Summerplace 2 Bullfrog bay Lake Powell
Tomcat on his first trip to the Lake Powell
The past several years we have been going together as a family to Lake Powell on a trip called 48 hours. We called it 48 hours to get the parents on board. Anyone can last for 2 days in tight quarters, hot surroundings and no place to get down time. Add to that the fact that we had 32 .5 attend this year and you can start to see the event called 48 hours take shape. 48 Hours of Fun was created to see if the kids could out last the parents on playing or if the parents would be able to outlast the kids in a non-stop play fest at Lake Powell. This was our 3rd year and we had the largest group attend and so we decided to go over the 4th of July and really make it a 72 hour trip. For Anne and me it was the first trip as a family that we were able to take Tomcat our new boat. Tomcat is from the MB Sport family and is a fun, kind 21 foot tow boat that I lived in for the most of the entire trip. Tomcat loves to play music and even tow tubes, surf, kneeboard and wakeboard. Tomcat did great we had a really fun trip with him and I think he will have many more fun years at the lake.
Tomcat had a friend called X-15 and they came out of the gate with such excitement. They had tubes, kids and sun a plenty and they did not stop for 48 hours. The Seadoo’s were also getting a fair amount of attention and by noon we had Summer Place 2 on a beach, in a cove protected and ready for the little ones to play on the shore. Old blue, my dad’s ski boat was taking a break for the first time in 10 years as he was not needed to take a leading role this year.
Pictures of the Wakeboarders, Surfers, and Kneeboarders
I still enjoy getting upside down
Joy to me is filling the boat up with kids, a lot of kids and to take them for non-stop fun. We had 8 jump in the boat and off we went. The first activity was to go surfing and for those that are not sure how we surf it is as close to the real thing as you can get. Using a shaped wake that curls like an actual wave and a small surf board one can toss the rope back into the boat and ride the wake for as long as they can stay in the sweet spot.
Kneeboading was the second activity as well as wakeboarding. We spend the entire afternoon playing and ended up coming back only for water and food and to change out those that wanted try something else. The end of the first day at Lake Powell always comes too quickly. But for us this was a pretty great night since Lexi was able to sleep on top of the boat with the entire family. Jackson and Josh also looked for satellites and did their best to stay awake but soon the entire boat was out cold. Rob has a great competitor in Bill for who snores the loudest and with a pair of ear plugs I was out.
Waking up to the sunrise at Lake Powell has to be one of the best experiences that one can have. No alarms, street noise or anything that we usually live with at home just the sound of the water. The sun heats us up quickly and not more than 10 minutes later the first Jet Ski was off and Tomcat was eager to get going for another fun filled day.
Tubes were the requested start to the day and something very special happed. We filled up the tubes and yellow banana up with air and took them to the end of the houseboat for the little kids ride. I made a promise to Ella that I would not go fast and I had to keep that promise. So as we were loading up the little ones my mom grabbed her life jacket and jumped on the tube and would not get off. It has been too many years to count since the last time I saw my mom playing behind the boat but as I said it was a special day and she was going tubing with her grandkids.
Time on the beach
Tubes, Tubes and more Tubes
The rest of the morning was filled with beach playing, more time on the boats. The afternoon was filled with Ice cream, wonderful food and playing on the rocks at the back of the boat. Lexi, Jackson and Josh all had a blast with cousins. Lexi was able to play with Ella and Bella and they seemed to never run out of ideas of things to do. This year catching the grass hoppers was the IN thing and they all had pets for the entire trip. Josh found it very easy to hang out with his BFF Libby. Jackson went between a few groups and seemed to enjoy several different cousins.
Later that day the wind came up and we ended up spending the early evening watching a storm roll over us. We had the boats tied up and the anchors were placed well for SummerPlace 2 so we just watched and waited for the storm pass over us. That did not stop the fun as the games went to the indoors with card games and movies with much needed AC cooling everyone down.
Taking the houseboat back to the slips is always bitter sweet as it tells us that the trip is almost over. Rather than heading back to Denver in the morning we decided to delay and go in the afternoon to avoid the traffic going to Denver and it ended up being a great choice. We played hard with surfing, cliff jumping and just playing around until nearly 2pm. We packed up Tomcat tell he was full and then made our way to the boat ramp.
Cliffjumping
A little time on the Seadoo with the kids!
Hanging out
Ella
Even the boats need a break in the day
Pictures of BFF's
Josh and Libby
Bill on Tomcat
Nanna and Pappa
The drive home was filled with talking to the kids about their favorite parts of the trip and letting them know that we love them. If they can survive a trip like 48 Hours of fun they can handle most anything. As if you were wondering, the parents won again for the 3rd year running. The kids called quits and left very tired and ready for some recovery!!!
Lake Powell will always be a part of my life. I love that place, I love seeing my family play together, work together and get along with no distractions found at home. We had no computers, phones and just movies that we all wanted to watch. We worked out the little fights and put lotion on all the sunburns and all left with huge smiles. I love you Lake Powell and the fact that we can have our crazy 48 Hours of Lake Powell each year with you is great. The drive home went fast this year since I was full of joy and memories that will last forever.
Anne getting use to driving the boat!
See you in 2012 for the 4th 48 Hours of Lake Powell, maybe the kids can come with their A game and have a possible chance.
Lexi taking a break on Tomcat
Jackson down for the count
Love you Anne,
T
