open water with the girls either in the front or in the back on the tube. Ana was the champ of tubing as she rode the tube for about 15 minutes as we cruised across the bay. Josie enjoyed the being point on the boat as we went over 2-3 ft rollers as we were coming back from a couple of destinations. I was able to try wake-boarding once again. Now the equipment far out performs my abilities, but it was still a lot of fun. Theresa made some nice dinners as I re-anchored the boat and all in all we had great relaxing time in some beautiful surroundings.

New pictures in GALLERY!

Credit for title of todays' blog: Ana :)