Your Brother Said What??

"Do you want to go house boating on Lake Powell? My brother invited us to go with him," my husband announced after work one spring day.

"Where in the world is Lake Powell? And a house boat? What is that-a house on a boat? Like you can just step out of the boat and into the water?" I dubiously replied.

"Lake Powell is in Utah. And yes a house boat is like a house on a boat & you can walk right off the edge into the water," my husband calmly answered.

More questions.  Like why in the world would I take my nine-month old baby to a place where he could crawl right off the edge and drown???

Ultimately we did join the adventure of the Murdy family's maiden voyage to Lake Powell on the "Tanya". My husband, myself, our baby, and eight of my in-laws on a 48 foot house boat in the middle of no where.  Certainly felt like God was pushing my limits?! 

If you fly from CA east, you will fly over a vast area of desert nothingness. You might see the long strip of the CO River from Page, AZ north which is 150 mile long Lake Powell. Very few roads- about six- in and out of Lake Powell.

It was an intense family time- dealing with keeping meat safe for eating in a desert for seven days with a camping refrigerator that sorta of worked about half the time, figuring out how to manage nap times with the three toddlers/baby aboard versus grown-ups who did not want to be quiet, trying to keep everyone cool in 105 + degree temps, managing the boat and anchors in some vicious storms, and so much more.

It was an incredibly beautiful time of nature-seeing the magnificent hand of God in the beauty and majesty of the rock formations and the dazzling light of the stars and moon in a place otherwise completely dark at night, the peace of being on the water in the middle of no where with no one except your 10 people around,

As we left, I wondered, will I ever return? 

There had been some extremely difficult times...Living with in-laws in tight and hot quarters, wondering if I was going to get food poisoning toward the end of the week with the uncooked barely cool meat, etc. After a tift with a family member, I took a long hike, but ultimately I had to return to the boat (or die in the desert). But I loved the time with my husband. (No cell phone service or phones out there at the time.) I loved living in this place of awe-inspiring nature. ( Nix Nature Deficit Disorder read this link.) I loved being on the water. (Water calls my name ever since a family took me boating when I was a little girl.)

"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing." Isaiah 55

Did I return? Of the past 30 years, I did return 27 of those years! Incredible memories of special family adventures.  More stories of our Lake Powell adventures to come.

How can you create a time and space for unique family togetherness?

Who can identify these locations on Lake Powell?