In 1983 Bill and Pat along with the Smith’s, Ed, Susie, and Krista undertook a houseboat trip to Lake Powell.  We had no idea what an adventure it would be.

     The plan was to go in October for moderate weather.  We rented a ski boat in Huntington Beach and planned to tow it to Lake Powell.  We elected to use Ed’s company car for the tow.  We had a hitch and those balloon shocks added to carry the load.

     Half way to Barstow the shocks gave out.  We made it to Barstow practically dragging the tongue of the trailer.  We replaced the balloon shocks with good air rides.  As we proceeded into the mountains it became obvious that our vehicle was underpowered for the trip.  It overheated on any significant grade.  Nursing the car and the load along, we made it to Lake Powell.

     Ed and Bill got into a bit of a contest right off.   Ed, the knot tying champion of his scout troop and his boot camp company, would tie a line off and Bill, the Annapolis graduate, would retie the line.

     The second day on Lake Powell, Krista got sick.  Ed and Susie took the ski boat and took Krista to see a doctor.  We had spent the previous day cruising around the lake in the ski boat and the gas gauge was near empty.  With a bit of sweat etc., we  made it to the dock.

     Most of the trip was great.  Good weather, etc.  Pat, always the top fisherman, got skunked, and 3-year old Krista caught the only fish of the trip with a piece of a hot dog.

     Returning to the docks, after our week, the ski boat gear shift failed, so our last remembrance of Lake Powell was swimming the ski boat from the docks to the boat landing and onto the boat trailer.  Almost froze.

     On the way home, after pulling Pat out of Las Vegas,   we had to tackle that long grade.    About half way up the car overheated and we had to leave the boat/trailer and Ed so we could replace the coolant.

     The trip was one we will always remember.  Nothing boring about this trip.  To this day Ed calls Bill Capt. Bly, and I am sure Bill thought Ed should have been keel  hauled for insubordination.

     History

     The Todd/Smith relationship goes back to the days when we were building the Apollo CSM/SM spacecraft at North American Aviation Space Division.  Both Bill and Ed worked in the Project Office.  Their relationship was casual until both moved to the Shuttle Orbiter program.  In 1979 Ed and Susie moved to Huntington Beach where Pat and Bill lived.  Susie was new to California and they were  both new to Huntington Beach.  Bill and Pat proceeded to take us in hand and integrate us into their Huntington Beach family.  We spent many evenings, with friends, in their  great apartment near the beach.  We will always remember Bill trying to pedal his cheap scotch, Scoresby, off as Chivas Regal.  When our daughter was born, Bill and Pat became Aunt and Uncle, the “Toggs”, as she would say.

     Early Christmas’s were remembered with the Todd’s at the front  door at “0 dark thirty” waiting  to see Krista’s face when she came down to see what Santa had brought.  Later both Bill and Ed retired from  Rockwell and went to work at Northrop on the B-2 program.   The Todd family expanded.  The Smith’s moved to the Sierra’s and the Todd’s moved to Nevada .  Our get togethers were limited,  but our memories of the Todd’s, our adventures,  and most of all the remembrance of the warm couple who made our lives fuller, will always be cherished

God speed Capt. Bly .

Ed and Susie Smith

Pismo Beach, CA

I was gonna go backwards with some stories, but this just happened the other day. Went for a hike. Early. On the trail before 4:00am. It's a great time to go. Dark. The trail lit by my headlamp. Quiet. No wind and the critters are sleeping. Peaceful. Not many people go hiking at 4:00am. It's a great time to be alone with your thoughts. The mind wanders. On the way down from Barney Lake, the morning starts to come alive. The sun is not yet up over the ridge, the colors of the sunrise sky remind me of rainbow sherbert. The birds are chirpping. A lone deer appears near the cutoff to Arrowhead Lake and Shayla takes off after her. I continue on down the trail. All of a sudden, it's like I'm no longer in the mountains, but on a street, walking past a building. I look up and there's Dad, leaning out the second story window, looking down on me. We both smile and nod, then he's gone. But I know, he's still here.