Billed as the ''Old Boys'' houseboat trip, this was our second trip to Lake Mead, Nevada. It could become an annual event, considering how much fun everyone says they had on the first two trips. Three of the Five Eagle Scout Amigos were able to make it this year: Danny, Sanjay and Luke. Amy returned, luckily, despite her friend backing out at the last minute. Dave led the parents contingent, which included Vino and Daisy, and Warren. Daisy's attendance would seem to set a precedent for the inclusion of moms, though it isn't clear what will happen next year. Dogs, in any case, seem to be entirely welcome. New kid Tahoe did his best to measure up to the steep expectations set by his predecessor Whitney.
    This year, we left from Irvine in the Aleshire's RV on Thursday the 31st of August , and stayed out on the lake until Mon 4 Sept, taking advantage of the long Labor Day weekend.

||| Click on a thumbnail to see the full-size picture.

Dave's invitation

Tahoe

Dave (gassing up in Irvine)

We checked into a funky hotel on The Strip in Las Vegas Thursday evening, and soon discovered that the RV had (yet another) flat tire. At least it was the first one this trip (but not the last one).  

Amy and Luke, en route

arriving, Friday morning

Sanjay, and his floating bike

 Everyone chipped in to change it, and in the morning Dave had the foresight to have it repaired at at the gas station next door.  

Amy, Danny

Amy

Dave, Amy

 We were all very grateful for that later.  ||| The essential rite of passage on each Lake Mead adventure is tying up  

Danny

Dave, Amy

Dave, Amy

the Zodiac inflatable boat and the Jetski to the stern of the houseboat. It is a tricky, even dangerous, task -- that only Dave can handle,  

Dave

Dave, Danny

Dave, Danny

and then only with the help of three or four of the rest of us. Danny wrapped this one up with a crazed leap from Jetski to Zodiac.

Sanjay - BMX diving

Luke - BMX diving

Daisy - not BMX diving

Sanjay brought his bicycle, widely recognized as the most interesting way to get from the top of the boat to the bottom of the lake.

Luke, Amy

Amy, Luke

area map

Few (except Daisy) could resist the fun that seems to be built into the Jetski. It's a lot faster than the houseboat, and corners better...

Vino, steering

Sanjay, strategizing

Vino, Dave, Amy, Luke

Vino was happy to drive, leaving Dave and others free to establish the long-term strategy ...

Dave, searching for the next cove

Luke - working on lyrics, Amy

Daisy, Dave, Luke

Occasionally, things would quiet down enough so that we could just stare at pieces of paper, or out into space...

Amy, Luke, Sanjay

Amy, Luke, Sanjay

Amy, working on 'Day Tripper'

There were musical instruments to play, including guitars and CD players.

Danny

Sanjay, Luke, Amy

Luke, Sanjay - fueling

Some people toyed with the idea of jumping off the roof of the boat, but restraint prevailed, for the most part... except for 

Vino, Daisy, Sanjay

Sanjay, Dasiy, Vino

Luke - landing - 1

Sanjay's spectacular 360 handstand. Sanjay took his parents out for a soothing spin in the Zodiac to calm them down... 

Luke - landing - 2

Luke - landing - 3

Luke - landing - 4

Luke devised an innovative way of making the tough transition from wakeboard to Zodiac...

Danny

Warren

Amy, Warren

Some people just couldn't get enough of the Jetski...

Luke

Dave, Tahoe

the boat, occupants

Dave introduced Tahoe to the general concept of watersports....

'Napoleon's Tomb'

Luke, Sanjay

Vino, Danny

Sanjay discovered that there was a pinball game on Warren's new notebook... somehow this led to an arm-wrestling session 

Sanjay, Luke

Danny, Luke

Amy, Daisy

involving almost everyone except Dave and Tahoe. No one was able to beat Luke, but everyone was able to beat Amy...

Amy, Danny

Amy, Danny

Amy, Danny

... except for maybe Danny....

Vino

Amy, Luke

Amy, Luke

Amy gave Luke a close call too, with her unique two-handed technique...

Danny, Amy, Sanjay

Sanjay, dropping in

Dave, Luke

Sanjay decided that the top of the generator housing was a good place to drop in from... it's not necessarily true, of course...

Amy, Sanjay

Daisy, steering

Daisy, steering some more

It turns out that Daisy deserved to wear the captain's hat as well as anyone ...

Amy, Danny

Luke, guitar

returning the houseboat

On Monday the 4th of September we finally steamed into dock, reluctantly. We packed up, swept and mopped, gassed up,

Luke, Dave

Amy, Luke, Vino

Amy - farewell fish-feeding

fed the carp, loaded the Jetski and Zodiac onto the trailer, roped everything tight... and started on the long haul back across the desert to Orange County, stopping at The Mad Greek for supper and much discussion of what to do next year. Luckily, we had only one more flat tire - which turned out to be the spare we had put on in Las Vegas. This time the tread had ripped off, causing some damage to the (badly located) filler pipe to the gas tank. Somehow we twisted things back into shape and installed the tire that Dave had gotten fixed in Las Vegas. It was most fortunate to have that spare tire, as it was already quite late at night, and we were somewhere / nowhere out in the middle of the high desert. We made it the rest of the way without incident, and without much sleep... arriving tired, but feeling like we had really been somewhere, and really done something... together.

Back to WA's home page  | Back to pix index page