Our Lake Powell adventure began as many of our adventures do: by getting up before the crack of dawn and driving for several hours. At four a.m., the alarm clock sounded, and John and I jumped out of bed to start the day. Since we had already loaded the van Wednesday night, we didn't have much to do that morning, so we were out of the house by a quarter to five a.m. After one stop at Fry's to buy ice and another stop to pick up Danny and Janice, we were on the highway, heading north on I-17 to Flagstaff. The two of them slept most of the way -- being late sleepers, that was an ungodly hour for them to be awake. For us, however, it was the norm.

Around eight a.m., we finally arrived in Flagstaff, which will be the site of our July 17 wedding. John and I drove to the Elk's Lodge to show Janice and Danny the wedding site (and to check out our meadow). Then we showed them the hotel where they would be staying.

Since we still had some grocery shopping to do for the houseboat, our next stop in Flagstaff was going to be Smith's -- the same Smith's where we had ordered our wedding cake. I figured that I could run over to the bakery and put the deposit on the cake while the others were shopping. WRONG! Smith's was closed for remodeling and would re-open on June 12 as Fry's!

Grumbling, we went to Albertson's instead to do our grocery shopping. Once we were finished, we were really hungry -- that's what happens when you go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. None of us had eaten breakfast, and although it was only eight-thirty, John and I wanted lunch. (We had already been up for four hours...why not?) John suggested that we stop at Burger King, where burgers are served all day long. However, we came to find out that the Burger Kings in Flagstaff do not serve burgers all day. Fortunately, there was a Jack in the Box across the street. John and I were able to order burgers, and soon we were on our merry way again.

The next leg of our trip took us up US 89 to Page. Highway 89 passes through the Navajo Nation. The only cars on the road were the locals -- who drove very slowly -- and motor homes -- which also drove very slowly. At one point, while Janice and Danny were sleeping in the back, one of the locals pulled out in front of us, forcing John to slam on the brakes -- and that sent Janice flying onto the floor! Talk about a rude awakening. After that, the two of them stayed awake for the rest of the trip.

The rest of our road trip was uneventful, and at 11:00 a.m., we arrived in Page, Arizona. We had to stop there, at Doo Powell, to pay for the speedboat and confirm the water ski package, all of which we would be picking up the next morning. Then, we continued on towards Lake Powell, which was just a couple of miles away.

Lake Powell -- which is part of the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area -- is a huge lake that was created when the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed on the Colorado River in the 1960's. However, the lake was not completely filled until the 1980's. There are 1960 miles of shoreline along this lake -- more shoreline than the Western United States! The lake spans across the Arizona-Utah border; most of the water lays in the state of Utah, but half of the marinas run on Arizona time (Mountain Standard Time). The largest marina is Wahweap, which is right on the state line; at Wahweap, there is a lodge with restaurants and shops, a campground, picnic areas and other day use areas, boat ramps, and houseboat rentals. And that would be where our boating adventure would begin on Saturday morning.

We met John's parents at the Wahweap campground. They had arrived Thursday night in the motor home and set up camp there. Almost immediately after our arrival, drinks were served and our belongings (the things we would be taking with us on the boat) were transferred from the van into the motor home. Fortunately, that didn't take long, and we were left with plenty of time to sightsee.

The first place we went was Glen Canyon Dam, where we went on a guided tour that proved to be very educational -- although, I think we scared the tour guide! John, for example, told her that he wanted to make a BASE jump off of the top of the dam and land in the grassy area seven hundred feet below. The only problem is that it is very illegal to do so. Then, we started with the "dam" jokes, which prompted the tour guide to tell her "dam" joke: "What did the fish say when he hit a wall? Dam." (Ha ha ha!)

Our next stop was in Page to buy some more supplies for the boat -- more beer, more wine, and more Diet Coke, because John felt that five cases of beer and three boxes of wine just wouldn't be enough. We purchased another box of wine, two more cases of beer, and two more flats of diet soda. (Guess how much was left over after the trip...)

As we were leaving Safeway, we found an ice cream shop, into which we were lured by the scent of fresh waffle cones. None of us could resist the temptation of ice cream, and it was such a hot day that we needed it to cool us down. We also purchased postcards, five for $1.00, and sent them to our relatives.

Upon returning to Wahweap, we all decided to go swimming, even though the water was "f-ing cold", according to Bill. And it certainly was "f-ing cold" - a little too cold for me! The others, however, jumped right in, despite their retracting genitalia. The men started out doing dives off of the lower rocks. Then, they moved to higher ground to make ten-foot jumps, twenty-foot jumps, even fifty-foot jumps, into the deep water. During their escapades, John lost his sunglasses in the lake. After we were finished swimming, he suggested that we all go to the Wahweap Lodge Gift Shop so that he could buy another pair.

Although John couldn't find a pair of sunglasses that he liked at the gift shop, we did find all sorts of nice souvenirs there. The one item that caught our attention (and we eventually bought one each) was a green T-shirt. On the front was a pair of hiking boot prints, in the middle of which was written "Lake Powell", and on the back was a cairn -- a stack of five rocks -- under which it said "Find the way". A perfect T-shirt for two hard-core hikers like me and John!

That evening, just before dusk, we drove back into Page so that John could buy a new pair of sunglasses at Wal-Mart; then, we had pizza at Stromboli's. Contently stuffed full of food and beer, we returned to camp. John and I took a walk to the beach, where we waited for the first star to appear in the night sky - that would be our cue to go to bed, according to our backcountry rules: "First star means bed-time; first light means that it's time to wake up." During our walk (and during most of the day), I was having difficulty breathing -- it was almost as though I had hypoxia, but we were only at 3,000 feet in elevation. (The next morning, I was fine, so I didn't give it a second thought...)

And once we saw that first star, John and I returned to our campsite, where we crawled into the van and fell asleep.

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