Now that I’ve been back home for a little over a week, I’ve been reflecting on my time at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It was such an amazing time, one that I won’t forget for a very, very long time.
If I had to pick one moment that I wish I could be frozen in time, it was the day we went on our kayaking trip. I had built up so much dread for this day –I have to squeeze into a kayak? — that I almost forgot how much I love the water. And Lake Powell’s water was nothing short of fantastic–cool, clean and the perfect shade of blue-green. As we glided over the water and I took in the amazing view of the red rocks, I totally forgot about worrying about the kayak.
The smiles on my newfound friend’s faces as we traveled deeper into Lake Powell on a boat powered by Captain Maggie were radiant. We had the wind in our hair and we were ready for adventure. We joked about how terribly au natural we all looked during our trip–hiking in one hundred degree heat will make you turn up your nose at a full face of makeup and perfectly styled hair in a hurry. Looking back, I don’t think we could have looked and felt more beautiful.
Have I expressed how much Monique, Kathy, Nicole and I bonded on this trip? I feel like I have found three true friends in life. The things we experienced, the sights we saw, the emotions we felt, the challenges we overcame–it made us more than fellow bloggers. We’ll always have Lake Powell, is what we told each other.
The magic happened once we docked our boat in preparation for kayaking. We got out of the boat and I couldn’t wait to jump into the water. It was like we were the only people in the world, save for the occasional jet ski rider. The lake was so quiet. We cooled off, we swam, we laughed. Unbeknownst to us, we were frolicking in over 500 hundred foot deep water.
Wow.
I loved kayaking. Probably because I rode with Captain Maggie and she’s a pro, but it was incredible. She took us through Labyrinth Canyon, where we could literally touch each side of a canyon wall with outstretched arms. For a time, we rowed in silence, just to absorb the moment. Let’s meditate on this moment, I said quietly. I’ll never forget how it felt. As we rowed back to the boat, Captain Maggie shared some of her background with me. She was also a mom of six kids (we high-fived one another) and she lived on the lake where she worked eight months out of the year.
“On my days off, I’m on the lake,” she said with a smile on her face. She told me she was planning on kayaking on the lake that night to see the “blue moon”. I was so inspired.
We swam as a group again, our laughter bouncing off the canyon walls. I really felt a sense of peace. We stopped worrying about Instagramming and tweeting and updating our status. We experienced life and told one another that this experience was ours–we didn’t need to go searching for our phones to validate the moment.
RELATED: Exploring Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Read the rest of this #ALEx13 post at the American Latino Heritage Fund site here.
