Living in Paradise

Back to an internet connection today so I'm going to post some entries that I wrote while on Lake Powell. Will take a couple of days to catch up . . .

We had one day in Scottsdale with no plans and we managed to relax and enjoy the day. We picked up a car and drove to Superstition Mountains for a picnic lunch. The temps were in the mid to upper 90s, but strangely it was perfectly pleasant to sit under a pavilion and eat our lunch. There was a constant breeze blowing and what they say about the dry air is really true. The 90s are completely tolerable out here. So tolerable, in fact, that we decided to go for a hike mid-way up the mountain. It was quite a different experience than the hiking that we are used to. The biggest difference is that there is zero shade, but luckily the wind was non-stop as we hiked up. Coming down, on the other hand, was pretty stinkin’ hot and I was glad to be back to the car. The rest of the day was spent visiting old mining towns and shopping about. We needed to get ready for our upcoming boat trip.


The next day we were up nice and early to take off for Lake Powell. What an amazing drive up there. We drove for hundreds of miles through the Navejo Indian Reservation. Boy did that put the term “middle of nowhere” into a much better perspective. Holy cow. I still cannot believe that people live out there like that. Shocking. But it sure was beautiful to look at.

We arrived at the lake before noon and boarded the house boat, which was much more of a yacht. The boat was simply gorgeous. Three bedrooms, three baths, several decks, a bar, satellite TV . . . just about every creature comfort, minus internet access. We set sail just after lunch and the views from the water were just indescribable. Once again, pictures will have to tell the story . . .

We beached the boat on a sandy shore (which are hard to come by around here) and acquired our very own private cove. Talk about complete and utter relaxation. We ate our dinner on the upper deck and stayed up until the moon slipped behind the towering canyon walls. As soon as the sliver of moon disappeared from the sky the stars shown even brighter. The gentle breeze, the soothing music, the tasty wine . . . It was the most relaxing night of my entire life.

After a terrific night’s sleep we got up the next morning and did a little yoga on the upper deck. It was quite a surprise when we were invited along on a ride on the ski boat that gets towed by the house boat. What a ride that was. It was spectacular. We enjoyed more of the most amazing views as we skirted through tiny canyons where the houseboat wouldn’t fit. We made our way to the Rainbow Bridge, shown below. This can only be seen via boat access to a little trail where you can hike up to this vanish point. This was quite a treat as we never would have seen this on our own.



It hasn’t even been two full days on the boat yet and I already feel that we’ve been away from it all for a month. Work and our home life seem so very far away. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!