For the past six years, we have traveled to Lake Powell with five other families. In fact, there are 39 of us total. Yes, we stay on the same houseboat, and yes, we LOVE it. Is it chaotic? Yes, at times, but it’s worth every bit of chaos. We have an absolute blast together and it is our favorite week of the entire year.
This post will be updated each year to add anything more that we learn.
How to organize the cost of food, gas, and other expenses:
We call this trip our LPF trip, our “Lake Powell Family”, and we are extremely blessed to rub shoulders with each of these families and carve out 7 magical days to spend with them in our favorite place on earth. So keep in mind, you need to choose the best of the best when you plan your trip.
Food Expenses:
We started out by splitting every single penny of the trip. Our first few years was full of spreadsheets and saving receipts, and although we still do this to a degree, we have decided that we cannot split the cost of every single snack.
Breakfast and Lunches are a combined expense.
We only do ONE big Lake Powell Family breakfast. I’m in charge of this on our boat. We do it smack-dab in the middle of the week. I always make baked french toast and the kids talk about it all year. It’s their very favorite.
We used to make a few big breakfasts on each trip, and it was yummy, but we have simplified this process the last few years. We learned that no one wants to heat up the kitchen in the morning, and most kids are completely content with cereal in the mornings. It gets them out on the boats playing faster each morning.
The moms shop together for the lunches and breakfast items. We have tried this many different ways, and we have decided that if the moms go shopping together, it makes it much easier. It helps save money in the long run because it prevents moms from going to the store to buy things that they think they might need on the trip. If everyone shops together, they know what is bought and they can weigh in on the type of items that their family loves and will eat.
We buy all paper products together at Costco:
- paper plates,
- utensils,
- napkins,
- an assorted pack of ziplock bags,
- small cups,
- a large pack of bandaids,
- and a 2-pack of Aveeno lotion to share.
Combined Breakfast Shopping List:
- milk we buy six gallons of milk from Costco. We could probably get away with buying 4.
- small assorted cereal boxes 1 box per person each day {we always have extra at the end}
- a large box of yoplait yogurts, and
- Costco muffins {three containers of poppyseed muffins and three containers of chocolate muffins.}
Combined Lunch Shopping List:
- peanut butter
- nutella
- squeeze jam
- assorted types of bread {hoagies, Hawaiian rolls, and grandma sycamore}. We do the math for this also…one sandwich per person per day. Two Hawaiian rolls are counted for one sandwich.
- assorted sliced cheese {cheddar is most popular, but we buy a bunch of different types}, We also calculate about a slice per person per day.
- mayo {we usually go through 3 large squeeze mayos each year},
- mustard {we buy one big mustard each year}
- 2 jars of flat sandwich-style pickles,
- tomatoes {one Costco flat of tomatoes is plenty},
- 3 packs of romaine lettuce}
- Lunchmeat: two packs of Hillshire Farms three-packs at Costco (kids seem to eat this better than the expensive kind of lunchmeat
- Lunchmeat: two or three packs premium oven roasted turkey,
- Lunchmeat: two packs of ham,
- Lunchmeat: two honey roasted turkeys.
- We buy small bags of assorted chips in bulk. We multiply the number of people we have X the number of lunch days and then double it, so for us this number is 39 people X 6 days X 2 = 468 BAGS OF CHIPS! That way each person could eat two bags of chips per day and we would still have enough to last the entire time. Full Disclosure: we always have some chips leftover.
- One large bag of string cheese {the little boys also use this as fishing bait}
- One bag of baby carrots,
- 2 cucumbers per day,
- 2 bags of mini peppers
- One bag of snap peas.
- We buy one large watermelon per day, we cut a watermelon up each day and put it in the fridge so it is cold.
- We buy two large containers of strawberries, but they need to be eaten at the beginning of the trip because they tend to go bad quickly.
- We assign one mom to bring a large batch of fruit dip in a disposable container from the dollar store so that we can throw it away at the end of the week.
- We assign one mom to bring a large batch of veggie dip in a disposable container from the dollar store so that we can throw it away at the end of the week.
- One pack of Costco grapes per day. We de-stem the grapes gradually throughout the week while we are on the houseboat so that they get eaten. If they sit in the fridge on their stems, the kids will not eat them.
- otter pops to freeze on the houseboat
- one case of water per family… we have a large water dispenser on the boat, so we bring hydro-flasks to fill also.
Money Saving Tip: We freeze half of the bread when we arrive. Bread does not do well in 100 degree weather. It molds much faster than the expiration date.
DRINKS:
Bring your own favorite drinks to share. We generally make two coolers that we try and keep cold for the week, an adult cooler and a kid cooler. The adult cooler holds the caffeinated beverages, and the kid cooler holds the kid-friendly capri suns, the sprites, lemonades…etc. That way we can try and prevent a 10 year old from drinking a Rockstar or Monster. 🙂
Each family is in charge of one dinner on the trip. {Whoever is in charge of the dinner, foots the bill}.
Dinner ingredients are not added into the total cost of the trip. It saves a ton of headache to do it this way. We have learned that getting ready for a trip like this can be chaotic and if you have to go to Wal-Mart for your favorite bbq sauce, Costco for the pork roast, and then run to Lins for your favorite brand of chocolate chips, you tend to lose those three receipts in the midst of the chaos. So instead of making sure that multiple receipts are saved and added together, added into the spreadsheet…etc. We deemed it completely ok to make whatever dinner you choose to make knowing that you will be in charge of this cost.
Anything that can be made ahead of time and brought to Lake Powell frozen is a win/win. This is our typical dinner schedule: Lasagna, Hawaiian Haystacks, Cafe Rio Pork Salads, Grilled Jake’s Chicken, BBQ Beef Sandwiches, Tacos, and LEFTOVER NIGHT!
SNACKS:
Each person is in charge of buying their own boat snacks for their own boat. We have learned that each person has their own ideal snacks that they approve of for their own boat. Some boat-owners are very picky, and others allow everything! So we decided to just bring our own boat snacks.
Homemade goodies (made at the expense of the person bringing the goodies):
Each person brings as many homemade goodies to share on the houseboat as possible! This is our very favorite! Instead of buying snacks for the houseboat, we make homemade goodies to share. Our LPF are rockstars at spoiling each other. I love this so much.
Almost every year we have:
- A hug pan of rice crispies {bring them in a disposable pan that can be thrown away after they are gone.
- A huge pan of scotcharoos {bring them frozen to help them last}
- Protein balls
- Caprese
- Chex treats
- White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake
- 7-layer dip and chips
- Chocolate Chip cookies
- Feta Bruschetta Dip
RULES about LIFE JACKETS: All kids that are less than 12 must wear life jackets at all times when they are in the water. No exceptions, even when they are laying on the lily pad, playing on the paddle boards….etc.
How to choose accommodations:
You can rent a houseboat.
Since we have done this trip for so many years, we have made adjustments to our methods. In fact, we started out by renting a 75 foot houseboat from Lake Powell Marina on our first year and it was extremely expensive, but worth every. single. penny. We spent around $12,000 renting a houseboat that year, and we were SOLD. It was so much fun. Because the cost was so high, we deemed it necessary to have six families total to help make the cost of the trip doable.
You can buy a houseboat share.
After the first year, Dan and I decided that we should invest in a houseboat share. This means that we own a timeshare on a houseboat and get a specific week each year to use it. Our week is in July, and we chose this strategically. We wanted a week in July because high school sports usually take a break in July for moratorium. So, we bought into a houseboat share that had a set schedule. Some houseboat shares draw straws every year and the weeks vary. We wanted a set week, not one that changed each year.
You can stay in a nearby hotel in Page, AZ.
Page, Arizona is a 10 minute drive from Wahweap marina. So, if you would like, you can get an inexpensive hotel room for less than $100 a night that is very close by. Several hotels have bedrooms that accommodate large families that have three queen size beds per room.
Sleeping on the houseboat:
All kids who are deemed old enough by their parents and teenagers sleep on top of the houseboat. It is very hot at night so most of the time they only need a light sheet to sleep with at night.
We have a 5 bedroom houseboat and six families in our LPF, so each year a family does not have a bedroom in the houseboat. We have an extra closet in the bathroom for them to put their personal items, but they sleep in the living room at night.
The rest of the families have a bedroom to keep as much of their items in as possible. Everything else that cannot fit into their rooms is stored on the top of the houseboat in waterproof storage bins.
Every year we rotate so that the families switch which room is theirs. We do have a room that fits a port-a-crib. 🙂
Some families have smaller kids who sleep in the kitchen on air mattresses also.
Extra tips and tricks:
Bring a few fishing poles to share. The kids LOVE to fish off the shore. We always have to tell the kids that they can’t fish where we are swimming though. 🙂
Kids will start chafing if their life jackets rub on their chins and armpits. Make sure that your lifejackets are not the cheap versions or your kids will start rubbing raw on the first day. We suggest that you invest in a high quality life jacket that is soft material to prevent this horrific experience for your little ones. To help with chafing, you should buy some body glide! Apply it at least 5 times a day to help the chafing feel better. It helps a TON! Or, insist that your kids wear rash guards.
Bring a clipper/tweezer pack to help pull out any slivers that kids get from the shore. We use mine at least 25 times on our trip each year for multiple reasons.
Get a Milwaukee cordless battery powered blower. It will change your life. You can blow up your tubes and air mattresses so fast. You will not regret it.
Bring paracord and clips to hang your towels. Just know that the bright colored paracord can bleed onto your towels! Lesson learned the hard way on this. Honestly I think it gives our towels a unique stripe. HAHA.
If you can get a spot that has morning and afternoon shade, you will thank me later for it. It will help the kids on the top to be able to sleep in later because the sun will not wake them up at the butt-crack fo dawn. Then it will cool down earlier because of the shade in the afternoon.
Bring disposable foil tins with lids to serve your food in. This will save you a ton of dishwashing time. Go to the dollar store and get some disposable containers that can be microwaved for leftover night.
Bring super glue. We have used it almost every year to super glue something or someone. This year it was a little boy’s foot that got cut on a quagga mussel shell on the beach. It wasn’t deep enough for stitches, but the super glue helped it feel better.
If you have a pre-disposition for cold sores, fill your prescription and bring it. We have someone who gets cold sores every single year.
If your houseboat has a sturdy Bimini, bring hammocks to hang from it. We have these hammocks and our kids use them nonstop.
Tie dying shirts is soooo fun! We brought a white shirt for everyone in our families and the kids had a blast dying them! For Tie Dye instructions, check out my post here.
Bracelet making kits are HUGE HIT!
Henna Tattoo kits are so much fun. We tried this for the first year this year, and the kids had a blast with it!
Spike Ball is a fun way to play on the beach if you have good sand and room. We brought spike ball for the first time this year and it will definitely be coming again next year.
Make a giant slip n slide in the sand! We do not stake the slip n slide down at lake powell though, so no need to bring the landscape pins.
Bring sand toys! We have made some giant sand masterpieces!
Bring temporary shampoo hair dye. Just know that it may stay longer than you intend it to. We have one mom who had pink hair for 6 weeks!
Bring fun floaties!
Gasoline costs:
We split the cost of the houseboat gas between all six families. We also split the cost of all speed boat gas. This is a pain, but we feel like it’s fair if we split this cost because our kids go on all of the boats all week long. It’s so fun. They get to choose which boat they ride on and everyone splits the cost of this.
How far you take the houseboat away from the marina will greatly affect how much the houseboat uses in gas. Just to give you an idea of how much houseboat gas costs, ours cost almost $1900 to fill it back up when we got back to the marina. We do run the generator at night so that we have air conditioning.
On the lake this year (2021) 87 grade gasoline was $5.36 per gallon and 91 grade gasoline was $5.91 per gallon. OUCH.