Lake Powell

Lake Powell.

I was given this photo and sand from Lake Powell several, several years ago for a gift. Note the green frog in the jar with the sand. I think it is a bullfrog!

It was from my parents.

As a child and youth my family and I spent many a day, and weeks down at Lake Powell. 

Lake Powell is a popular destination spot now. I think it was then too.  It certainly is more developed down there now as far as facitlities for comfort, lodging, docking, etc. than it was 30+ years ago.

We would in early days haul our boat down there with us. We would use the boat often on Pineview resevoir and Flaming Gorge up more local here too.

I don't know when it was that we started keeping our boat down at Lake Powell. Perhaps as the boats size grew. Perhaps as we grew and the local waterskiing trips were not as frequent as they had been in the days with us in our teens. 

Maybe the boys liked it better at Powell. Maybe Dad was able to take longer times off, for the travel down to Powell to be as an easily accessible location for us.

But what ever the reasons it made the journey down so much easier not hauling the boat behind us. We could easliy hop in the car and head down to Bullfrog Marina.  

I would not be able to count the trips there. But I do know they wouldn't fit on my 2 hands. Or even 4 hands.  We had alot of memories of waterskiing, boating,( I loved to sit on the front of the bow and let the breeze blow through my then long hair!!.)

 I liked the wake splashing up on my hot legs. I liked the freedom I felt racing through the water with the gorgeous rock formation in front and on the sides of the boat.  I liked the deep blue color of the water in contrast to the red red rock surrounding me.

It reminds me of many carefree times.

I hated the sunburns. I hated the extreme heat. Which was always bearable until one went to dock to fill up the boat with gas. Or hiked the hills to the restrooms up from the docks. Of couse we always bought ice cream bars at that point.

I hated the sunburns at night when I was trying to sleep. I didn't like the red sand dyeing my clothes a dirty color.

But I did enjoy the fishing with my family in early years. I did enjoy all the UNO games at the table in the cabin of the boat at night. They became pretty heated or ruckus games, one can imagine with my brothers. What was the other card game we played with barley & rye cards? Is that PIT? 

I did love the huge sky filled with stars at night! The lapping of the water on the boat at night.

I did enjoy the lovely water. Almost bath water at times. I did enjoy the rides to Mokie Canyon, the arch,  

many many canyons I have forgotten the names of. I enjoyed the Indian ruins. I enjoyed the sand dunes. The hikes. The small boats we paddled around on. I loved being docked up the shady canyons. Pushing the boat out of the sand after docking in a spot too long. Diving off the top of the boat into the cool lake. Boating to a shady alcove and diving in the water to cool off.

Our boats were too big to say that waterskiing was what I remember most at Lake Powell. The pull up was way too slow. But we did do it at times. ( That memory is more Pineview and Flaming Gorge and Echo.)

But I do remember a waterskiing attempt at Lake Powell that landed our boat on the rocks. Traumatized Heidi to this day who was a babe in arms!!! (Heidi must have gotten over it because she later named one of our dogs Powell.) Little Russ in a car seat at that time. But that is a trip we like to forget.  We just every now and again like to share it in humor!!!

Well you can see that I have a Past with Lake Powell and that jar of red sand and photo of Lake Powell was a personal gift.

(I also remember needing to put a butterfly bandage on Heidi's nose at Lake Powell. I think she still to this day has that scar!)