Lake Powell

We lucked out and got a great summer week at Lake Powell this year!! The hotter the better for me! It's a great adventure to be on a houseboat for a week. My sister and I were talking about when we step on that boat, that some things we're usually pretty anal about no longer apply. The rules all change for us there. Here's some of the things we thought about.

If you wash the dishes with lake water, as long as you use soap, it's fine. I mean, who knows if the people before you even washed them at all? For all we know, they licked them clean and put them back in the cupboard. Nobody's ever gotten "anything." It's fine.

The "do your hair" everyday thing really goes out the window. There's no need to ever even comb through your hair, because as soon as it's dry you're going to be so hot you'll be back in the lake getting it wet. Stick it up in a clip; it looks fine.

The unwritten rule to never wear the same outift two days in a row no longer applies either. You can wear your swimsuit all day long, dip in the lake before going to bed for a little air conditioning while you sleep, and when you wake up the next morning you're ready to do the same thing again!! Sometimes people start smelling a little ripe. It's always been fine.

Keeping food in the "temperature danger zone" doesn't need to be a worry there. The fridge starts going out a lot at night toward the end of the trip, and hey, you just start the generator when you wake up and it turns right back on. It's ok if it's been off for hours. You should probably make sure you always bless your food before you eat it!! Everyone's always been fine.

There's no need to stick to your daily fash washing regimen while you're there either. You just keep layering sunscreen on day after day, and hey, your pores will be nice and clogged when you get home. After a week or so your skin will be fine.

This is a normal rule, but something to get used to while you're there. Poop stinks. It really stinks after it's been in a holding tank underneath the houseboat for a week. Even a whole bottle of toilet chemical doesn't help. It's fine. You just hold your breath after you flush. If you have to assist a small child at all, you should be able to hold your breath for a long time. Sometimes you miss smelling it when you leave. It's fine.

And the thing about it is - this is really how it is for me when I'm on that houseboat at Lake Powell. I really didn't have to make this stuff up, and I've always been fine. Truth is....I'm just too dang busy having fun while I'm there to really care!