Skyler was invited to go to Lake Powell with several of his friends for their Senior Trip. 2 couples arranged everything and took their boats down for the kids to have one last get together before heading their separate ways. All the kids chipped in money to rent an Air bnb in Page and pay for gas money. Unfortunately, Skyler started feeling sick the second day so he stayed back at the house the second day morning to try and sleep it off. He never felt great but felt a little better so he could go out surfing for a few hours. Luckily he would be heading back down in a month or two with his family. It was a great way to end their high school years together.
Lake Powell Tender Mercies 2022
For our Lake Powell trip this year we had several tender mercies that were easy to see and some that might not be so easy to see, but none the less amazing. Here are some of the things we experienced. I think there were more, but I can’t remember them now.
The first tender mercy was the fact that we had 15 amazing kids to take down to Lake Powell. Each one of the kids added their own uniqueness to the trip and they all had a part in the memories that were made.
Stopping in Beaver at the right time at the right gas station on the trip down. I had inspected the tires on my boat trailer prior to leaving on this trip. However, when we got to Beaver to fill up with gas, a gas attendant came and checked my tires, without me asking. I know this is normally a sales trick for them to try to ‘upsell’ customers on things they don’t really need. However, upon inspecting he noticed that one of my trailer tires had the metal exposed and a huge bump where the tire had become compromised. Also, 2 of my other tires were wearing very thin on the inside. So…. 15 minutes and 3 tires later (my 4th tire was new last year) and we were on our way. I know without a doubt I would have blown at least 2 tires had that attendant not caught it. Any other gas station would not have caught that.
Being that it was Memorial Day weekend, we anticipated that it would take a long time to launch the boats due to there only being one usable boat ramp. Daison talked to the park rangers on Sunday and they said it was a 2 hour wait for people to launch and retrieve their boats. So we woke up early on Monday to try beat the crowds….. when we got to the boat ramp….. NO LINE at all! We were able to launch right away and get playing! This was the case for both Monday and Tuesday….. NO LINES!
Also being that it was Memorial Day weekend and the water levels what they are, we were concerned there would be too many boats around the Wahweap bay area to boat safely. Before the trip Daison and I talked about boating 1 hour away to get to a different area where we thought it would be less crowded. But there was no need for that. We were able to boat right around the Wahweap bay and Lone rock beach with only about 10 other boats. Perfect boating in the morning without having to travel 1 hour each way to boat safely.
Which brings me to the next tender mercy. After a fun morning of boating and great weather, we headed to the beach to each lunch. Literally right as we pulled up to the beach, the wind picked up pretty good! So we headed back to the marina to eat without being sand blasted. Unfortunately, the wind never died down for us to go back out, but the timing was amazing that we were able to get back to the marina safely with wind picking up like it did. We were protected from the 6-foot swells that were causing other boats SO many issues. But because we stopped for lunch when we did, we were safe in the marina.
One thing that we adults were a little worried about was the dynamics of the kids, their relationships and how to make sure they all interacted together. Well, Daison might not think this one was a tender mercy, but Jessica and I do. At the end of the day Monday, Daison’s boat had a mechanical issue that made it so the kids could only surf on one side of his boat. So, on Tuesday we had to split the kids up by which side they surfed on. Crazy enough, exactly half the kids surfed on the left side of the boat and the other half of the kids surfed on the right side of the boat. It made it so the kids had to split up and not be with those they were ‘most comfortable with’. This would not have happened if Daison’s boat had not had its issue. Thanks for taking one for the team Daison!
The next one was probably one of the neatest ones for me and Jessica. Due to the kids having to ‘split up’ we had kids on each boat that weren’t as familiar with each other. What was AMAZING though, was watching each kid on the boat helping, cheering and praising the kid who was out surfing! Even though they didn’t know each other super well, each kid was praising, teaching and raising the other kid up. It was one of the most Christ like acts my wife and I have ever seen from a group of 17 and 18 year old’s, or anyone for that matter. It was so neat and so genuine! It’s how we are supposed to be in life, cheering each other on!
I didn’t really want to single anyone out in this, but I kind of have to on this one (I promise, each one of the kids played a role in making it amazing). Unfortunately, on Tuesday Skyler and Dylan woke up sick. Skyler ended up throwing up in the morning so he and Dylan stayed back while the rest of us headed out to the lake. After having slept for a while Dylan felt much better and Skyler was a trooper, even though he didn’t feel much better, and they both came and joined us after lunch. Skyler wasn’t doing too well on the boat, but he powered though and didn’t complain. I think Jessica and I were the only ones who noticed that he really wasn’t feeling better. We kept checking on him and after about the fifth time he said to us, ‘I’m glad it was me that got sick because I get to come back to down in 2 weeks’! Tender mercy that it was him (no offense Skyler) and not someone else who doesn’t get to come back down.
I call this one ‘making lemonade out of lemons.’ Back to Daison’s boat issues. Even with his one side working, the boat still struggled to get a good surf wave. At least that was what I was told. So….. lemonade. I gave Daison my tube and he had his tube and he became the tubing boat while I was able to have the kids who originally went with Daison in the morning come on my boat and have one last good surf for the day and trip. We swapped kids back and forth on the tubes and the kids had a great time.
The second to last tender mercy was the weather on Tuesday! We could not have asked for a better day to finish off on. The wind was calm, it wasn’t too hot, and water was perfect. It was THE PERFECT day to end on.
The last tender mercy was that Jessica, Aleisa, Daison and myself were able to interact with, have fun with, and experience how amazing each one of your kids really are. Right before we left to come home, we gathered everyone to say our prayer and I told them all how amazing they each are and that we were so blessed to be able to witness how special each one of them is. I had to stop talking because I was holding back tears. There is so much talk about how terrible the world is, but after this week with your kids, I feel much better. The world is in good hands.
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