Okay, So I Had Fun! - Lake Powell, 2013

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like to be hot.

My Scandinavian roots body says, "Take me to Norway!"

Sun makes you hot.

Lake Powell weather is pretty much 100 plus in the summer. 

That's the 1st problem.

The older I get, the more I am liking my Creature Comforts.

Comfortable bed, 

our own bathroom, 

not walking up and down stairs constantly, 

doing things when I feel like it -  

houseboat life with 20 plus people

is not conducive to any of those.

HOWEVER . . . 

I LOVE Roger!

And I LOVE the Weber High School Class of '62!

Roger and I have gotten together with them for years,

many times on Jerry Moyes's houseboat (when he had one)

now, houseboats (he owns several) at Lake Powell, 

as well as on many other occasions.

We have missed going to Lake Powell for 3 years,

so this year, it was a must do for Roger.

Though he has gone by himself a couple of times through the years,

he says he likes me to come.

I was out of excuses, so off we went on Wednesday, June 19,

which was one day before most of the others came.

Two other couples, Dan and Carol Gibson and Lyle and Chris Johnston

and Val Taylor (his wife is recovering from surgery)

came early to fish.

Jerry lets them use his fishing boat and stay on the houseboat, 

and they actually arrived on Monday, 

and got lots of good fishing in.

Fish, by the way, are really biting this year!

They caught one striper after another, throwing them all back, 

but they kept the chub to eat.

Roger isn't that big of a fisherman, 

but we go early so we can get a room on the Big Dog, 

which has an adjoining bathroom, shared with one other couple.

We lucked out with the weather, which hovered under 100

and the skies were clear and so blue!

Roger and Dan took many gorgeous photos - 

the scenery really is quite spectacular!

Here is the Big Dog.

And this is the Swift Get-Away, the other houseboat we took.

Jerry Moyes owns Antelope Crossing, 

where the boats are docked in their slips.

Wednesday evening, all of those who had arrived early

 (the rest all came on Thursday afternoon),

went to dinner at the Dam Restaurant, 

which really has good food.

(Roger is taking the pic)

Thursday morning early, Lyle, Dan and Val took Roger out fishing.

He actually caught 3 stripers and he really enjoyed fishing and chatting with his friends.

Chris loves outdoors anything, 
and here she is posing with one she caught the day before.

Dan with one of his big ones

After they returned from fishing, we went to breakfast at this cafe, which is only open for breakfast and lunch.  The Lake Powell crew love this place and it serves up big farm breakfasts.

Their special - 
Spanish omelette served with western hash browns 
and a giant pancake

Roger and I shared, and we were stuffed!

Shuttle carts pick you up at the top from the parking lot, 

then drive you down to the docks.

We all hung out, chatted and read, and some more guys went fishing on Thursday until everyone arrived, then we ate at the restaurant together at the docks. 

Early Friday morning, we headed out, traveling a little over two hours up the channel to a site near Cookie Jar.

We took two houseboats, the speedboat below, the fishing boat, The Predator (a 37 foot yacht, which we rode on to Rainbow Bridge) and two new wave runner jet skis.

Roger piloted the Swift Get-Away, which he is always asked to do when we come. 

We lost one engine, so he was cranking the wheel a lot. 

 He is a super boat pilot, too!

We docked in a lovely spot.

We played card games all afternoon, and I must report, 

after many hands, I was the Grand Champion of Garbage!

My kids will get a kick out of that, because they know I don't like to play games. 

 Maybe I am changing in my old age -

 naw, I say that only because I won!

Larry Maw 
(he also attended USU and roomed with Roger for one quarter and his sister was in my KD pledge class), 

Nancy Sivulich, 
married to Weber College basketball star Mike, 

who recently passed away, 

and Fred Stettler, 
WHS Class of '62 Student Body President

Me with Linda Stettler, one of my favorites

Helping prep dinner that first night, which was . . .

. . . shrimp scampi, tossed salad and garlic bread.

Roger and I are probably about the only two people on the planet who don't like cheesecake. 

 So we didn't have any, 

but everyone was pretty excited about this dessert!

Roger and I found this little nook to eat our dinner.

Carol Messerly, Roger's classmate, is a great gal 

who now lives in St. George.

Judy McFarland Collins was a KD sorority sister at USU 

and was Roger's classmate.  

She is darling!

Dan and Carol Gibson are wonderful! 
 Dan is a Wilson boy, and he is the one who wrote 
all of the stories about their adventures. 
 He organizes the trip every year, contacting everyone and doing all of the minutia that goes with being in charge.
Carol is a kindred spirit, hating the sun as much as I do. 
 She has a witty, fun personality.
They recently returned home from a very difficult LDS mission.

Jane and Wayne Stevenson were our bathroom mates this year.  
One year we slept under the hull of the boat together, 
with a big fan blowing on us all night!

Jane was also a KD, was first married to Roger's classmate, 
who was killed in the War in Vietnam, 
then she married a second time, and he died of a heart attack. 
 She and Wayne have been married for about 20 years.

I really enjoy chatting with Jane about books, as she is an avid reader and she also taught English in the schools.

She married very young, and put herself through school, 

getting a master's degree.  I admire her very much.

Lyle and Chris Johnston are two of the kindest, hardest-working people I know - and they are lots of fun!

Cute Nancy - her son married BYU Coach Reed's niece, who also cheered with our daughter, Stacy, at BYU. 

Jimmy Smout is the class jokester - 

he can do jokes and one-liners all day!

Larry Maw, sweeping up

Joyce Mann, catching some rays

Joyce and Jimmy are living in California.

Jimmy is a happy, jovial guy and Joyce is fun to talk to.

Jerry Moyes, just chillin'

Every year, Vicki plans all of the meals, shops for all of the food, makes homemade stuff like potato salad, brownies, carrot cake, cookies, etc., then mans the cooking 3 meals a day for 2 and a half days.

Throughout the 27 years that the class has been coming to Jerry's houseboat at Lake Powell, we have offered to do some of the planning, shopping, etc., but she always refuses.

She seems to enjoy it all - go figure!

And Jerry has been so kind, over the years, 
to share with his classmates!

Through all of those years, 

all of the guys have vigorously tried to out-water ski each other, 

get the jet skis up to their highest speed 

and we have waited in line for our turns on all of Jerry's toys.

Now-a-days, take a look at the favorite pastime!

On Saturday at 8:59 AM sharp 
(Jerry said we were leaving at 9, and when Jerry says to do something, everybody hops!), 
we left to go up the channel to Rainbow Bridge, which took just over an hour on The Predator.

Jerry is quite skilled at driving the boat with his foot!

Carroll Beus Thomas, Judy Collins, me, Linda Stettler, Nancy Sivulich, Carol Messerly, Jane Stevenson and Jim Mann

It was a fun boat ride, especially because it was under the shade!

The Predator makes a big wake!

Roger and Dan were taking pics, and I took one of Roger.

Here are some of their masterpieces!

Boats must pass through narrow crevices to get to Rainbow Bridge.

Guess who jumped off onto the dock so we could tie our boat up.

The water of Lake Powell is down low this year, 

and you have to hike in to the bridge.

Some hiked all of the one and 1/4 miles, 

some of us part way until we could see it in the distance, 

and some just waited on the dock.

Rainbow Bridge is in the background.

Jerry by The Predator

The outing group

Part of the tradition of going on this outing is for Jerry to stop in a certain place in the channel,

and for us to jump in and swim.

This used to be my favorite part.

Now, I worry about my knees holding up 

to get me up the boat ladder.

Those who jumped in only swam about 5 minutes - 

it was a little nippy.

The other part of the tradition is stopping for an ice cream cone 

or float at Dangling Rope Marina on the way back.

When we got back, we had a barbecued beef sandwich lunch,

then rode on the jet skis.

Roger and I took about a half hour ride through some of the coves.

Roger didn't ski this year - 

no one else does it anymore.

But he went on several rides on the jet ski.

He said he clocked his speed at 71 mph 

to see how fast he could get it to go - 

glad I wasn't with him!

Our final dinner was up on the top deck.

We had baked salmon, beef tenderloin, baked potato, asparagus, green beans, salad, homemade rolls

and Val's Dutch oven cakes (he is a trail cook for hunters) 

and ice cream.

That night, Saturday night, was the night that the Super Moon 

(they made a big deal about it in the news) 

was going to shine.

We waited and waited to be able to see it clear the steep cliffs where we were docked, well after dark.

Roger was playing with his camera, and took shots of people in the dark. 

 Flash!

Then temporary blindness!

Finally, after most had gone to bed, we saw it!

It was incredibly bright, and so worth staying up to see it!

Wish we could have taken pics that would show up of 

how beautiful the lake and surroundings looked

 in the bright moonlight.

Here are the women stay-uppers . . .

. . . and add Jim. . . 

. . . and Roger!

We had fun being silly in the moonlight!

Our adventures on The Big Dog this year were great fun!

I think I stored up the fun to last for awhile for me at Lake Powell, 

but I'm glad I went.

Pretty much, all that any of us really take with us 
when we leave this earth 

are good memories,

 and this trip supplied those in abundance!