Top 10's from Lake Powell

When I was growing up, every year my family borrowed our grandpa's boat, cleaned out all gross remains from his fishing trips, filled it with water skis and lovely and extremely uncomfortable orange life jackets instead, and left for Lake Powell on the last day of school. As I got older, we progressed from camper stays to the AIR CONDITIONED (yeah!) early motel there, then to a houseboat, and life on the Lake got sweeter. My husband and I lived in Philadelphia for 4 years and St. Louis for 5 more, so we had little time for Lake Powell runs, but then we made our way back to Utah. And now with our own family, Lake Powell trips have become a Parry tradition. It's hard to choose just 10 favorite reasons we love it, but I'll try.
1. The night sky. Best star viewing of almost anywhere I've been. Ever.
2. Boating on blue water surrounded by staggeringly beautiful red cliffs. (The scenery is in plenty of movies. We've spotted Lake Powell as "Mars" in John Carter and its area in "Texas" in The Lone Ranger.
3. Water skiing. I'm from the old school, before wake boarding was even invented :). Early mornings and late evenings on Lake Powell we can still generally find a nook or canyon with perfectly smooth ski water. Ahhh.  4. Cliff jumping. Actually we like jumping off  the houseboat too.
5. Mid-day movies. When the sun is hot overhead, we tend to take a break inside. How spoiled we've become :)
6. Food. We usually invite people who come with tasty meals and treats to feed an army.
7. Jumping in the lake and not getting cold. Compared to those northern Utah mountain lakes, well, 80 degree water is just perfect.
8. The kids. Every year the wake boarding tricks and flips get more impressive, the rope burns from tube wars get a little scarier, and new competitions such as best falls on the wake skate impress.
9. Hiking around the area. People come from around the world to see the red rock formations, and hidden coves and canyons, even petroglyphs and other ancient finds, are treasures.
10. Time together with family and great friends. My older kids plan to come home when they hear it's Lake Powell time, and they spend days thinking of famous but easily forgotten names to win at the fabled "Name Game."