Lake Powell

Last week a family stopped by to rent our Surrey--2 young girls, their mom and grandmother. However, when filling out the release, the younger of the 2 girls mentioned how her sister did not want to ride it because it wasn't cool enough. I told her that it was probably that her sister couldn't handle how cool the Surrey was, she agreed.

The next day when I was leaving the EDR, I saw them walking around the employee area. I said hello and wished the little girl a happy birthday, which she thanked me for. They were looking for the Transept Trail, but someone had pointed them in the wrong direction. I told them not to worry, I'll show them a shortcut through the woods to the trail. The mom was worried because I was going out of my way, "This is not the way you were going!" No worries, I said. The little girl smiled and thanked me for wishing her a happy birthday.

When I saw Chuck the next day, he mentioned that someone had left a note and a candy bar at the gas station for me, "Apparently you helped them find their way to the trail." When I stopped by to pick it up, it made me smile. It was a Milky Way bar, except they had written, "Right," on a piece of paper and taped it over "Milky." On the back the girls thanked me for showing them the right way, "You helped us a lot!" Better than any tip I've ever received, it's nice guests like that who make working in the service industry worthwhile.

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My last days off I went to Lake Powell. Lake Powell used to be Glen Canyon, the Colorado River running through it on its way to the Grand Canyon. Now, due to a decade-long dam project starting in 1956, it is the second largest man-made reservoir in the U.S. A lake that used to be a river that carved through the canyon--it has changed the course of the Colorado River for as long as the dam holds its water back.

Although I don't know how I feel about the creation of the dam, I enjoyed its effects--refreshing water to jump into on a 90+ degree day. The canyon walls drop away beneath your feet, but it is one time when stepping from a cliff is okay. Instead of falling hundreds of feet, you float in water. The top layer of rock is the rough Navajo Sandstone formation, it used to be soft sand millions of years ago, but now it is abrasive rock--not fun to rub up against (I have a scrape on my toe that really hurts...). I never dreamed that I would swim off of the rim of the canyon, but with human influence, anything is possible (good or bad?).

Lake Powell at Antelope Point.