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2023 Summer Vacation
Lake Powell, Arizona/Utah
This year we decided to go to Lake Powell for our summer trip. Kyle wanted to go back here and since it was his last time, he got to choose. We towed the boat up to Page and stayed in a rental house in Page. We had no issues with the drive up and back, unlike last time we did this trip.
The photo above is of Serra wanting to make biscuits by herself. Serra likes to do many things by herself. She, like some of our other children, will get very mad if you attempt to do something she wants to do, when she is present. Here she is cutting the biscuits and placing the on the pan. She did the rolling out and forming the biscuits prior to our departure to Page.
Ethen joined us on this trip. It was a good trip. We drove up on a Monday and drove back on a Firday. That gave us 3 days on the lake. If you look closely in the first photo, you will notice all of the glass in the boat. The first day on the lake was very windy.
As we were nearing the 3:00 hour in the afternoon, we turned westward and a particurlarly strong gust of wind caught the foldable windsheild and it slammed shut. This was the second time it did the during the day. This time, Janelle happened to be standing near the passage way between the glass and the window caught her on the head and shattered. The glass went everywhere. We decided to call it a day and headed for the shore. Janelle had a few cuts on her legs and I did on my feet.
After we got the boat out and cleaned up a bit, we went back to our house and then dropped the trailer. As some of the group worked on dinner, Terra and I went to a local Ace, and purchased a shop vacuum and extension cord. We went to work cleaning up the glass shards and then removed the hinge pins for the removable windshield. We proceeded the rest of the trip with the window missing and had no issues from any cuts from shards we missed.
This photo to the right is us at a park on the 4th of July. Page was having a shin-dig at the park and had some live bands invited to play. We watched for 20-30 minutes and then decided that the music wasn't our thing, and we went home for dinner. We came back to this spot after dark and watched the fireworkds in Page that evening.
The trip up reminded Ethen how much he loves traveling with his younger siblings. He was trying to read and Kyle and Rachel wouldn't leave each other alone. They fought and fought most of the trip. Ethen threatened to walk (but never did) after hours of this treatment.
During this trip to Lake Powell I wanted to go see some of the more picturesque parts of the lake. To that end, I consulted a map and decided that labrynth canyon was the spot. So one day, we set off and drove about 1.5 hours up the lake to this canyon. As it turned out, this canyon, while very interesting, was not the place I was hoping it would be. Nonetheless, we ventured up the winding canyons and found a spot where the walls closed in and ended. The kids got out and swam upstream and found the head of the canyon, there was a snake in there and they enjoyed observing it and eventually we had to back up and get out.
To facilitate the reversing, the kids swam and pulled us back until the canyon was wide enough to turn the boat around and then we went on our merry way.
After this canyon we went a different way up the labrynth canyon and found some nice cliffs that everyone jumped off of. There are also some photos of that event scattered throughout this letter.
Serra and Janelle seemed to enjoy this trip. Neither of them really like spending any amount of time on the raft, but they sure do like the swimming.
The kids bulit this stack of rocks on the top of one of the cliffs they were exploring on.
This boat below was manned by a single individual. While I was fetching the car to load the boat, the kids watched this guy steer his boat through our docked vessles and dock in the front of the pier. They were impressed with the way he was able to manuver his craft. I don't possess his skill, but I suspect I haven't spent a fraction of the time on the water has he appeared to have.
Landen didn't enjoy the raft on this trip, but after we visited the lake later on in the summer, he developed the appetite to play around on the raft behind the boat. It seems like the kids, during their early teen years, develop the desire/want to be thrown around and try to hang on for dear life.
This sunset below was taken prior to us leaving the lake one evening. We watched the sun set on the lake 2 of the three days, with the exception of the windshield failure day.
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2023 Summer Vacation
Lake Powell, Arizona/Utah This year we decided to go to Lake Powell for our summer trip. Kyle wanted to go back here and since it was his last time, he got to choose. We towed the boat up to Page and stayed in a rental house in Page. We had no issues with the drive up and back, unlike last time we did this trip. |
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The photo above is of Serra wanting to make biscuits by herself. Serra likes to do many things by herself. She, like some of our other children, will get very mad if you attempt to do something she wants to do, when she is present. Here she is cutting the biscuits and placing the on the pan. She did the rolling out and forming the biscuits prior to our departure to Page.
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Ethen joined us on this trip. It was a good trip. We drove up on a Monday and drove back on a Firday. That gave us 3 days on the lake. If you look closely in the first photo, you will notice all of the glass in the boat. The first day on the lake was very windy.
As we were nearing the 3:00 hour in the afternoon, we turned westward and a particurlarly strong gust of wind caught the foldable windsheild and it slammed shut. This was the second time it did the during the day. This time, Janelle happened to be standing near the passage way between the glass and the window caught her on the head and shattered. The glass went everywhere. We decided to call it a day and headed for the shore. Janelle had a few cuts on her legs and I did on my feet. After we got the boat out and cleaned up a bit, we went back to our house and then dropped the trailer. As some of the group worked on dinner, Terra and I went to a local Ace, and purchased a shop vacuum and extension cord. We went to work cleaning up the glass shards and then removed the hinge pins for the removable windshield. We proceeded the rest of the trip with the window missing and had no issues from any cuts from shards we missed. |
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This photo to the right is us at a park on the 4th of July. Page was having a shin-dig at the park and had some live bands invited to play. We watched for 20-30 minutes and then decided that the music wasn't our thing, and we went home for dinner. We came back to this spot after dark and watched the fireworkds in Page that evening.
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The trip up reminded Ethen how much he loves traveling with his younger siblings. He was trying to read and Kyle and Rachel wouldn't leave each other alone. They fought and fought most of the trip. Ethen threatened to walk (but never did) after hours of this treatment.
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During this trip to Lake Powell I wanted to go see some of the more picturesque parts of the lake. To that end, I consulted a map and decided that labrynth canyon was the spot. So one day, we set off and drove about 1.5 hours up the lake to this canyon. As it turned out, this canyon, while very interesting, was not the place I was hoping it would be. Nonetheless, we ventured up the winding canyons and found a spot where the walls closed in and ended. The kids got out and swam upstream and found the head of the canyon, there was a snake in there and they enjoyed observing it and eventually we had to back up and get out.
To facilitate the reversing, the kids swam and pulled us back until the canyon was wide enough to turn the boat around and then we went on our merry way. |
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After this canyon we went a different way up the labrynth canyon and found some nice cliffs that everyone jumped off of. There are also some photos of that event scattered throughout this letter.
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Serra and Janelle seemed to enjoy this trip. Neither of them really like spending any amount of time on the raft, but they sure do like the swimming.
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The kids bulit this stack of rocks on the top of one of the cliffs they were exploring on.
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This boat below was manned by a single individual. While I was fetching the car to load the boat, the kids watched this guy steer his boat through our docked vessles and dock in the front of the pier. They were impressed with the way he was able to manuver his craft. I don't possess his skill, but I suspect I haven't spent a fraction of the time on the water has he appeared to have.
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Landen didn't enjoy the raft on this trip, but after we visited the lake later on in the summer, he developed the appetite to play around on the raft behind the boat. It seems like the kids, during their early teen years, develop the desire/want to be thrown around and try to hang on for dear life.
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This sunset below was taken prior to us leaving the lake one evening. We watched the sun set on the lake 2 of the three days, with the exception of the windshield failure day.
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