Dad/Lamar's sister Sharon and her husband Kent were big fans of Lake Powell. They had a houseboat, and a boat for waterskiing, and jet skis. The Westra clan was invited on a few trips to Lake Powell over the years ... Mom/Margie recalled one early trip when Jenny was about three years old; "I remember her missing and I was sooo panicked that she had maybe fallen
overboard! Then came to find out she had gone in the speedboat with others to the shore."
So while this may not be a complete collection of trips and memories ... it's a start!
During the July 1982 trip, baby Derek was just a few months old! Mom/Margie says he slept in a little cardboard box by their bed on the houseboat. Thanks to Wendy's journal, we have a pretty good recap of everything (you can read it
here). There was a lot of water skiing, jet skiing, cliff-jumping and the big log (pictured above) was a lot of fun. Wendy mentions she, Chris and Dad spelled "Westra" with rocks and took a picture (couldn't locate said picture though). She mentions a group picture at the end too. In addition to our family and Amann's, Burgeners had come up (Grandma Lucille, Vic and Karen), Ricky's girlfriend, Alyson's boyfriend, and another girlfriend.
Wendy mentions pulling the tumbleweeds from the water. Jen remembers this too ... little fish had gone in them to hide, and then would flop out as we pulled the big, round branches from the water. After they dried out, they were burned in a big bonfire! There were fireworks and sparklers too. A storm the first night, and lots of gnats!
And then there was the catfish incident, but that was the NEXT trip ...
We went to Lake Powell again a couple years later. Wendy's journal isn't quite as helpful for this trip ... written in retrospect a few months afterward, and mainly focusing on some of the teenage boys that came along with the Amann family (Kent's nephews and an exchange student from Germany). More cliff-jumping and skiing. Wendy was able to get up on one ski, and cross the wake.
And the catfish incident. Grandma Lucille recounted the event in her history ...
I went to Lake Powell with my daughter Sharon and family and my son LaMar and family and daughter Diane. Sharon was recuperating from a broken and sprained arm (she had been knocked down while roller skating). The doctor said she could get in the water. While she was out floating, LaMar was fishing and caught a large catfish. He unhooked it and flung it out in the water and the catfish hit Sharon in the thigh and hung on. She was bitten and the ranger took her to the doctor's office for a tetnus shot. Later when she was in Hawaii, she scratched her leg and found a tooth of the catfish.
There were more trips ... exact dates and details weren't quick to appear.
This can be updated if more information/pictures come up.
Jen has some additional Lake Powell memories too ...
- I remember we went "hunting" lizards with BB guns (not very humane, I know!)
- Sleeping on top of the houseboat under the stars ... so much brighter than back home.
- Ricky and Randy had bottle rockets, and lit them and aimed them so they went underwater. There would be the whistling as they were in the air, then silence as they hit the water and were submerged, then a muffled "boom" and flash under the water.
- Once Uncle Kent was driving the boat trying to get someone up on water skis... they fell, and Uncle Kent shouted "I'll save you" and jumped out of the boat. One of the older boys got up and took over the driving of the boat ...
- There was a card game we played ... we called it "The Lake Powell game" and I remember it was a lot of fun.
- Gray and I went once after we were married. Grayson remembers Uncle Kent called him "Killer" ;)
