Lake Powell September 2006

This year our houseboat trip gave me a renewed appreciation of how blessed we are to be able to see this part of the country year after year. I realized that I had taken it for granted when our guests, the Tafts, kept exclaiming over and over about the beauty their eyes were beholding.

Because fuel prices have been up over the past few years, we intended to go only as far north as the mouth of the San Juan River (57 miles from Glen Canyon Dam). When we arrived at the mouth, a group of tent campers had pitched their tents on the shore right in the spot we had intended to anchor, so we made the decision to continue up the San Juan to our favorite spot between Piute Canyon and Neskahi Wash (22 miles). You see in the picture the place we anchored and the beautiful glasslike water which stayed like this for the next 4 days. The burros came with their young in the afternoon to drink from the river. It was fun to watch the babies frolick around while the adults made sure they got enough to drink. We also saw a young fox run along the shoreline across from our houseboat. One morning, I awoke to a rosy glow outside my window. I grabbed the camera and went to the back of the boat to take some photos of the sunrise. What an incredible sight to behold! Psalm 95:1-5 says

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

The waterfall to the right is at the end of Anasazi Canyon. We took Bob, Ginger and Jeff Taft to see Cathedral and Anasazi Canyons, as well as, hiking to Rainbow Bridge. Here is a picture of Paul and me in front of Rainbow Bridge with our constant companion "Roxy". We had a wonderful week, although the fishing was different this year. The stripers seemed to be hibernating. The fisherman caught small mouth and large mouth bass, crappies, and catfish. We only kept a few catfish to cook up as an addition to dinner or lunch. Our kitchen teams did their duty with excellence! Here is Jared and Ginger doing their night of KP. Melanie was hooked on Sudoku puzzles this year and her dad was very patient to spend time showing her that the solution did not involve guessing but that a strategy could and must be used.

It was also a pleasure to be able to have Jared along this year for the first time in about 5 or 6 yrs. He enjoyed wakeboarding, fishing, and seadooing (is that a word?).

It was difficult to prepare for this trip....we hosted a barbecue on Labor Day (4 days before departure) for my Aunt and Uncle visiting from Arkansas. Also, Sally and I were attempting to

make a dress for Lauren to wear to her friend Rachael's wedding. We got the dress 3/4 completed when I had to stop work on it. I felt terrible about leaving the unfinished dress in Sally's lap, but she was very gracious and got it done. As you can see, Lauren looks gorgeous in it! THANK YOU SALLY!!!

I am very grateful for the many blessings that surround me. Lake Powell, caring family, visiting family, great friends......and so much more.