First off, I CANNOT BELIEVE how much WORK is involved! I definitely appreciate my parents more for putting all that effort in to take us on a -camping- vacation. The meal planning, the ahead- prep time, the gathering of gear, the packing, the squeezing things into your car. It was E.X.H.A.U.S.T.I.N.G.
We drove down Wednesday night, right after I got off work. I got off to a bad start because last minute I realized I hadn't set my vacation responder on my e-mails or recorded a voice-message. So I had to leave ten minutes late. I know, I shouldn't freak out, but when things don't go my way like that, I get SO BUGGED. I was livid basically all the way to Salt Lake. I had to give myself a stern talking-to and I was able to relax the rest of the drive. Thank heavens Jake is so patient and forgiving.
We got there at about 12:30 a.m. and had to set up our tent. We were so tired (and once again crabby) from the drive. I had to walk the beach a bit to find my family while Jake sat in the car. We finally found them and my amazing dad and brother Ben were up and helped us A TON. They showed us where to set up our tent, helped us stake it in and brace it against the wind. Our tent's one of those with super flimsy poles, so we had to tie a rope to the banana and another to a log to keep the poles upright. Kinda ridiculous.
I won't bore you with a play by play of each day, but I'll give you a general overview. Each morning the sun would come BEATING down on our tent, making it impossible to sleep- so freaking hot. Most mornings we'd just sit around waiting for breakfast to be ready. One particular morning, my aunt and uncle were assigned to bring an essential item and they didn't show up for like an hour and a half after they were supposed to be there. We were all pretty bugged and hungry. Fortunately, in the meantime, my extended family put together a soccer game. (One of the only things we did that even resembled family time-- weird considering it was a 'Family Reunion'...) It was SO FUN to see Jake out there playing. He even made a goal!
Afternoons were spent hiding out in my parents' 5th wheel. The wind was so strong, it was blowing sand EVERYWHERE. You could hardly even keep your eyes open. I literally considered wearing my snorkeling googles to walk around outside. (No, I didn't actually, but would have made for a good photo op.) Jake and I literally had to spend an hour and a half that first night cleaning our tent out of all the sand that had COVERED everything we had in there. Way annoying.
Before I go on much further, you have to understand that all growing up, Lake Powell trips were all about boating time for my family-- early morning ski's/wake-boarding, afternoon knee-boarding/tubing and evening ski's into the sunset. NOT THE CASE on this trip. The weather was SO windy most days, it was nearly impossible to even get the boat out. So that caused a lot of frustration, drama and arguing for time when the water WAS good. Fail #... I don't even know what we're up to now. It was so draining being between arguing parties. I think that really ruined the trip for me.
Last fail-- spending next to no time with the extended family. I had a few conversations and brief interactions with various family members, but it was nothing close to what we've done in the past. I have no idea why I was so lame. I think I've gotta chock it up to the bad weather and having to hide out in my parents' trailer a lot of the time... But I also think we've all grown so much, many of the cousins have kids, and we have limited ties to each other... Perhaps next time will go smoother and help us reconnect better?
Fortunately there WERE some positive highlights from the trip I can share:
1- Getting quality time with two of my nieces/nephews I haven't had the opportunity to get to know. They were adorable, so well behaved and so fun. I really built a lot of trust with my nephew-- we went swimming together and he held onto my life jacket and kicked and kicked all by himself! I was so proud of him!
2- Jake thinking ahead to plan other activities for us. We brought our snorkeling gear (didn't really see much, but glad we got to test it out), he got to do some mountain biking he's been dying to do, and we got to see Horseshoe Bend! That was gorgeous, breath-taking and awe-inspiring. (See pic below)
3- One of my favorite parts of the trip though was when my brothers Aaron, Ben, their families, Brent, Jake and I hopped into the boat to go try to find some shelter in a cove. We were fairly successful and found a nice spot to swim and mess around.
4- The last night, the weather was calm enough for us to have a fire as a big extended family. We sat around and, in celebration of my Dad's birthday, shared favorite memories, or things we admire about him. It was really special and put a great positive twist on the trip for my Dad.
All in all, I'm grateful for the re-connecting I was able to do with my brother Ben and his kids. I can't remember the last time we had that good of a time together.
That being said, not sure I'd be up for going again for all that work. Didn't really feel like a vacation once we got home and got everything cleaned out. (Still not all put away-- why you ask? I came down with a sinus infection the same night we got home.)
I'm grateful to be home and to be sheltered from the elements. I'm grateful for family. I hope we'll all be able to come together again and have a more positive experience!
