Wonders of the World

It has been 22 years since my last visit to Lake Powell, but I can guarantee it will not take me that long to get back there again! What an astonishing, captivating feast for the eyes.

Our new friends, the Youngs, included us on their most recent trip to the lake. The Young family (consisting of Tim, Sidney, Halley, Clayton, Stevie, and Brody) own a great ski boat and wanted to get at least one last trip in before the weather turns cool. We were lucky enough to be invited along and we had an amazing time.

Quickly after getting on the lake, we headed over to a little cove (there are thousands!) and let the kids swim and jump off the cliffs. It doesn't look that high until it is you standing on the edge! Once we plucked up the courage to jump, we could not be stopped.

I wish the shots could do some justice to the height of these jumps. We got some video tracking it all the way down but I am still trying to get those to download onto the blogger site (any hints?). Although everyone made some crazy jumps, Spencer and Halley won the award for highest jump of the day. Not to be bested by the kids, Tim Young got up and pulled even with them on the last jump. Rematch next trip.

Whitney, Stevie, and Abby (another friend who joined us) took a bit to get their courage up for this jump but finally they each did it. Stevie (in the middle and 3 1/2 years old) took about a half an hour and lots of countdowns. We kept telling her she didn't have to jump but then she would get upset with us and tell us she would do it if someone would catch her. That "someone" changed every 2 minutes, revolving through all the adults, and even Parker! Stevie was awesome and so fun to watch her finally do it!

We spent all day on the boat. When presented with a 6 am start and spending until sundown on the water, Jer and I thought it might be a long day but the hours flew! We spent lots of time swimming in the warm water and tooling around on the boat looking for the perfect cliff jumping spots.

Spencer on the lookout for more cliffs upon which to prove his manliness. I think his lips are a little blue in this shot. This poor boy has the hardest time staying warm and we were killing him with the wet clothes and wind. Winter here may just finish him.

I even tried my hand at some wakeboarding. On purpose there are no shots of the actual deed because that would expose all of me in a semi-squatting position, in a bathing suit. I think not. For the record, I did get up, I did wakeboard, and I did fall in a most glorious fashion. After those falls I opted for some waterskiing. At least I can get up without yanking my arms out of the sockets. (No shots of that for the previously stated reasons and a firm NO BATHING SUIT pictures of Koryn rule - maybe in my next life.)

Parker showed some skills and arm strength on this tube. It took many, many tight turns to finally dump him. After he finished he could not pull himself out of the water and onto the boat. Now that is committment.

After all that fun in the sun, and after a yummy lunch onthe beach, Stevie could no longer fight the power of a long boat ride. She just dropped against Whitney and snoozed for about 45 minutes. Whitney was so sweet and just sat there with her arm around Stevie while she rested. I think Whitney has finally found that stand-in-sister she has always wanted and her parents (or should I just say Jeremy) would not give her.


Goes without saying, just about the best day ever. As the sun started to drop in the west, a bank of thunderclouds came up in the east. We quickly headed to the boat launch where many kind souls helped fight the waves and get us safely off the water. We made the 2 hour drive home (with a quick stop at a burger joint for sustenance) and walked in the door around 10 pm, where Parker promptly said goodnight and went straight to bed, the rest of us quickly following suit.

Perfect day. Hopefully more to come.