"The Mode" at Lake Powell by Leah

Lake Powell is a lake inside of Glen Canyon located in Utah. It was decided that they were going to make a dam which would cause the Colorado river to flood into the canyon. As a result, three million people visit Lake Powell a year. We now have a beautiful lake for an amazing vacation and I know because I have been there. It was the place I first learned about "the mode."

My great aunt and uncle invited my family to come with them on a houseboat for about a week. Another of my aunts was going to be there too. When we got there, we loaded our things onto the speedboat which my aunt and uncle own. We rode the speedboat inside the slip where the houseboats stay when they are not being used. That evening we were told by our Aunt Polly how we will work together on this trip, meaning we were told what jobs we had, such as who cooks and who cleans.

Afterward my aunt took us to the marina where they had rest rooms a gift shop and food/ice cream. 

After supper we set up the beds. The beds stay piled up during the day, and we spread them out at night so we can sleep up on the top deck. The stars were beautiful but I couldn't see all of them because we were half covered by the roof of the slip, which just made me more excited for the next day when I would see all of the stars, out on the lake by ourselves.

The next morning after the beds were put away and my dad and Aunt Polly and Uncle Tom had scouted for a spot for our house boat, our captain (my uncle Tom) decided that it was time to cast off. While the adults untied the boat we slowly started to float away from the dock. Soon we riding along faster to the spot where we were going to stay. 

When we arrived at our spot, the adults went to shore while us kids stayed on top and watched. They took 4 ropes attached to the boat and tied them around large heavy rocks to keep our boat from floating away. These were our anchors.

When they were done we got out to explore and swim in our surroundings. We made use of the water slide and played on paddle boards until suppertime.

After supper, we setup the beds and stared in awe at the sky I have never seen as many stars as I did there. I went to sleep knowing that tomorrow would be a whole entire day of swimming and other water sports.

The next morning was amazing starting with the view I saw the moment I opened my eyes: the sun shining on the walls and the reflection of it on the water. We put away our beds and those of us who needed to started on breakfast. 

This was the day that we all would get into what my aunt Polly called "the mode" which basically meant the routine of how the days would go.

We would eat our breakfast served by two different people every morning. Then it was time to jump in the water playing games and water sports such as water slide contests paddle boards and snorkeling. Then while the water was still smooth my uncle tom and my dad would take out the speedboat and hook up a long rope with a handle on its end and the people who wanted to water-ski that day would get into the speedboat except for the person who was going first. That person would get in the water and put on two long skis as tight as she can. Once that is done she would grab the end while the driver would drag them along faster until the skier was standing up. Everyone else waited until his or her turn to jump off the side and put the skis on.

Soon it would be time for lunch and clean up, which was always followed by quiet time. This was an hour long. my aunt Polly, uncle Tom, my sister Lucy and my brother David settled in bed and read books, others slept, while sometimes some of us were allowed to use the paddle boards and the kayak. My great aunt Sue and I only flunked quiet time once. :)

In the afternoon sometimes we made crafts, or we played in the water some more and added tubing in as well, which was a great opportunity to look around the lake. There are a lot of side canyons which you could easily get lost in. 

Once everyone had a turn to go tubing we headed back to the houseboat trying to get there in time for happy hour, as sometimes one of the tubers was in charge of happy hour and we had to go back early for them to setup. Once we finished our snacks we hurried to jump back in the water and put shampoo and conditioner in our hair while the people on setup for supper would work in the kitchen. Each night we would put our nice dresses and necklaces (party beads) on and helped carry the food to the top deck. We always ate there. By this time the water was usually still like glass because the speedboats stopped coming by so it was quiet and peaceful.

Supper always ended with a desert of cookies and then the dishes were taken downstairs and washed and put away. We got ready for bed and aunt Polly always joined us to listen to my dad who read a few chapters of our favorite book, At the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and usually by the time he was finished most of us were already asleep. One night we got out our telescope and saw Saturn's rings!

The next few days all had the same schedule until the last night out on the lake when they said that the next day we would go back to the slip, stay the night and leave the next morning after cleaning up. On the last night in the slip, we had what Aunt Polly called a "award ceremony", which was when she gave each of us little gifts from the trip some of which just made us laugh. We went to bed happy. And as for "the mode"? I'll never forget it.