July 8th

July 8

I started the morning by swimming across the cove before the boats started coming. I am guessing it is about 200-250 meters across. Jane was giving everyone the play-by-play as I went across. “oh there she goes. She’s under, no she’s up, no she’s under. One more time under. I think she is going to drown. She’s not going to make it.” It’s called breast stroke, Jane! The water was really refreshing and it felt good to get some exercise. We are constantly moving and doing stuff out here, but it’s hard to do the kind of exercise I am used to.

After we made breakfast Mark, Travis and I got in the speed boat and rode to Rainbow Bride National Monument. I had been before but last time I rode on a jet-ski and didn’t take my camera. The way there was beautiful. The sun was up, the rocks were glowing, the water was flat. The way there the wind was in our face so the ride took a little longer. We are docked at mile 39 and Rainbow Bridge is at mile 49. That doesn’t seem far until you are on a bouncy boat. But it was worth the drive. When we got there Travis realized he didn’t have his shoes. Hmmm, 19 year old boy? He wore Mark’s shoes and Mark stayed on the boat while we walked the short hike the bridge. I tried to capture the size of the cliffs that tower above you as you approach the bridge, but I’m not sure it is possible with a camera. The size is completely overwhelming. The bridge itself is actually a natural archway made of sandstone. As water and wind hit against the rock it slowly hollowed out a cave, eventually breaking through the middle of the rock. More wind and rain hit against both sides of the rock and make the opening wider and wider. Nature is amazing!

Back at the boat I decided it should be a sun-free day because I got a little burnt the day before. I laid on the top deck under the awning and read my book and took a nap. Then we went off the water slide and, of course, I had a small mishap. Nothing big, but when I went off the slide I knew I would hit the bottom, so I was prepared to catch myself. Well, I didn’t know there was a giant, jagged rock directly in line with where I was going to land. Ouch!! I didn’t cut myself or anything bad, but my foot did hurt for a little while.

In the afternoon Darcie, Ryan and I went to Dangling Rope Marina to fill the boat with gas, get more ice, and treat ourselves to ice cream… as if the s’mores every night and the ridiculous amount of chocolate they brought has not been enough! I hate will-power! The marina was only about a 15 minute drive on the speed boat and we took care of all the things we needed. Then on the way out, for some reason still unknown, the boat would not go into gear. The engine would start but as soon as we tried putting it in drive or reverse it would shut down. Being the first time ever driving her dad’s boat, Darc was very discouraged and we didn’t know what to do. The other unfortunate thing is that the boat started just enough to push us about 200 meters away from the dock and we were then floating in the middle of the lake without a working boat. Ryan and I searched the boat for paddles, found one, and Ryan started fighting the wind from pushing us into the rocks. After about an hour of fighting the wind and trying to start the boat, not to mention attempting to contact Mark with cell phones that don’t get service, we decided that I would swim back to the marina and ask for help. So… I strapped on Darcie’s shoes and jumped off the boat and started my swim. It was roughly 200 meters to an area near the docks. I couldn’t get to the docks because once I got there I wouldn’t be able to get up on the dock because it is too high. Also, there are really huge and nasty carp that swarm around the docks and I didn’t feel like making friends with all of them at this moment.

I made it to the edge of the dock and climbed up onto one of the rocks. I walked around the back side of the dock and was a little uneasy because I had to jump and duck under tons of wires that supply the dock with electricity. Not exactly something I wanted to do while dripping wet! When I got to the dock I ended up coming into the rear side of the store and one of the workers came over to help me. He asked if I had just swam from that boat and gave me a glass of water. I told him we were stranded and the engine wouldn’t start. He got on the phone with his manager and asked if he could tow us in, but right then another boat from the marina went out and started towing the boat. Mark and Travis also showed up at this point with the jet-skis. We docked everything and Mark tried to figure out what was wrong with the boat without success. We hooked the boat up to one of the jet-skis and started towing the boat out to the main channel but it was a very slow process. Luckily another boat came and offered to tow us. We hooked that up, then Ryan took one of their passengers on a jet-ski back to her boat because she needed to get back to feed her baby. Similarly, Darcie needed to do the same, so I took her back on the other jet-ski. I felt like I was on a super top-priority mission and I had to deliver Darcie safely, then return to the boat to make sure everyone else was safe! (If you can’t tell with my writing, that was in a super important, Mission Impossible type voice. Oooh, better yet, Jack Bauer voice!) Then I hooked the boat up to my jet-ski and towed us the rest of the way in. In the end, it was a 3 hour trip to the marina for ice cream that was not really very good.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. More swimming, reading, making dinner, and of course, a fire and off to bed under the :( cloudy sky.