Lake Powell by Porter Fairbourne

Lake Powell was AWESOME!!!! We did everything!

        After a six-hour drive we finally arrived at the dock. It was dark with only the dim lighting from the parking lot lamps. Everyone was a little achy from sitting for so long. We had to load everything up on the houseboat that night, so that we would be ready to undock in the morning.  That next morning we left the dock to find a place to park our boat. The ride was fun.  We played cars, waved to other boats, talked, and just enjoyed the view. 

When we found the perfect spot where our boat fit well and we could see from the front of the boat a great mass of water. I think Lake Powell is beautiful because of the orange tan rock, dark blue water, and the plateaus in the distance. Lake Powell is definitely the most well balanced trip from absolutely breath taking sunsets to exhilarating fun on the water.    Ellie taught me how to drive the wave runner. After that I was pro. I was doing jumps off boat wakes it was so fun. We would get some speed and drive straight over the wave and then we’d fly in the air.  Elli and I would ride our wave runners up the canyon and make jumps for each other.

A new toy that Eric brought was the orange mat.  Being pulled by the jet ski with the orange mat was super fun. There isn’t anything to hold onto except the side and where the ropes poke out. Since there are no handles you usually end up slipping and dragging the person next to you with you when you fall off.  I was pretty good staying on but not as good as this little kid named Wifi. I am four times this kids weight and he didn’t even get his hair wet!

Nothing is more classic at Lake Powell than tube wars! Tube wars is a game where two tubes are pulled behind the boat and the two teams competing try to see who can get the most points by throwing the other team’s players off their tube.  The teams were; Lilli, Jake, and I on one team and the other team was Alta, Elli, and Isabelle. Right as the boat began to pull the two tubes the game started. Alta with all of her mighty courage jumped on our tube but only to be shoved of the front of the tube. The score was 1:0 and the girls were getting angry. Soon it became all of the opposing team on our tube. Lilli was unwilling to throw her best friends off so she took refuge back on the other tube. There was a lot of pulling, pushing, and wrestling but they couldn't get us off. Some retreated, but Jake and I still had Isabelle and we rolled her off the back of the tube. Score 2:0. We were still in the lead. Elli found some courage to jump on our tube but was thrown of the side by Jake.  The final score 3:0.  

Something new I tried this year was repelling. Repelling off a cliff 110 feet high is kind of scary but scary is normal in the Pope family. Like Eric says, "We learn something new every year at Lake Powell." This year we learned why you don't use dynamic rope for repelling. By the end of the trip the rope was 5 feet longer.  However the rope worked just fine. I went down the cliff terrified but once I tried it wasn't that bad. I even did another one that had a big overhang.

Most people don’t like sleeping in Lake Powell, but I love it. One night while gazing upon the stars I spotted a shooting star then another and another. By this time all of the kids sleeping on the top deck were on a search for the best shooting star. Someone would say, “I just saw a really cool one!” Or someone would say, “wow, look at that one!” While everyone was looking at the shooting stars there was one that no one missed. The incoming meteor was bright white and looked as if it was coming straight towards us. As the shooting star got bigger it turned red and broke up into several pieces into the nighttime sky. Grandpa shot off fireworks that night, but that shooting star even beat those.

As everyone could tell, the Cokes were running out, a good sign that the trip was almost to an end. A day that everybody dreaded and hoped would never come.. Everyone had something to clean and something to pack. I picked up trash and packed the blankets. Once we landed back in the dock and every got out and started to head on home. Thanks to the Popes, Larsens, Holmbergs, and the Astlels I had the best Lake Powell trip ever.