LAKE POWELL MEMORIES
Our first family trip to Lake Powell was actually in 1972, the summer before Janet and Dan were married. Grandpa borrowed 2 ski boats from our good friend Harland Robinson, and while Mom stayed home to prepare for Janet’s wedding on July 21of that year, Grandpa and the rest of the children drove to the Wahweep Marina, near Zion’s National Park and launched the boats, heading to Gunsite Butte and Padre Bay where they had previously been on a scout trip---about 10 miles east of the Marina.. There were no shade tarps, no tents, no ice, no refrigeration—it is a wonder that another trip to Lake Powell ever happened, but it did.
After the Smiths acquired a time-share interest in a houseboat, the Brown family had begun to grow, and they began an amazing annual Lake Powell adventure.
On that first trip in 1980, there were a total of 22 people on board. Steven and Robyn had three children; Christopher age 6, James age 4, and Matthew age 1. Janet and Dan had four; Collin 7, Rachelle 5,, Troy 3, Amber 2 and was pregnant with Megan. Maureen and Jerry just had Alexis age 6. Ryan arrived that August. That was the year David and Nancy were married. Dean, Kathleen, Christine were still living at home. Now we have multiplied to more than 60.
Jerry’s favorite name for that first houseboat is “The Chicken Ship”, but, at that time we were so proud. The first year, we were not smart enough to find a parking spot where there was any beach for the children; the houseboat was parked at the end of a narrow cove in very deep water! Note: Even the Hobie Cat had to “tack” back and forth to get out of that bay. We had no tents and everyone slept on top of that 35 foot houseboat. It had only a six inch high railing around the edge; fortunately, every child managed to survive.
Some vivid memories of other trips are these: In 1980 we took the “Hobie Cat”; in 1985 we had our first stand-up jet skis; in 1988 we first had the “Recovery Room”; and in 1993 we had “Doc’s Orders.”
We used a port-a-pottie that was parked behind some bushes, and it had only a 3 gallon tank and needed to be dumped and buried often. Grandpa and his “Boss Gloves” were in charge of that assignment, along with his favorite army shovel. He had to dig a lot and kept telling us that he really hated when it sloshed. Later on, John made a tent to cover the port-a-pottie so we had a bit of privacy. That tent was great, but oh how hot and sweaty we got inside.
In 1985 this is how we looked.
The year 1985 was memorable as we were parked along the Burr Trail. You may have noticed the cut off to the Burr Trail a few miles before arriving at Bull Frog. A large group of “hippies” were camped nearby. They had set up huge six foot music speakers next to their camp and they stayed up into the wee hours drinking and making lots of noise. John politely asked them to quiet down, so our children could sleep but they didn’t.
About four in the morning, Steven couldn’t stand it any longer, so he took 8 month old baby Amy over to their trailer and pinched her a couple of times, encouraging her to cry good and hard; she wailed and wailed. Remember this was four a.m. Those hippies came storming out, complaining, “What’s going on?” Steven replied, “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess she can’t sleep.”
The first year John came, he brought two friends. They had the fairest, whitest skin I’ve ever seen and they didn’t use any sunblock. The result was the worst sunburns you could ever imagine.
Another year Steven and Jerry bet Grandpa $5.00 that he wouldn’t have the nerve to push Grandma off the top of the houseboat. They were pretty amazed when Grandma and Grandpa jumped, hand in hand, and collected the five bucks.
One beautiful day in Bullfrog Bay, Janet and Dan were resting and talking on the Hobie Cat. They were just a short way from shore and had no life jackets. All of a sudden a huge wind storm came up and blew the Hobie out into the channel. The Davidson children were sure they would never see their parents again. The wind was so fierce that the sail on the Hobie snapped off its rope. They were without paddles and were eventually blown about five miles across the lake. They were gone for hours. Janet still tells us that there were eight foot waves. They had to paddle with their hands and no help came till long after the storm was over. Janet was sure that, “Nobody cared about us.” It was a terrible experience for everyone.
After that same storm, we found a capsized tri-hull boat sunk in the cove next to us. The men of the family tried to tow it to our campsite but couldn’t do it. Steven and Jerry dove into its cabin and brought out wallets and clothes. Later they were able to identify the owner. The boat belonged to a man from Provo who was camping with a scout troop; they had abandoned ship half-way between Bullfrog and Halls Bay because huge waves were crashing over the front of their boat and it was sinking. Wind storms are to be expected on Lake Powell.
Everyone knows they have to help by holding the ropes at any hour. Fortunately, our sailors have learned to tie our houseboats very securely and I usually sleep when the wind blows.
One year Grandpa and I decided to sleep on the trampoline bed of the Hobie Cat. We had no clue that Jerry and Steven decided to untie the line and set us adrift. It didn’t take long for us to float nearly to the channel. When I awakened and saw the stars moving, I knew that something wasn’t right. I woke Grandpa up and we called for help. Jerry and Steven laughed the loudest and longest.
Grandma was the last one up on the Para-Sail because the sail was ripped on a bush the next time it was tried and that was that.
Did you know that Steven and Robyn bought their first standup Jet Ski in 1985? Uncle Steven talked their friend into taking them Jet Skiing in California —they were hooked and soon bought 2 of their own Jet Skiis in 1985. They were 440’s and Uncle Jerry also bought a 440 and a 550. Six years later in 1991 they were upgraded to 550’s. 2001 the first sit down Sea Doo’s arrived.
And Pirate Powell Pete is a story of it’s own that will soon be told. But who can forget 6 year old Bryan being taken to 3 or 4 houseboats by Uncle Steven on a standup Jet Ski with a Pirate flag taped to it. Of course Steven had alerted the families of those house boats that they would soon be visited by this little Pirate who boarded their boats and would demand—“Gimme your gold or your women.” And the people always produced some gold coins (courtesy of Uncle Steven’s advance warning) to be brought back to camp.
Remember when the bones of ‘One-Eyed-Willie’ (a buddy of Pirate Powell Pete whose ship had sunk in Lake Powell many years before) were brought up from the lake bottom by James and Brandon. (actually they were the rib-bones of a cow complete with T-shirt attached.) It was necessary to have a complete service and burial as we saluted him—leaving the spot marked by a small wooden cross.
Of course Pirate Powell Pete would eventually join the church and he even went on a mission to the Island of Bermuda—ask Bryan about writing to him while he was there. Uncle Steven and Aunt Robyn and Grandma met Elder Powell Pete and took pictures of he and his companion when they were there in 1991.
But you may not know that Elder Powell Pete wrote to Emily at BYU after his mission hoping to date her—but for some reason that didn’t happen.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
- Uncle Jerry tripping Brandon and saying, “Sorry that’s my dead leg.” And Brandon just smiling and saying “You got me again Uncle Jerry.
- 1984, Year of the summer Olympic Games and Grandpa throwing out his shoulder showing off his ‘shot put’ form
- How proud Ashley was to stand on the podium and receive her Olympic Award.
- Uncle John betting Kevin and Marcus they wouldn’t jump into the water alive with carp at the Marina store—after he had fed the fish into a frenzy—and they had to stay in the water for a full 3 minutes. They fooled Uncle John and collected.
- Uncle Dean asleep on the House Boat and Uncle Steven and Uncle Jerry shooting the Jet Ski water at him.
- Dean got even with Uncle Jerry at the Camp fire that night, by pouring 5 gallons of ice water over his head creating the Nutter Butter incident—
- When the kids would try to see how close they could walk towards that Jet stream as Uncle Steven and Uncle Jerry held up the Jet Ski.
- Grandpa’s own style of water skiing. Starting out under water, he would be dragged underwater for the longest time then suddenly pop up—we thought he would never make it—but there he was dragging his back foot through the water.
- The year we had guests camp with us because of a calendar misunderstanding—and that family decided to come with us anyways.
- The father of that family had such terrible BO that Jennifer vowed to wash his clothes while the whole crew were hiking Masada—and she did.
- One year someone brought an aluminum boat with an outboard motor. Dad and Robyn were trying it out and were in the middle of the lake when Uncle Jerry and Uncle Steven dove off one of the ski boats, swam to them and threw Grandpa and Robyn overboard—commandeered the little boat and left them in the middle of the bay. Luckily the two of them were soon picked up by a passing house boat—but to their chagrin, Uncle Jerry and Uncle Steven ran out of gas and were stranded for hours.
- We still don’t know why Grandpa jumped off the backend of the House Boat as we were returning through the channel to end one of our trips. We had to stop the House boat and haul him in.
- Aunt Christine bringing a boy friend we all called ‘Barney’ who ended up with bloodied fingers trying to be ‘King of the Hobie.’ Someone kept banging his hands with a tupperware bowl.
Some of our other special memories over the years are:
- The Hofman pink embroidered caps
- Tie-dye shirts
- Children being duct taped to the flag pole ”
- Melting aluminum cans to make ingots in the sand
- Kids catching minnows and then watching Uncle Steven swallow them whole
- Christopher, Troy, and Carly chipping their teeth from wiener tube crashes
- Black permanent marker mustaches mysteriously appearing on the children when they were sleeping
- All the zinc oxide that could be found was used on those California kids
- Matthews eyes as red as the campfire coals
- Janet telling stories to the little ones after lunch in the hot sweaty tent and the children fighting for the back corner of the tent to breathe through a hole in the tent.
- Devin sick with Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis and Grandpa having to scrub his sore gums with a tooth brush.
- Smith’s neighbor boys stuck on Masada in the dark. The rangers had to be called to get them down.
- Children fishing for bass early in the morning with Aunt Maureen and then cooking them on the grill
- Fire crackers in the campfire
- Grandpa and Brandon stuck on Masada for hours
- Collin coming to Powell right after having his appendix operation
- Yummy food and preparations every year
- Skirfing; the wiener tube; the air chair and cliff jumping
- Uncle David Dancing
- Lindsey producing Man vs. Wild film starring Brandon
- Jerry, Steven and Dan continually working on the jet skis all week
- Dutch oven dinners
- David winning the one and only backgammon annual tournament
- Adults sending the kids to bed and then sitting around the camp fire talking late into the night –that no longer can happen.
- Great talent shows
- Singing the “Princess Pat” and “Poor Kangaroo Rat”
- Great talent show acts such as: Short People; Solid as a Rock; Macedonia; Slaap Kindje Slaap; I Heard It Through the Grapevine;The Von Trapp Family; Pee Wee Herman; Saturday Night Live; and I’m Just Too Tired To Move.
THE BLACK ROCK PATROL
Grandpa organized the Black Rock Patrol, and gave every grandchild an Indian name. The patrol motto is “BLACK ROCK PATROL: WE CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN.”
The Original Black Rock Patrol, is now known as Patrol “A”
Grandpa White Eagle
Collin Little Brown Bat
Christopher Big Brown Bat
Alexis White Unicorn
Rachelle Blue Unicorn
James Jack Rabbit
Troy White Rabbit
Amber Princess Bungee
We also have BLACK ROCK PATROLS “B” and “C”
Matthew Night Thunder
Amy White Beauty
Cameron Flying Arrow
Aubry Bronze Maiden
Ryan Iron Toe
Carly Friend of the Animals
Matthew Night Thunder
Amy White Beauty
Megan Little Princess
Devin Blazing Saddle
Emily Jumping Dolphin
Ashley Little Hummingbird
Lindsey Wild Fire
Chelsey Butterfly Kisses
Brandon Double Warrior
Breanne White Feather
Brinley Chiquita Bonita
Brittany Princess White Cloud
Cor Cochise
Johnny Geronimo
Kimberly Six Braids
Sophie Blue Eyes
Sterling Speeding Lizard
Bryan Eagle Feather
Alexis Water Princess
Kevin Falcon Spirit
Mark Little Foot
Even the adults gave each other Indian names one year:
Grandma Sacajawea
Steven Chief Wise Owl
Robyn Maiden of the Reptiles
Dan Chief Iron Ankle
Janet Little Peace Maker
Jerry Chief Breaking Wind
Maureen Medicine Woman
David Chief Dead Dog
Nancy Singing Fawn
Dean Chief Falcon King
Jennifer Mother of Many Maidens
John Big Chief Belching Buffalo
Kathleen Silver Claw
Christine Sun Worshipper
Each trip, Grandpa would take the Black Rock Patrol on a hike. Grandpa would often take only a small box of crackers and a small bottle of water. The grandchildren tell stories that Grandpa would stop to take a rest and soon would be asleep while the patrol would be out hunting for black rocks. The black rock had a special meaning that only patrol members knew: if a person was out hiking and got really thirsty, he or she could suck on a rock to when they got thirsty.
Returning to camp, the patrol would sneak up on the camp and then run down the hill like screaming Indians. The rest of the camp was so scared, they could only cry, “Oh no, here they come again.”
The highlight of one Lake Powell trip was the year that every adult encouraged Collin to go on a mission. At that point in time, he had little intention of going. A spiritual high was felt as everyone bore testimony to him. On the way home, his folks stopped in Hanksville for gas, and Collin told them, “You can’t ask me any questions, but I’ve decided to go on a mission.” Janet and Dan were amazed, thrilled and so appreciative of everyone’s support.
Our annual testimony meetings are incredible. It was a special year when we held a mini-farewell for Megan the night before she entered the MTC; we all felt of her sweet spirit and testimony. We had another similar experience just prior to Brittany left on her mission to Spain.
In 2003 the water at Lake Powell was down so far that huge 20 foot trees could be seen sticking up out of the water close to Masada.
In 2004, again the water was even lower, and the Masada hike had to be cancelled in favor of a mini-Masada hike. We all prayed for more snow and rain to raise the level of the lake.
In 2006, we shared the week with another house boat family and Grandma was roasted.
In 2007, no beaches could be found with the water level up again. We made our own beach with the combined efforts of all.
Part of the 2010 gang
2011 was a special year when we had 3 House Boats—the Davidson family have invested in “Just Do It” a gorgeous boat with lots of marvelous facilities.
This is "Just Do It."
And "Doc's Orders"
And of course "The Recovery Room."
This is "Just Do It."
And "Doc's Orders"
And of course "The Recovery Room."
Climbing Masada, our special Lake Powell mountain, has become a special tradition every year, as a new flag is erected on the flag pole on it's top. Every one of the grandchildren has a great memory of their Dad or Mom helping them up that steep trail. It took all three of my sons to get me up there in 1999, but I finally made it too.
One year Jose and his brother Ucca carried cement and water up Masada to make our flagpole permanent. We all love reading the messages of hikers who have made it to the top and found the flag and have left messages in the special ammunition box. Our family has dedicated that mountain and so many wonderful memories to our special Grandpa—Hugh Lynn Brown. Reading the thoughts and testimonies of unknown hikers really brings us closer to him and to each member of the family.
Hey family---please add your comments and pictures. This is a family matter!!
