Memory lane anyone?

Last month, I spent the first two hours of my flight to Las Vegas with my mind wrapped up in a sudoku puzzle (I still struggle with those). Needing to give my brain a rest, I glanced out the window of the airplane. I did so just as as we began crossing the Colorado Plateau. My attention was quickly diverted as I saw mountains for the first time in months. I stared in fascination at the array of geological formations passing beneath us - from the high Rocky Mountains to barren desert mesas to deep red-rock canyons.

My excitement level jumped significantly when I saw the deep navy blue waters of Lake Powell on the horizon. We flew over the souther edge of the lake - providing a great view of the Glen Canyon Dam an Page, AZ.

Memories flooded back of childhood summers spent vacationing with family at this Southern Utah destination. Bear with me as I jaunt down memory lane:
- "Man over board!!!"
- Simon and Garfunkel; Neil Diamond; John Denver
- Carp feeding frenzy at Dangling Rope Marina
- the Cookie Jar in Padre Bay
- San Juan day trip
- Page Boy Motel (do you think they have installed A/C yet?)
- Trent and Bill sleeping in the boat to prevent theft - yet the cooler is still stolen
- Skinny dipping
- "Jake, if you play with that window thing you are going to break it... Jake, please don't play with that... Jake, don't touch that... Jake... Jake... What did I tell you?"
- Dad sets up his daily deli in the boat cabin (pita or regular? ham or turkey? mustard? salt and pepper?)
- Mom forces us kids to eat the air puff cereal Trent and Bill bought while they are out in the boat chowing down on Cocoa Pebbles
- Ice cream at Dangling Rope
- Cliff jumping
- A day trip to Utah Lake turns into a weekend at Lake Powell (I can't believe we did that to Bill's date)
- Trent's infamous F-bomb after being forced out of the boat by Dad and Bill during a man over board
- Mom warming meat using the Suburban heater
- Sitting on the front of the house boat on the way back to Bullfrog Marina during a storm as waves repeatedly splashed up all over us
- How many of Bill's girlfriends did we scare away? (Andrea was never subjected to this harsh initiation - maybe that was for the best)
- Leaving Bill and Trent in the boat on the lake after breaking down while the rest of us were taken back to the marina by a ranger (was this the event that convinced Dad to finally sell the Sea Ray?) - we later learned of their dangerous encounter with man-eating cows
- Endless games of Phase 10 in the cabin of The Love Boat (that was a lame name for a boat)
- Shooting water balloons off of the boat with a slingshot
- Catching lizards
- A sick bat hanging on the front of Trent's swimsuit
- Dad's heinous waves while we rode the water weenie or the tube
- 7-hour road trips in a Suburban with 10 people and gear
- J.B.'s in Richfield, UT

Jamie's additions:

- learning to slalom (sp?) and Dad honking the horn of the boat when I finally earned my new ten speed.
- Singing "The big red letters stand for the Jello family..." while on the water weenie
- Buying sweatshirts and the Polo outlet in Page. (I know, dumb memory)
- Exploring random little canyons
- Seeing the naked man who was sunbathing when we drove up a canyon.
- Brooke almost drowning
- Sun burns
- That forever long hike to "waterfalls" that we never found. I hated that.
- Laying by the speaker so I could hear Simon and Garfunkel on our way to San Juan.
- The bumpy ride up to San Juan.
- Your face plant into the water while cliff jumping.
- Riding on Bill's shoulders while he was skiing.
- Sun burns.
- Falling off the ski and thinking a shark was going to come eat me while the boat was turning back around. (I know, another dumb memory)
- Heidi's stinky sandals (Heidi, don't hate me that I remembered that one).
- Indian poop
- Pretending to sleep in the boat cabin so I wouldn't have to do a Man Over Board.
- Sun burns
- Mom and Dad trying to make us play the Quiet Game on the way home.
- Mountains of laundry in the washroom.
- The boys wearing bandanas on their heads. Didn't we all want to be just like Bill?
- That huge sand hill just past the Wauwep (sp?) marina.
- Waving to all the people on the tour boats.
- Mom's sunglasses she found in the water, then continued to wear them for the next year.
- Glass water at San Juan.

Heidi's additions:

-Skiing and letting go by the shore so we could coast in.
-Being bounced around on the tube with to many of us on.
-Trying to see how long we could get away with out wearing our life jackets.
-The big sand hill in that took all we had to climb up and then run down into the water.
-I have to add Gordon Lightfoot to the list of music. I think it was only one song that really sticks out.
-Thinking it was so odd that dish soap was used to get your foot in the ski.
-Finding the tour boats to follow the massive waves.
-Being totally oblivious to the mass amount of noise and confusion that was us kids.

Trent's additions:

- Air Supply, The Allan Parson Project, and ABBA.
- The smell of dads tool box (It still smells the same. It is at the cabin now).
- Dragging Jill down the rock on her knees.
- Dr. Jensen's First Aid Kit (and the countless injuries is soothed)
- The box of snack food in the cabin (Party Mix, The beef jerkey in the individual wrappers, Hot Tomalies, and taffey cookies.
- Sleeping on top of the houseboat.
- Drunk Indians.
- Changing propellers.
- Hoping hot chicks showed up at the hotel hot tub.


Feel free to add to the list. I am sure there is much I have overlooked. In any case, I wouldn't trade our time on the lake for anything. Maybe we can make it back there some day.