Lake Powell vs. Flaming Gorge

 We just came back from another amazing family vacation at Flaming Gorge!

Kyle's family has been going there as many years as my family had vacationed at Lake Powell and since he has never experienced Lake Powell I am always telling him how great it is.  The more I go to Flaming Gorge though the more I like it!

So for any of you that are debating which lake to spend your family vacation I will try to help you out :)

Kyle was so excited to use his new fly fishing pole with his waders that he got for his birthday last year!  

Fishing in the Green River is a plus for Flaming Gorge.  

I still wonder why he loves fishing so much cause he has yet to catch a fish this year.  

(He looks like Wallace from Wallace and Gromit with his waders on!)  

Anyways, we also got to raft down the Green River on Saturday.  We only got stuck on the rocks twice. Mother in Law Rapids was a breeze!

"Bye Jared!"

(That is what Jordan named the drunk guy that held on to the raft to hitch a ride)

Oh and when we went to the Dutch John sacrament meeting on Sunday the Bishop, who was conducting the meeting was wearing his white shirt and tie under his OVERALLS, but with his suit coat!

I like watching the boys wakeboard and jump the wake.  I got up on a wakeboard for the first time last year, but didn't try again this year.  I begged for someone to teach me at Lake Powell, but the one year I finally tried I never got up.  I am to scared of smacking the water to be good, just like snowboarding, can't overcome the fear of pain!  That is why Kyle is good at most everything he tries.

The twins, Phil and Lil, are playing together- catching lizards just like when they were kids.  After the lizard was good and worn out it let Bentley pick him right up by the tail.

The boys used to catch lizards at Lake Powell, but their tails would fall off and I would beg them to let the lizards go!

For Bentley's birthday we got him some glow in the dark bubbles that we played with one night.  Kyle was teaching me how to blow bubbles because I am a very inexperienced bubble blower and was struggling.

This year Kyle found the perfect speed for his dad to go so he can jump the wave runners over the wake, just like the snowmobiles!  

My family never got quite that crazy at Lake Powell.  My dad did teach me how to drive the boat one year though and even let me pull him while he skied!  I can put the boat on the trailer all by myself now :)

These cliff jumping pictures are from 2009, but whether you choose Flaming Gorge or Lake Powell there is plenty of cliff jumping!

That year we got to go Lake Powell with Katey Shelton's family and it was so fun hiking the crack and playing trolling for alligators behind the boat!

 My favorite part of boating is the tubing!  I love the water weenie and the tubes and watching other people catch air and wipe out is just as fun! This year at Flaming Gorge I liked riding the tube behind the wave runner.  I still get the thrill without the sling shot effect where you feel like you are on the edge of death!


This year we tried the tube chariot style.  Apparently Kyle doesn't think he needs to hold on.

My uncle used to give my brother a bag of skittles for staying on the tube the longest, but I think I could outlast him these days! I stayed on the whole time after Kyle fell off!

This picture is the very first time that our family went to Lake Powell and rented a houseboat in 1997.  The sandy beaches are perfect for mud baths and sand castles!

Our houseboat, Sanpitch!  The slide and the platform are a couple of my favorite things too! You can just walk outside and have a blast any time you want without waiting for a dad to take the boat out.

The water isn't to cold for me to want to just jump in either.  

Just don't do trains down the slide! Josh cracked his head open the year that we did a 4 person train!  There is also a canoe that the boys loved exploring in.

Almost every year something was broken on the boat, my poor dad spent most of the trip always fixing it.  Unfortunately we don't have our share anymore.  I have missed going to my favorite place on earth since the last time we were there in 2008!

Family vacations like this are what made my cousins and eventually my siblings my best friends.  We made priceless memories by just taking time to have fun.

My FAVORITE is having everyone together. 

Eating together, playing games together, laughing together, sleeping on top together- the fun never ends.

Sleeping up on the top is the BEST!

Going to sleep looking at the stars and waking up to a gorgeous sunrise against the red rocks is beautiful!

The boat is nice and roomy so everyone can be together and there is plenty of air to stay cool.

My last favorite thing is the long boat rides to go touring the canyons.

We'd pack a lunch and a few of grandma's punch bags and go find a cove to swim.  My favorite is Cathedral Canyon.  There is a rock to jump off of into the water and where the water ends, you can walk up to a little waterfall to hike up.

This year we went on a long boat ride up the canyon at Flaming Gorge and I loved it! Especially when Jordan tried to see if he could sneak up on a mountain sheep- the sheep was not loving that and we were all waiting for it to head-but Jordan back into the water.  It was good times!

Other fun things to do at Lake Powell are see the indian ruins and hieroglyphs, visit hole in the rock where the pioneers came down or go get some ice cream at the marina!

We each made a plate at Lake Powell in 2001, the first year we went.

Some of my favorite memories!

Flaming Gorge has a fun rope swing and yummy ice cream at the Dutch John Gas Station.

The water is a little colder, but the cliffs are close enough to walk to if we want to go swim.

We always look forward to making banana boats, eating mountain man for breakfast, and playing a good long game of Dominos (mexican train)!

Someday I will take Kyle on a houseboat in Lake Powell, but until then we will keep enjoying the fun at Flaming Gorge!

Thank you Kelly and Melanie for all the fun you provided us!