What NOT to do when you're headed to Lake Powell

We are back.  We have actually been back from our Lake Powell house boating adventure for a while, but things seem to have quieted down enough to dash off this blog post that will no doubt change your entire......next five minutes :).  I hope you laugh (or at least consider it) and feel more prepared at the end.

Our family and 3 other families made the trek to Lake Powell (on the Arizona/ Utah border) for our first annual "Trip of a Lifetime" house boating adventure.  Among us, I think there were 2 adult house boating novices.  The balance of the adult population had varying levels of experience.  On my last house boating adventure I accidentally roofied myself by drinking liquid from a water bottle that was not in fact water.  The memories were fun, but are not filed in the kid-friendly drawer.  4 of the adults had a tremendous amount of house boating experience, as kids, as college aged hooligans, and as adults.  But the group itself had never all traveled together.  The outcome was pretty incredible considering there was a large chance we could have ended up making Anasazi voodoo dolls of one another by the end.

But who has the time to hear about every detail?  There is a reason you don't live in my brain. It's cluttered, fast paced, and achingly detail-oriented (I could probably stretch a 30 second anecdote into a novel) but I digress.....

Here are the top 3 things you should NOT do in preparation for and during your Lake Powell house boating trip:

1.  Pack a lot of clothes.
Yes, I realize if you have followed this blog, that I JUST SAID last time I wasn't going to do this, but guess what???  I totally did it anyhow.  I brought a weekender bag and a beach bag filled with at least 50 items I did not need.  Including:

• 2 sweatshirts - HA HA HA- it was 90 degrees at night.  Unless you are looking to dehydrate yourself to beef jerky level, leave these at home.  I know, everyone says that, but seriously, don't bring them.
• Workout Clothes.  If you are going to hike (which I would have done if I had planned to go beyond beef jerky to crystallized salt in that heat) you'll likely be doing it in your swimsuit.  I know, I know, we all said it before too "I am JUST not the type to walk around in my swimsuit, that is so so sooooo not me."  Well guess what?  You will.  You totally will.  Because you'll be out in the desert and with your family and friends and you really won't care.  Because you'll be empowered by the fact that it IS HOT and if one of the other husbands is checking you out, that is just plain weird.
• More than 2 outfits for a 5 day trip.  You will wear your swimsuit all day (and will probably go jump in the lake at night right before bed to cool down).  You will not be wearing clothes often.  Lake Powell apparently is the clothing vortex

2. Bring a ton of food.
Again, I am a total hypocrite.  My obsession with being prepared added on approximately 17 hours to my trip in the time it took to shop for the additional unnecessary food, pack it up, unpack it on the boat, and pack it back home.  My husband really is just the LUCKIEST :)!  Ooopsie, didn't realize my family wasn't going to turn into snack monsters on vacation.  It's hot.  You're force feeding your kids water and things that are hydrating, not salty pretzels.  They also aren't hungry because they are kind of dehydrated.

3. Have a bad attitude.
This one was hard for me, I really struggled on this vacation at the beginning.  It is totally out of my comfort zone, and wasn't under my control (compounding the anxiety / comfort-zone cycle) and it wasn't an easy start for our Autistic son.  I thought I was gracefully suffering in silence until my husband delicately alerted me to the fact that I definitely was not.  The vacation was an adventure and we truly were away from it all (meaning there was no way we were going back to the creature comforts and familiarity I was missing).  So there was nothing left to do but relax, try to go with the flow, and have fun where and when you can. 

Next time I will be better.  I learned a lot on this trip.  Not only about silly details of how to pack, but more about how to be a better mom on vacation.  And I had a chance to realize that my kids may not always need the mom that is prepared and providing for their every need at every moment - they may need a mom who can have fun and just be with them.  Without a sweatshirt and an agenda.

Success after 3 days- our son in the water and seeming to have fun